Belgium

My significant other got a job assignment in Waterloo, just outside Brussels. So I'm tagging along. Does anyone by chance have some recommendations of restaurants, dishes, markets, or anything else that one just can't miss? I've been to a lot of countries in Europe, but never Belgium.
Thanks.

If you like beer, you are in luck as Belgian leffe are marvelous IMO. I particularly recall a triple I had on a daytrip to Brussels while in Europe - it was a beer that drank like a meal. Utterly satisfying and I've never had the same flavor profile anywhere else.

I also enjoyed flamiche poireaux - leek tart with goat cheese - and woudl recommend that, too! Unfortunately, the cafe's name is not in my trip notes and the memory bank is failing me.

Davooda

Here's a good write-up by Antonius of a place in Leuven, which is not too far from Waterloo.

Here's a post on Brussels, also from Antonius.

Very helpful. Thanks Antonius. A la Mort Subite will be my first visit. My wife will probably have to drag me out.

In addition to A la Morte Subite, my recommended beer stops in Brussels would be:
Bier Circus
Delirium Cafe

For food (and beer of course), I recommend:
In 't Spinnekopke (Brussels)
Drie Fontainen Restaurant (Beersel, just outside Brussels)

If in Beersel, you could also stop at the cafe inside the Centrum Hotel which is a block or so walk from Drie Fontainen. They have a good selection of lambic/gueuze, including straight lambic.

Well, the famous stop is Aux Armes de Bruxelles (don't know if I spelled that right), but I found it too late at night, and only got a lovely picture of the neon sign.

The other don't miss is mussels with Belgian fries and a Trappist beer, but I did not luck out here either, visiting during the off season for mussels (or so the waiter said). I did my best to make up for it with Belgian fries (dipped in mayonnaise) and the beer.

PLEASE tell me you like beer. If so do me a favor and bring me one of these back

I've been to Antwerp and Brugge but not Brussels or Waterloo. I will tell you that you need to try: the chocolate, the beer and the mussels! Report back

Jamieson22 wrote:PLEASE tell me you like beer. If so do me a favor and bring me one of these back

Me too. Westy 12 please

I'm not scheduled to go until March, and I now have a list of places that should do me well. I will post upon return. I'll also try to get some pictures. Unfortunately I doubt I'll be able to bring back any beer, and I may get thrown off the forum for this, but I don't drink. Also planning a side trip to Bruge (sp?). I'll see what I can find on that exploration. Also hope to rent a bike a do a few countryside excursions. Thanks for the leads.

We Are Not Modern – Comme Chez Soi – Brussels

At a recent conference on the convergences and divergences of food cultures – there actually are such funded academic gatherings – I argued that cuisines could vanish. While appearing robust, they are often, in reality, distressingly fragile. For dramatic emphasis I pointed to the remarkable disappearance of classic French cuisine, a cuisine that has gone from dominant to absent in less than half a century. Here was a cuisine that could never die, but did exactly that. Where can one find those wondrously heavy sauces that so admirably contributed to lowering life expectancies among the rich and powerful? The days of roux are done. Do diners dream of mirapoix? Grand restaurants in Paris – and New York – once ladled out the cream and the butter, and every well-made sauce was flour-based: the gluten-or–lactose intolerants were in the closet. Vegans had to live by a code of don’t ask, don’t eat.

Classic French cuisine was the venerated culinary style for over a century – the natural zenith of cuisine. But when it came crashing down with a push from Nouvelle Cuisine, a nudge from Gault-Millau, and a prod from the health police, the collapse of the caloric tower was total. Who cooks Escoffier today?

Some restaurants exist that are classic-lite – La Grenouille in New York is one – but their cuisine, as presented today, would be thin gruel for the beau monde in 1960.

The night the conference adjourned, I found myself in such a restaurant, the double Michelin-starred Comme Chez Soi (“Just Like Home”), that reflects a classical-lite cuisine with all of its loving style and its drawbacks. Comme Chez Soi is a restaurant that abjures the sharp elbows of the contemporary style. Its heart is in the 1890s – along with its splendid Art Nouveau décor - even if the kitchen is producing a more contemporary version of a classical cuisine at which Careme might scoff. This is a restaurant that is run by the fourth generation of the Wynants family, a low country tradition. But it isn’t your granddad’s restaurant, even if it might wish to be. For many decades the restaurant was run by the great Belgian chef Pierre Wynants, and currently the kitchen is managed by his son-in-law Lionel Rigolet. Perhaps it is true that contemporary diners would rise in anger and disgust at the true classics, but such a claim reminds us that there are limits that you are what you eat. Sometimes dishes are unavailable: there are some culinary selves that we can not be.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 by garyalanfine, on Flickr

I began with a light amuse of crackers with pink peppercorns, nice and spicy if not particularly daring, and a much more engaging pair of smoked halibut mille-feuilles. The latter were classic in style and conception, but with enough drama and visual appear to keep any contemporary diner sated.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Crackers with Pink Peppercorns and Smoked Halibut Mille-Feuilles by garyalanfine, on Flickr

My second amuse was, in fact, a trio: the third, fourth and fifth tastes of the night. The best of the three was a warm geleed fish consommé with microdiced vegetables. Any classic restaurant must be skilled in stock, and Comme Chez Soi shines in the broth department (if broths can be said to have a department). Further, in this one could see the compulsion of the classic restaurant for dicing, mincing, and chopping: mirapoix as religion. I suddenly shuddered to realize that dicing has become a lost art in modern cuisine. When does one find knife skills today? Not often.

