Restaurants in Belgium
Belgian cuisine is a happy blend of French quality and German quantity!
The culinary delights of Belgium are well known, and a perfect way to end the day after a long day of shopping. We have also provided more local information and suggestions on where to enoy a meal in Brussels.
Food & Cusine in Belgium
Local Specialties
The national dish of Belgium is the good old honest steak or mussels, served with French fries and lettuce. Roll up your sleeves and dig in! If you are adventurous, then you must also sample some other Belgian delicacies like eel in green sauce (called Paling in't Groen in Dutch), or rabbits served with plums. Or you can settle for meatballs in rabbit sauce which is sometimes called hunter sauce (known in French as Boulets sauce lapin and Boulets sauce chasseur). Eating out in Belgium is sure be a taste sensation, with a variety of different cuisine and drink on offer.
Did you know that the French fries originated in Belgium! ‘Frieten' in Flemish and ‘Frites' in French, French fries are best eaten off temporary stalls called ‘fritures' or freitkots (Flemish), which are cunningly positioned in busy squares.
Belgian Sweets
If you have a sweet tooth, then Belgian food and cuisine has some delectable confections that may tempt you to go straight to desserts, bypassing the main course. Belgian chocolates are of course world famous. There are many brands like Neuhaus and Cote d'or, available all over Belgium, and both premium as well as inexpensive brands like Leonidas rank very high in quality. Many famous chocolate boutiques (like Neuhaus) are located in Brussels and Galler, near Liege.
But the high point of Belgian desserts is the Belgian waffle. Like the French fries, waffles too were discovered in Belgium. The Belgian waffle, square in shape, lends itself to many innovations and variations.
The Brussels waffle or the Belgian waffle batter is fermented with yeast and folded in with egg whites, to make it light yet crisp .You can have them, warm and fresh from the street vendors, with confectioner's sugar sprinkled on top, or with whipped cream or chocolate syrup. You can also have it as an elaborate dessert with fruits, cream and ice cream.
The Liege waffle, a speciality of Liege in eastern Belgium, was invented in the 18th century by the cook of the prince-bishop of Liege. It is smaller, thicker and sweeter than the Belgian waffle, thanks to the lumps of sugar added to the batter, right at the end. They come plain or in cinnamon and vanilla flavours and are served with fruits, chocolate or ice cream.
Hasselt, the capital of Limburg is famous for speculaas, a type of Belgian cookie. It is also famous for jenever, a special beer.
Belgian Beer
Belgium produces the highest number of beer varieties in the world. Around 125 distilleries produce more than 500 varieties of standard beers and 500 types of special beers!
If you are a beer aficionado, then Belgium is the place for you! Publicised by famous beer writers like Michael Jackson, Belgian beer is held in high esteem world over. Inbev and Alken Maes rank as two major producers of Belgian beer.
Beer in Belgium used to be brewed in the monasteries in the Middle ages. Beer production got a considerable boost when the Vandervelde Act was passed in 1919, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic spirits in pubs. Breweries then started producing beer with higher alcohol content. The act was later lifted in 1983.
In Belgium you can savour an amazing range of beer, from the pale lager to the mystic limbic beer that is fruit flavoured and left in open containers to ferment. There is the Flemish Red and the jenever, a stiff grain ale flavoured with an assortment of herbs and spices like coriander, juniper etc. With more than 1000 types of beer, Belgium has something for every palate!
