Brussels Food in Photos
I know I’ve mentioned this before: Brussels is known for its food. Aside from the flower carpet, the thing I was looking forward to most was food, especially the chocolate. While we did see a lot of amazing things in Brussels, we also ate a lot. From fancy to street food, here’s a look at the highlights.
Brussels Food Day 1
Belgian chocolate is world famous, and for a good reason. Read about the fun we had making chocolate in Brussels here. But before we even got to the chocolate, we had to try frites, or fries. Just don’t call them “French” fries in Belgium! About halfway our city tour on our first day in Brussels, we stopped at a place called Fritland and ordered enough fries for the whole group, complete with a variety of dipping sauces.
We had the standard ketchup and mayo, a few different spicy ones, and then there was this weird pickle sauce, the one pictured in the upper left corner. I was not a fan. It sort of reminded me of hot dog relish, but not quite. In the end, I stuck to ketchup and one of the spicy sauces.
Dinner that night was at Belga Queen, a little more fancy that frites. I ordered lamb with potatoes, and I’m still not sure what those things were on top of the lamb. Before dinner, Andy and I tried a drink that was called half and half, which was half champagne and half raspberry beer, and it was really tasty. Angie was picking our wine for the night, which is good because I don’t know anything about choosing wine. She did well, and I quite enjoyed what I had. For dessert, the waffle with ice cream and chocolate sauce called my name. I couldn’t even finish it, but it sure was delicious!
Brussels Food Day 2
After Andy and I found all the peeing statues and checked out the Royal Palace, we met he rest of the group for lunch at the restaurant on the roof of the Musical Instruments Museum. One of the specials that day was a hamburger, so Andy and I both decided to try it. I don’t like mayo on hamburgers (or anything else really) so it’s a habit of mine to ask if it comes on the burger. The server looked at me funny but said no. I realized why asking about mayo was an odd thing when my lunch was presented to me.
Dinner that night was another fancy affair, this time at Cospaia on the terrace. Already a little tipsy from the beer tasting, I didn’t drink much that night, but I did enjoy the food. I started with duck ravioli done dim sum style, so they were really more like dumplings than ravioli. For my main course I had cube roll black Angus beef, which meant it was purposely fatty, with green beans and fries.
I really loved the variety of food in Brussels, and how even a fancy place had relatively simple food. I’m not a fan of food cooked in weird ways and done up so that I can’t even recognize it anymore, so having a really nice meal that was still simple was great. I also liked how much street food was available, and Andy made sure to try waffles from a hole in the wall place near our hotel. If I ever do get the chance to spend more time here, I will definitely be eating my way around town.
Thank you to Belgien Tourismus for hosting us! All opinions are my own.
September 10, 2012 @ 9:51 AM
I’m a fan of simple food as well. I’m not a foodie as we call them here in Australia – somebody who likes their food fancy that is. I just prefer good tasting simple food that looks nice and doesn’t break the bank.
One thing that really strikes me is how fresh the food looks from the frites which we call chips here in Australia like the British do to the lamb to the angus beef. All of it looks like it’s well prepared and I must admit in Australian terms it looks expensive. But when you’re on holiday, it’s the right time to splurge a little and eat well. There’s plenty of time to eat on the cheap when you’re back home.
I really like your photography in this post as well. All the shots have perfect lighting and really look like they were professionally down as if you were making them for a restaurant’s menu. So congratulations on a job well done.
September 11, 2012 @ 12:52 AM
Yep, we’re definitely not foodies either. I like good food, but simple and more of the standard/normal variety. It probably was really fresh food that we were eating in Brussels, it certainly tasted good! Thank you so much for the compliments on my food photography, I appreciate it! I usually forget to take pictures of my food, but when I’m with other bloggers, enough of them remember that it reminds me.
September 10, 2012 @ 5:35 PM
Looks like pretty good eats to me!
September 11, 2012 @ 12:53 AM
It sure was! Thanks!
September 10, 2012 @ 9:17 PM
Hmmmm, you’re making me hungry! Those fries looks perfect. And the chocolate and waffles… yummy!
September 11, 2012 @ 12:53 AM
Ha, sorry about that! Yep, it was soooo good!
September 11, 2012 @ 2:55 AM
I remember grabbing a waffle in Brussels and it was so huge, I couldn’t eat the whole thing! It was delicious though (but not nearly so fancy as the one you had at dinner!). Even though I didn’t love Brussels when I visited, I must say that the food really was wonderful. Just like you say, it was tasty without being overly done up, but just honored the pure flavors of the ingredients used.
September 11, 2012 @ 8:58 PM
I couldn’t finish the one I had for dessert either, way too big but so delicious! I totally agree about the food in Brussels, loved that even in a nice restaurant it wasn’t too over the top.
September 11, 2012 @ 8:05 AM
I’m a fan of street food and always try to focus on that one when I travel so Brussels is all about fries for me, and waffles as a desert 🙂 your pictures look really yummy 🙂
September 11, 2012 @ 8:59 PM
Thanks Kami! The fries were really good. The dessert waffle was especially good when combined with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Yum!
September 11, 2012 @ 10:02 AM
I LOVED the waffles – strawberries, chocolate & cream was delicious!
We also had a meal at Belga Queen which was awesome.
It’s easy to indulge around every corner in Brussels!
September 11, 2012 @ 9:01 PM
Thanks Jay, it did seem like good food was everywhere in Brussels! Glad you liked Belga Queen too!
September 11, 2012 @ 11:30 AM
Looks sooo good! Since I live 15 minutes from the Belgian border I have definitely developed an affinity for fries and all of the sauces… and Belgian waffles are simply magnificent. Haha! Love the pictures!
September 11, 2012 @ 9:03 PM
Thanks Haley! Sounds nice living that close to the Belgian border, definitely good access to fries there!
September 11, 2012 @ 2:58 PM
While in Brussels, I ate mussels for the first time-that actually tasted not only good, but amazing. Whether it was a street vendor or a restaurant, I was not disappointed with the food!
September 11, 2012 @ 9:04 PM
I’m not usually a big fan of mussels, and I realized afterwards that was the one typical Brussels food I didn’t try while we were there. Maybe next time since Andy and I definitely enjoyed Brussels.
September 11, 2012 @ 9:16 PM
The steak frites in the last picture looks amazing. I can only imagine how delicious that bernaise-y sauce was.
September 13, 2012 @ 3:14 PM
The frites were pretty darn delicious. And yes, the bernaise sauce was very good!
September 11, 2012 @ 11:01 PM
Just give me their chocolate!
September 13, 2012 @ 3:15 PM
Ha! It is famous for a reason!
September 12, 2012 @ 7:18 PM
That hamburger looks delicious. I like that they don’t bring you bread with it. This makes me want to go to Brussels even more!
September 13, 2012 @ 3:21 PM
It was certainly not what I was expecting, but I did enjoy the burger. I’m sure there are places that have “normal” burgers with the bun, but this was a nice change of pace.