Mackerel with cucumber, marinated in yuzu, was also impressive, the only use of fruit on Comme Chez Soi’s menu. And even in Brussels, mackerel has made its mark. Every fish gets its fifteen minutes of fame, and this is mackerel’s turn. The third of the set Fried Crawfish with several dabs of a quasi-Chinese sweet sauce was a disappointing bite, reminding more of little more than a cheap and not very authentic Asian restaurant. Any restaurant that has linen napkins should be very cautious when considering investing in a deep fat fryer: grease does marry graciousness well.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Trio of Amuses: Warmed Gelled Fish Consomme, Mackerel with Cucumber, Fried Crawfish by garyalanfine, on Flickr

The first post-amuse dish, a carpaccio duet of Dublin bay prawns and lobster with lemongrass and raw minced gambas (shrimp) with ginger and lime, showed off Comme Chez Soi to its best effect. Here was a dish that revealed that mosaics were once a delight of the pampered diner. It was a jigsaw in spirit and in practice. While the lemongrass lent the plate a modern twist, the twist was simultaneously discreet and effective. It was restrained and classic, but very intriguing. CCS is traditional but not embalmed.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Carpaccio of Dublin Bay Prawns and Lobster with Lemograss and Raw Minced Gambas with Ginger and Lime by garyalanfine, on Flickr

While it is not quite fair to term the second dish a soup, it revealed again the height of broth. I was served steamed dab with snails from Namur, bouillon with shiitake and Chinese chives. The flavors were rich and the presentation restrained. Perhaps the dab was cooked more fully than one would find at Le Bernardin, but it was moist and rich and happy in its little ocean.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Steamed Dab with Namur Snails, Bouillon With Shiitake and Chinese Chives by garyalanfine, on Flickr

Scallops with Puy lentils and cucumber roll with Colchester flat oysters proved again to be properly restrained in the lite-classicism that I was learning to appreciate. CCS rarely challenges the diner with clashing tastes, and this was certainly true with this subtle dish. To be sure oysters and scallops are not usual partners, but neither are they oysters and blueberries. The restaurant as current style demands provides a dollop of light sauce, a well-made accompaniment.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Scallops wiht Puy Lentils and Cucumber Roll with Colchester Flat Oysters by garyalanfine, on Flickr

The greatest disappointment of the evening was the main course of roasted halibut with Chiloë peppers and king crab, smoked emulsion of parmesan and old balsamico. Halibut has a strong and “fishy” taste, and can easily be overcooked. By overcooked, I don’t mean inedible, and I did not return the dish, but lacked appeal, even when set off by the balsamic sauce. Visually it was subtle, but lacked a spark on the keyboard of taste.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Roasted Halibut with Chiloe Peppers and King Crab, Smoked Emulsion of Parmesan and Old Balsamico by garyalanfine, on Flickr

The first dessert, “pear with multiple flavors,” was close to the contemporary style with a set of plated thematic mini-desserts. I particularly enjoyed the pear ice cream and “Poire William” soup with its brandied kick. While it was not as startling or as deconstructed as a fully modernist dessert, it revealed the possibilities of pear.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Pear with Multiple Flavors by garyalanfine, on Flickr

The final scheduled dessert emphasized chocolate and coffee, but as I avoid caffeine, I pleaded for a fruity exchange, and I was graciously blessed with the highpoint of the evening: a fully classic Lime Soufflé with Lime Sorbet. Nothing adventuresome. Just a perfect presentation of a canonical dish. Yum. When done right, the oldies are still goldies.


Comme Chez Soi - Brussels - December 2010 - Lime Souffle with Lime Sorbet by garyalanfine, on Flickr

Given current styles, it is hard to suggest that Comme Chez Soi is an essential restaurant. Yet, I would mourn if it disappeared. In its restrained classicism, served in a striking Art Nouveau dining room, it is graceful and loving. Perhaps the main course disappointed, but most of the dinner captivated me, revealing the pleasures of restaurants from the days when I started my trek through the culinary forests. But, I wonder, could a restaurant in thrall to Escoffier survive the footfalls of modernism? Can a restaurant, in sympathy with anthropologist Bruno Latour, shout that “we are not modern” and survive?

Comme Chez Soi
Place Rouppe 23
Brussels, Belgium
02-512-29-21
http://www.commechezsoi.be/

Vealcheeks

I'm going to be in Brussels, Brugge and Leuven in September, was hoping someone who has been there recently might want to share suggestions. We don't wants fancy at all, more authentic/traditional type places where we will be assured of a good meal, one in each city hopefully.

Thanks!

This has nothing to do with food, but June, 2015 is the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon was defeated thereby ending his dreams of empire.

If you're a history buff, you can see major re-enactments of the Battle.

If history isn't for you, be aware that Waterloo will be inundated with tourists and you may, if possible, want to get away in June.