Fish, Mussels & Seafood, Brussels

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There are a whole lot of seafood restaurants on the Quai aux Briques and we chose this one because it has a nice 3 course lunch menu for 23 euro.
The restaurant overlooks a lovely square flanked by the St. Catherine's church. The metro stop is about 50 metres away and the Grand Place perhaps 10 minute walk.

On a sunny day, it is wonderful to enjoy lunch outside.
The service is excellent, almost classic with real linen on the table.
When outside, it's also fun to watch people while you eat.

We did not have time to enjoy the ultimate luxury of other seafood such as lobster. I did eye my neighbour's plate and it looked really good.

Favorite Dish: The 3 course lunch menu for 23 euro was a starter of shrimp croquette or fish soup. Both of good quality ingredients and well made.
Main was a generous fish brochette (skewer) on top of some sauteed leek, onion and carrot with a garlic mayonaise and potato gratin.
For dessert either a sorbet or chocolate mousse. The mousse turned out to be a white and a dark chocolate mousse with a vanilla sauce (real vanilla!). Interestingly, the dark chocolate mousse and vanilla sauce were hardly sweet at all. Very nice against the sweet white chocolate.
With coffee we could help ourselves to some delicious wafer thin cookies. Very tempting.

Including wine, soda and coffee we paid 62.50 euro.

Rue del Bouchers is a centric street, parallel to Grassmarkt street. All the restaurants throughout the street offer mussels as a star dish. There is not much variation in price, but we realized that the size of the casserole does change, increasing as you walk down the street. We finally chose one restaurant and ordered two different casseroles: mussels with provenzal sauce and mussels with wine, both with French fries, of course. The mussels were quite small, but the casserole was big enough and they were tasty.

A great experience at a reasonable price, just off the Grand Place. We ended up at this restaurant thanks to the suggestion of a lovely bartender from the tavern across the street (Au Brasseur - also worth checking out!). The night we were there, a local private boys school was holding a dinner of some sort where there was lots of singing, chanting and celebration - apparently the initiation/welcoming of the new class of students. It was loud, but fun to witness. The waitstaff was helpful, friendly and attentive.

The menu was full of Belgian style dishes, leaning toward French. Lots of seafood options. Everything we tried was delicious.

Favorite Dish: We tried the frog legs, escargots, cheese croquettes, and moules and frites.

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Rue des Bouchers, Petite Rue des Bouchers, Rue de la Fourche Petite and Rue Gretry are basically a strip of more than 70 restaurants; most of them are seafood restaurants that give a unique flair to the area. Most restaurants have sidewalk tables, but because there are no sidewalks they are simply set out in the street. They are generally small and inexpensive, many with but a few tables. It’s a great place to get good food and a great place to people-watch!

Favorite Dish: I always try the local cuisine. And yes, from time to time in Belgium I love to eat a typical "Rue des Bouchers" dish like the famous Bouillabaisse, the expensive version of the provençal fish soup, with langoustine.
You can taste also other fine dishes such as mussels steamed in wine, or "Anguilles au vert", which is eels in a green sauce and endives braised under a layer of cheese and ham. But Bouillabaisse with a free bottle of wine.................!!! Unbeatable!

To the north of the Grand Place is a maze of narrow streets devoted apparently to just one purpose, namely feeding tourists. I was reminded of the Latin Quarter in Paris, but here in Brussels the competition to get tourists inside seemed even more intense, and the different restaurants even less varied. The main features were a striking display of seafood outside, and a cheap but very limited menu (or in a few, a choice of menus). Of course you can also choose a la carte, but then the prices are much higher. The menus are certainly good value if you’re on a budget, ranging from 12 EUR to 18 EUR when we were there in early 2007.

We wanted a quick meal before heading for the station to catch our train so we tried one of these restaurants. The food was OK and the service speedy but there wasn’t a lot of choice (and none at all for dessert). I didn’t note the name of the restaurant but I really think there’s very little to choose between them all – just pick any one where you can see something you like the sound of on the menu!

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The narrow streets north of the Grand Place are filled with restaurants. Too small for cars, the streets are lined with tables sheltered by awnings. Often the food is displayed in showcases to tempt the passing traveler to partake of hearty fare. If that isn’t sufficient, waiters work the crowds to further entice pedestrians and make a difficult decision nearly impossible.

There is a quaint local restaurant in the city center of Brussels, Belgium along the walk of many eateries and shops. If you love mussels, then this is the place for you. When I ordered, I didn't realize that I'd be getting a bucket of it in return. It was definitely delicious, but way too much for one person. I won't be craving mussels anytime soon! The people were nice and friendly. Even though our server spoke very little English, I was able to communicate what I wanted with hand gestures to motion "mussels". She had a good laugh that lasted throughout our entire meal. I bet she'll remember me next time if I hand motion "mussels". Some of the people there also speak and understand Spanish. So, if you can converse in French or Spanish, you should have no problem ordering. I can't remember the exact name of the restaurant, but it also has a bar within the establishment. Plus, it was a fair price for a bucket!

Favorite Dish: Mussels!!! It's a Must in Brussels.

The portions in Belgium are similar to the standard in the U.S. , meaning they give you plenty or enough for your money.

Restaraunts in Brussels are amazing!! There is a strip of about 30 of them, each with specials and all the waiters wait outside (and speak about 10 different languages) and try to get you to come in. The food was cheap (19 euro's I think for several courses and a free beer), the waiters friendly, and the atmosphere was enjoyable. I was there in march and they had heaters outside to keep their customers warm. Honestly, if you want to eat the best food in europe, do yourself a favor and go to brussels

Favorite Dish: I had the mussles in a white sauce. Very very very good. My friend though had flounder or salmon or some kind of fish with some sort of a honey-bourbon sauce and honestly, when i took a bite of it my body entered a heaven-like state, my mouth collapsed like i just swallowed an orgasm pill and i experienced true euphoria. Anyone who likes seafood, or food in general you can't go wrong in brussels.

Just next to Rugbyman 1 there is this fancy looking restaurant which turned out to be more like a brasserie-type than a white tablecloth style one.
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The menu is mainly fish and different size lobsters!
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If england have fish and chips, then try Brussels favourite mussels and chips.

Served in a big pot depending on the weight of mussels preference.

I had 1 kg of Mussels and white wine + a big bowl of fresh chips, most delicious meal eaten.