Where to eat street food and drink lambic beer in Brussels

With bags of history, three official languages and the headquarters of both the EU and NATO, Brussels is an eclectic city — and it has a diverse food scene to match. Classic Belgian cuisine centres on simple ingredients and hearty eating — and plenty of restaurants keep that trusted formula alive.

In recent years, chefs and restaurateurs who used to flock to the likes of Ghent and Antwerp have been gravitating towards the capital. At Restaurant Aster, Túbo Logier and Ydris Gryson have created tasting menus using only local fish and vegetables cooked over fire, while Florent Ladeyn and Jordan Joubert of Klok have focused on sustainability, presenting dishes such as roasted celeriac with beurre noisette.

The growing internationalisation of Brussels’ food scene means French-inspired cooking no longer dominates. A new generation of Mexican restaurants has replaced identikit Tex-Mex chains including La Général in Ixelles, serving tacos, pollo con mole and ceviche, while Vérigoud in Châtelain offers a menu of homemade corn tortillas and chimichurri-grilled fish, plus tequilas and mezcals.

Mexican is not the only foreign cuisine flourishing in the city. There have always been good Italian restaurants, thanks to post-war immigration, but new places such as CiPiaCe, serving cocktails and bruschetta, display a new generation’s skills and creativity. Meanwhile, Asian offerings have also proliferated, notably Anju (Korean fine dining), Nyyó (Vietnamese fusion), Mushu (a yakitori bar) and Yoka Tomo (an informal Japanese izakaya).

Elsewhere, as the demand for vegetarian and vegan cuisine has grown, so too has the supply of quality, vegetable-forward dining options. Humus X Hortense in Ixelles has won several awards as the first plant-based fine-dining restaurant in Brussels, while Bouchéry on the Chaussée d’Alsemberg recently switched to a 100% vegetarian menu the owner describes as “eco-responsible gastronomy”.

As for classic Belgian cuisine, in the leafy southern suburb of Uccle, Le Chalet de la Forêt serves elegant, well-sourced dishes such as Aveyron lamb, Breton shellfish and locally grown asparagus, while the central In’t Spinnekopke is a recently revived estaminet (pub-bistro) offering established dishes with a contemporary twist, such as a Flemish stew of pork cheeks and bloempanch (Brussels black pudding) with caramelised apple.

The two items for which Brussels is renowned — beer and chocolate — also benefit from continued innovation. From his hilltop spot in Sablon, Laurent Gerbaud plays with ingredients such as Madagascar pepper, Izmir figs and Taggiasche olives, while the tap room of Brasserie de la Senne offers a taste of Belgium’s burgeoning new wave of breweries.

The city centre

Start with almond croissants at Wittameron, the cafe-patisserie founded on Place du Grand Sablon in 1910 by Henri Wittamer, an official chocolate supplier of the Belgian Court.

Next, walk the streets of the Sablon district, filled with antiques shops, to the Musical Instruments Museum, home to more than 8,000 artefacts exploring Belgium’s musical history.

Heading north towards the Grand Place, grab a mid-morning snack at nearby Maison Dandoy, a Brussels bakery founded in 1829 that still makes oven-fresh speculoos in wooden moulds sourced from the flea markets of the nearby Marolles district.

Just a three minute-walk north is Belgian Beer World, the national beer museum housed in the former stock exchange. It’s an immersive 4D experience featuring virtual pouring lessons and a fermentation ‘theatre’. The rooftop terrace offers beer with city views.

Lunch at nearby Noordzee on Rue Sainte-Catherine, a popular seafood restaurant with plenty of choice, including calamari, scampi and salmon, or local favourite: oysters and champagne. After an afternoon exploring Sainte-Catherine food market (until 2pm weekdays), as well as neighbourhood highlights including the Banksy Museum, cool concept stores and the baroque Church of St John the Baptist, have dinner at Nightshop. What began as a natural wine shop and coffee roastery has transformed into a candle-lit restaurant serving simple but high-quality pork, chicken and fish plates perfect for sharing and pairing with wine and Belgian mixed fermentation beer.

End the day at Lord Byron, a vintage cafe decked with red leather couches, hanging chandeliers and granite columns. US filmmaker Barry Jenkins wrote his Oscar-winning film Moonlight here. The cafe specialises in cocktails and whiskies, but in true Brussels fashion, also serves draught lambic, the city’s home-grown, acidic and tannic beer.

Châtelain

Up until the end of the 1980s, the Châtelain neighbourhood was industrial, its residents employed by major car brands. These days, its central location and art nouveau architecture have attracted a more gentrified population of wealthy young Belgians, diplomats and European civil servants.

Mingle with these international residents at Jackie, a coffee joint run by former lawyer Kiliane Huyghebaert, whose passion for independent magazines (there are plenty to read) and speciality coffee by Parlor roasters makes this the ideal place to fuel up for the day. Try the house-made granola with amlou (a Moroccan mix of almonds, honey and argan oil), or bagels named after US first ladies — the Eleanor comes with smoked salmon, cream cheese, rocket and cucumber.

Walk south down Chaussée de Charleroi and turn onto Rue Américaine for the Horta Museum, the former family house and workshop of Belgian architect Victor Horta. The art nouveau-style premises come complete with mosaics, stained glass and murals.

Stop for lunch at Bintje, on nearby Rue Simonis. Named for the most widely cultivated potato variety in France and Belgium, Bintje’s thinly sliced fries — skin left on and cut from organically grown potatoes — are double-fried in sunflower oil and seasoned with salt from Brittany, both of which are also organic.

Spend the afternoon at Hangar, on Place du Châtelain, an art centre dedicated to contemporary photography, with exhibitions covering everything from the climate emergency to creativity in the AI age.

For dinner, La Châtelaine du Liban is a sophisticated Lebanese restaurant with simple but classy decor serving dishes with bold flavours that are great value for money. Try the sawda djej (chicken livers with pomegranate molasses) or hummus bil lahme (hummus with ground beef). Or opt for the restaurant’s popular €35 (£30) tasting menu.

Your nightcap awaits at Tarzan, a wine bar on nearby Rue Washington, with an extensive menu of natural wines on wall-hung blackboards above mosaic tiled floors.

Guinguettes

Brussels has seen a recent proliferation of guinguettes — outdoor cafe-kiosks and bars located in city parks. Some are pop-ups, others more permanent and most sell local beers from the city’s growing number of breweries. In summertime, you’ll find a guinguette in almost every park — for example, Emile in Duden Park, Henri in Georges-Henri Park and Fabiola in King Baudouin Park — many named cryptically for the story associated with the park’s history.

Kiosk Radio in Warandepark is known for its on-site community radio station. Listen to live streams from DJs in the little wooden booth while enjoying natural wine, organic soft drinks, coffee or beers from Brussels-based brewers including Dance Rave Dance, an IPA from Surréaliste. Woodpecker in Bois de la Cambre is slightly grander, with a strong offering of home-made salads, burgers and waffles including breakfast varieties with ‘perfectly poached eggs’ — plus a reputation for welcoming four-legged visitors and live music in summer months. Populeir in Josaphat Park specialises in focaccia, while Parckfarm supports the socio-ecological initiatives of the surrounding Tour & Taxi park. This former industrial area now hosts a community orchard, vegetable garden, chicken coop, beehives, a bread oven and a greenhouse cafe serving vegetarian dishes from local suppliers.