Yamina El Atlassi (1974)

For several years now, The Terrace, a temporary beach bar open every year from the end May (in 2013 from the 23rd May) till 20th of July. It takes place in a wonderful place in our city: an old racecourse of Boitsfort. Situated on the border of the Sonian Forest (see the Sonian Forest article), I can only advice you to first take a little walk and then have a rest at the Terrace…

But some people obviously don’t consider the forest walk an option: the girls are sexy and hip, the guys are handsome and successful … it seems that all what Brussels has to offer in beauty and glory is meeting here…

Yet I love the place, it’s like a piece of Bahamas or Bali lost for few weeks in our city…. Go there with a lover, bunch of friends or with your kids…

If you love to have tea with some sweets, the English way, this place is a must visit!

It’s a tea room and a grocery shop and you’ll find only very qualitative products from the UK here. The owner gets the products from small producers.

You can have tea with the traditionnal scones, a carrot cake or a cheese cake.

The nice thing is that you can also have a lunch! The owner will explain to you that he loves the English cuisine and wishes to let people know a bit more about it.

This is also a good place to go for a Saturday brunch!

It is situated in a quiet street behind the very crowded Louise Avenue, a few steps away from Place Stephanie. The place is spacious, clean and peaceful. They have a wifi connection, so you can also use your laptop.

A lot of people, in town, came up with an idea of organizing stuff for their own pleasure and for their friends. “Friends” being a loose term here, as most of the time is open door to anyone interested.

That’s how the Bed and Breakfast started: a loft share by 5 people who love music and wish to have some concerts at their vey nice place. So they’re just doing it and it works perfectly. The place is huge enough to welcome up to 100 people, the bar is cheap and the venue is close to the metro station Clemenceau, which make it very convenient to go to even if this neighborhood is not known for its nightlife!

It’s very exciting and nice to show up in a private place, to ring at the door, and to walk trough this long corridor to arrive at the back of the house… 

The Bed and breakfast offers the opportunity to meet new people and to discover a lot of different kind of music, experimental most of the time! 

It seems that the name comes from the fact that for the night birds spending there the whole night, a breakfast is organised in the early morning! 

I think this address is worth the visit, even if you’re not sure you’ll appreciate the music, as it gives the opportunity to meet young and creative people and to have an overview of the underground scene of Brussels.

Parvis de Saint-Gilles, the place just in front of the Church of Saint-Gilles is full of many addresses. Jardin is one of my favorite ones in this area.

It’s a juice bar: it offers large choices of fresh juices: fruits, vegetables or a mix of both.

For breakfast you can choose between different juices and they serve it with a coffee and a pastry.

For lunchtime: they offer several daily soups, served with bread.

It’s a healthy stop in this vibrant area after the daily market or at anytime of the day to have your dose of vitamins!

As I love mango I have already tried their ‘Mango Orange’ Juice (with apple and bananas) and I’m also an absolute fan of Kiwis, so I also tried the Kiwininon (same as the previous one, only Mango is replaced by Kiwi).

I’m still very curious to taste the mix vegetables/fruit juices and I already know that I will love the mixture with milk and cereals… !

My only regret is that it’s not situated at a very short distance from my home which would allow me to have a healthy breakfast every day!

Amongst the many bars you can find in Brussels you have the choice to go to a trendy place that everyone “loves” or “loves to hate”. 

You will also probably end up in one of those small, chill, “brown” bars which seem to have no style but is just the place to be for a crowd full of students from the cinema school on the other side of the street, artsy people and activists and not to mention those ones who fit nowhere else.

In your discoveries of Brussels, you’ll soon enough hear of the “Saint Boniface area” and it refers to the many places to eat or have a drink, situated just in front of the Church.

L’Athénée is situated just behind the Church… left alone in a street which makes it more complicated for tourists to find!

When the weather is good, they have a huge colourful terrace. During the long winter’s nights, everyone is packed inside, with good music, a beer or a tea…

Have a seat at any table even if it’s full. Smile and start a conversation… And take your time: you’ll probably make some new friends with whom you’ll talk till the end of the night….