Coffee & tea – All our local tips

Well, OK, let’s make it official: Sundays are an issue.

You were working the whole week, waiting for a nice week-end.

But of course, Friday night finds you knackered so you better stay home.
Saturday: you’re busy doing the shopping, and then again to exhausted to go out.
Finally on Sunday you feel full of energy, you feel like the king of the city, but then… you find yourself with this ultimate question: “what the hell can I do on a Sunday?

In the series of “What to do on Sunday?”, let’s discover Bar du Marché.

I love it, as simple as that. The bar is nice, the staff is fun, the other customers are friendly, and you will receive some nuts with your fresh drink.

On Sundays, it’s “Jazzette”: a jazz band will swing your afternoon. My ultimate pleasure is to have a nice cinnamon tea, waiting for some friends, having a chat with some people around (well my male friends use to say that they’re making a move, but whatever). It’s the best way to finish the w-e.

Almost perfect? Well, I still must warn you about the same bar at nights… it’s not the same atmosphere; but a bit more decadent.

It could be appreciated by some of you (I don’t judge), but it’s not the place to chill out at night. If I compare it with literature, I would say that the bar is Dr Jekyll at daytime, and Mr. Hyde at night. You’ll find good reasons to visit one or another…

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Bar du Marché | Bars, Coffee & tea, Music
Rue Alphonse de Witte, 12 | Ixelles
09:00 – 02:00 daily

In Brussels you can find cafes on every corner. Typical, busy, smoky, good or bad: you have plenty of choice!

However only few serve something local, something typically Bruxelloise. One of them is “Het Warme Water”, near Place du Jeu de Balle in Marolles.

They have a few wooden tables, some old pictures, and an interesting menu. Breakfasts, brunches, meals, drinks, buffet on Sundays. You just have to choose. Everything is prepared in front of you in the kitchen open to the room. What I like of this spot is the opportunity to taste some Brussels food, like cheese, salami, beer… and to spend there hours chatting without being asked to leave!

It’s also possible to book the upstairs room for parties.

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Het Warme Water | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Bruxelloise) | Breakfast € 10
25, Rue des Renards | Center | +3225139159
Sun – Tue 08:00 – 19:00, Thu – Sat 08:00 – 22:00

When I do some shopping the moment I am looking forward to is the time to relax and take a cup of tea… and if there are some delicious pastries, it’s even better!

One of my favourite shopping place is in the neighborhood of Place du Châtelain. You may also be interested to visit the Horta Museum in the area…

So, imagine me having a ‘hard’ time shopping…. and then after few hours of seeing such wonderful things… having a nice sweet rest in a ’salon de thé’.

I can do it at Lilicup….  it’s fresh, pop, English style, and yummie…

Also a very nice place to go with the kids, as they will have their own table! ;)

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Lilicup | Coffee & tea
Rue du Page, 65 | Ixelles | +3225380268
Tue – Fri 10:00 – 17:00, Sat 10:00 – 18:00

After bargaining for fruit at the Midi Market (see the Midi Market article), it is a cheap reward to sit at one of those hidden tables and taste Maroccan flavours. Along the sides of the station, in Avenue Fonsny in front of Hotel Continental, behind the huge display of olives and spices… there you are, a corner of Morocco.

On the menu: pancakes with olives, vegetables, cheese, honey, and any combination requested. Be careful, they are huge! And don’t forget to get a glass of that sweet Moroccan tea, very good on a warm winter day.

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Moroccan pancakes | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Pancake € 2.50
Avenue Fonsny | The South
Sun 08:00 – 15:00

If you need a break and some good coffee, this place is definitely one of the best choices in this part of the city!

Ok, those of you who know me already could say “But, you’re not even a coffee drinker, so how this place could be your spot?“

Well, it’s true, but Natural Caffé has much more to offer then good coffee. Well, they have tea, but it’s not the reason why I use to go there.

