Brussels, the realm of stuffy French restaurants filled with gray-shirted diplomats, suddenly became bold and bright. Thanks to a host of young chefs with iconoclastic ideas about taste and sustainability, the city, enthralled by the rich sauces of Gaul for almost two centuries, has emerged as one of the most exciting and affordable places to eat in Europe. now.
These exciting talents are transforming the city’s old-fashioned bistros and cafes with spices from places like Korea, Latin America and Morocco and “putting a vibrant modern spin on home-style local comfort food,” explained Michel Verlinden, food writer and restaurant in Brussels. critic for Le Vif, a major Belgian weekly. At the same time, they make the most of local produce such as cabbage, carrots, endives and, bien sûr, Brussels sprouts.
Brussels may be the capital of Europe, but culinary wise it’s more like Brooklyn or Marseille. Relaxed, creative and multicultural, it’s a city as familiar as bulgogi and duck breast — even together on the same plate.
Here are five Brussels restaurants worth visiting.
Anju
Many of the most interesting new restaurants in Brussels are not in Îlot Sacré, the high-rent heart of the city, but in outlying neighborhoods like St.-Gilles, an up-and-coming but still more accessible area favored by young creatives.
That explains why chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre chose this region for Anju, a new local favorite exploring its roots. Mr Degeimbre was born in South Korea but was adopted by a Belgian family as a baby. “Anju” is a Korean word meaning food to be eaten while drinking alcohol. In addition to rice wine and Soju, Anju also offers a “Korean Sour” beer brewed for the restaurant by Brussels brasserie Illegal, along with an excellent natural wine list.
In the minimalist, beige dining room with K-pop illustrations on the walls, that means hearty comfort food. If starters like pajeon – pancakes filled with chopped vegetables and kimchi – or fried octopus tentacles are impressively Korean, the technical prowess of Mr. Degeimbre’s team adds an element of Belgian haute cuisine to main courses like samgyetang (chicken in a broth with hot jingle). rice and jujubes) and duck breast bulgogi.
Desserts also nod to Brussels: Bingsu, a milk-based shaved ice, is topped off with speculoos cookies from Maison Dandoy, a bakery dating back to 1832, or hazelnut praline from acclaimed Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini.
73 Rue de la Source, St.-Gilles; appetizers from 13 euros, or about $14; tickets from €17.
Star
Aster is a good example of how Brussels has shed the mundane urban decor that used to characterize its best restaurants. When you arrive at this former pizza parlor, step right into the kitchen, where a balletic beehive of cooks led by chef Túbo Logier buzzes around multiple grills. Most guests sit at a high dining table under hanging lamps, eating and drinking from handmade ceramics rather than china.
The mostly plant-based and seafood tasting menu is served in a series of small plates, which change regularly. A recent dinner opened with an exciting quintet of miniature appetizers, including thinly diced North Sea squid in fermented tomato, a mille feuille of smoked eel and pickled celeriac, trout with horseradish and fig, a nest of fried julienned leeks with an egg quail and tiny mussels with winter truffles. A startlingly bright first course of red and yellow beets with cod roe and beeswax preceded a poached oyster with cabbage and jus de petit lait – or whey – that offered a simple but brilliant confluence of lactic flavours.
Another standout was the langoustines prepared three ways: grilled with umami-bomb seasoning from fermented vegetable scraps; in a milky bouillon with clementine slices and sliced button mushrooms. and chawanmushi (Japanese steamed egg custard) topped with meat and shellfish juices.
Mr. Logier’s creativity didn’t falter as the meal concluded with two exciting desserts: hazelnut ice cream with shaved Belgian blue cheese and apples braised in seaweed, and a signature smoked white chocolate with sea bass roe.
202 Rue Antoine Dansaert, Brussels. tasting menu, €80.
Klein
You might not expect such a disarmingly friendly welcome inside the Brutalist chic of Brussels’ Dansaert art district, but this and the menu of modern Belgian comfort food at Kline can give you the feeling of being in a country aubergine.
Kline describes himself as “locally inspired and globally inspired,” which translates into dishes like Brussels sprout guacamole and braised pork belly with a crispy chili and kimchi sauce. The pork is traditionally raised and fed a feed of potatoes and corn, supplemented with olive oil and fresh hay, on a sustainable farm.
Appetizers like crispy, round, fried ham croquettes with béchamel and chopped Ardennes ham and beetroot chutney, with pumpkin crackers, are made for sharing. Imports are classified under two headings: ‘Cold and Fresh’ and ‘Hot and Heavy’. The selection changes frequently, but can include juicy dishes such as North Sea scallops with carrot emulsion and Belgian saffron, and grilled mushrooms with salsa verde and white mole. Desserts recently included a baked Belle de Boskoop apple with Belgian buffalo milk mozzarella and miso, a challenging combination that lived up to the menu’s ‘Sweet and Sour’.
162 Rue de Flandre, Brussels. appetizers from €9.70; tickets from €9.80.
Nyyó
The son of Vietnamese immigrants, Linh Nam grew up in Liege and worked for Google in New York for seven years before returning to Belgium and opening Nyyó, a minimalist restaurant with cocoa-colored walls and rattan lights. The menu reflects the triptych of culinary influences in Mr. Nam’s life — Belgium, Vietnam and the United States.
Belgians love steak tartare – they call it filet américain – which probably explains the popularity of the beef tai chanh served here, except this variation on the dish is seasoned with citrus vinaigrette, Vietnamese coriander, crushed peanuts and quail egg . YOLK. The bahn mi burger riffs on the sandwich with a slice of chicken liver pate and a patty on a sesame-toasted brioche bun with aioli, house pickles, cilantro and a side of coleslaw, and at Linh’s Tacos, the rice-flour shells are stuffed with oyster mushrooms seasoned with aioli, coriander and onion oil.
Finish with a Liège Ca Phe Cafe, a shot of espresso with condensed milk, vanilla ice cream, cognac and cinnamon whipped cream — a sweet hybrid of Belgium and Vietnam.
38 Rue du Bailli, Ixelles; plates from €10 to €19.
Klok
With its diversity of building styles, Brussels sometimes has the appealing atmosphere of an architectural hawker.
So does Klok, French chef Florent Ladeyn’s airy restaurant with an open kitchen and large windows. Mr. Ladeyn is such a staunch local that he has banned coffee (chicory is served instead), olive oil, lemons, chocolate, vanilla, and almost any other ingredient not produced in Belgium or northern France.
The menu at this laid-back spot changes often, but might include appetizers like sweet potato churros with crispy chili oil, snail croquettes, and Brussels sprouts with fried onions and mimolette cheese. As with many new restaurants in Brussels, vegetarians are well catered for, with options such as a delicious main course of roasted turnips and celeriac with beetroot, black garlic and a Flemish mole with chicory. Mr. Ladeyn’s regionalism comes across in other main courses, such as quail à la Brabançonne — braised with endives in sour cherry-flavored Kriek beer — and grilled French Mont des Cats cheese with fermented honey.
Although many dishes resemble the hearty medieval fare depicted on peasant tables in Bruegel’s paintings, their quiet worldliness is a perfect expression of how Brussels likes to eat today.
10 Place Rouppe, Brussels; lunch: appetizers from €5.50, tickets from €14. dinner: advance payment only, €60.
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