I like to stop by after a working day: you feel a certain dynamism: everyone is a bit in the same situation: so much stress because of their activities and in need of a nice break before starting the evening, going back home.

Here you’ll feel the energy of a Metropolis: a business man happy after a good deal, a shopping women happy after another kind of good deal, students talking about their thesis and how to deal with, couples taking the time to be a couple before going back home and be parents again, …

I like the light from the big windows from which you have a perfect view to one of the largest avenue of the city: avenue Louise, and Natural Caffé is perfectly situated in the “carrefour” of Lesbroussart street and Bailli street: so you can sit and watch the theater going on outside.

As I said, I use to go there around 6 pm, after work, but I’ve heard of people who like the place in the morning for the breakfast (and I tried it on Sundays) or on a Saturday afternoon as a nice meeting place.

I’m sure, you’ll find the hour and the coffee that suits you best!

PS : They have a new location in the Mont des Arts… nice if you visit the Center…

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Natural Caffè | Coffee & tea
Avenue Louise, 196 | Ixelles | +3226467214
08:00 – 19:00 daily

Do you know this feeling? You want to eat this particular dish that you use to eat when you were still leaving at your parents’ place… but you know the preparation takes long, you’re not sure about the recipe and you don’t see yourself calling your mum (who’s not living in the same town by the way) to ask her to prepare it…

Fortunately, I found out in my neighborhood a snack offering salads, soups and… traditional Moroccan food! And I found exactly what I was looking for: the taste from my childhood.

Obviously, I’m not the only one: many Moroccans eat there as well. It’s true that in the neighborhood there’s a Moroccan community: and some of them use to go there to drink the traditional tea, have a chat altogether, listening to the traditional music…

Sometimes, I have the feeling I’m in one of the many snacks in Casablanca… and it’s even true, when the waiter starts to sing an Arabic song while serving everyone!

I’ve tried nearly everything and was not disappointed, but I especially recommend the “Tagine Kefta” (ask for ‘la totale’ with potatoes and eggs), the “Soupes de lentilles”.

Oh, and did I tell you? Yes, they have Couscous, of course!!!

Bsaha (Arabic word to say ‘bon appetit’)

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Perle D’Orient | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Moroccan) | Soup € 3.00
rue Malibran, 23 | Ixelles
Mon – Fri

Therese et Dominique is one of those places where ordering the regular would be a true crime.

Although this is ‘just’ a sandwich bar, it would be a pity to go for the baguette with tuna fish you always eat. Apart from the usual stuff they have a bunch of specialties worth to be discovered. Try for instance an adapted chico bello, mozzarella-tomato with sweet peppers and fried aubergine slices, divine.

When it’s nice weather I like to take-away my treasure and eat it sitting in the sun of the Poelaert square while doing some tourist watching, but it’s also possible to eat at the place itself, inside or in the cute garden.

Measured by the queues that might appear at the entrance it seems I’m not the only fan of the place, make sure you’re in it. Don’t worry, they work fast, you never have to wait too long.

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Therese et Dominique | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Baguette € 3.50
Dejonckerstraat 23 | Ixelles
Mon – Sat

In Belgium a “Stam café” is the coffee bar you are use to go to very often. It’s your very first spot any moment of the day.

I used to have one until one year ago. But don’t search in my previous articles; I stopped going to that place a long time before I started writing for Spotted by locals. So I have my different spots, indeed, but I was desperately in quest of my new “stam café”.

And then, at the end of the summer, a new bar open its doors at the end of my street. Knowing that I live in Flagey: yes, that’s another very nice place to hang out in Flagey!

What is so special about this place? It’s cosy and I like some details on the design, the bartender is really friendly and welcoming, I recognise the faces of some people at other tables, the music is nice and it’s at 20 meters from my apartment!

And last but not least for a non alcohol drinker but night bird like me… they do serve tea after 22:00.

See you there, hopefully!

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Tigre Café | Bars, Coffee & tea
Rue de la Brasserie, 117-119 | Ixelles
08:30 – 00.00 daily