Image by Wouter Spitters

You’re hungry as a bear or eager to score a meat overdose? Head for the best rib thing in town, Amadeo.

To tell you a little secret, I personally don’t like spare ribs at all, but when asked to accompany friends or family to this charming all-you-can-eat rib place I don’t have to hesitate a single second. It’s a pleasure already only to sit and absorb the unique atmosphere created by the walls made out of books and jazzy thirties music. I usually go for a steak or grilled shrimps and wait for my friends when order again and again and even more.

Also worth mentioning are the boiled potatoes delivered with a delicious sauce and the enjoyable house wine that gets billed per consumed finger. There is a big bottle on the table and they just measure how much you drank.

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Amadeo | Restaurants (Spareribs) | All you can eat ribs € 13.50
Sint-Katelijnestraat 26 – 28 | Center | +3225025137
Mon – Thu 18:30 – 23:00, Fri – Sun 18:00 – 23:30

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Image by Wouter Spitters

This place might NOT be the typical Greek restaurant with Corinthian pillars and dancing waiters, but it’s definitely one of my favorite spots to score a typical Greek dish when I’m in the Midi region. No fancy inside, this is a Greece style taverna.

Go into the kitchen to check out for yourself what the day dishes are – they don’t have a menu – two minutes later a huge portion is served at your table. Excellent stuff is the stuffed pepper and the moussaka, which goes along very well with a glass of malamatina retsina.

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Athenes | Restaurants (Greek) | Meal € 8.00
Rue de l’Argonne 22 | The South | +3225382113
Tue – Sun 11:00 – 22:30

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Image by Wouter Spitters

There are many good Italian restaurants in Brussels, one that I can recommend in the city centre is Rugantino. Whether you are looking for a pizza, pasta, risotto or carne, Rugantino has it all.

But it’s not only the food that counts, the reason why I fancy this place is more than the food the setting itself. The furniture, the big light, the inside balcony that gives a patio feeling, the waiters, the talkative boss… if you truly like Italian charm, you’re going to love this place.

One thing is true, you might have to wait a bit for your food to appear on your table, but who cares if you’re in good company…

Buon appetito!

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Rugantino | Restaurants (Italian)
Anspachlaan 184 | Center | +3225112195
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 23:00, Sat 18:00 – 23:00

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Image by Wouter Spitters

The Rue Jourdan is one of the places to be when you’re looking for a cozy street full of nice resto terraces in the Louiza Area. Located close to movie theatres UGC Toison d’Or and Vendôme (check the Vendôme article) makes it a good spot for a pre-movie dinner.

Italians are well represented in this street, Al Piccolo Mondo, I Trulli, Il Rinascimento , Il Vecchio Mulino… your pick! Fancy French food? Try a Coq au vin in Le Délire Parisien or French/Belgian cuisine in Au Boeuf Gros Sel while Kwiling will feed the ones looking for Asian kitchen.

Take a look around the corner in Rue Dejoncker for other (and more budget-friendly) options such as Lebanese and Vietnamese restaurants and a regular brasserie.

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Rue Jourdan | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants
Rue Jourdan | Ixelles
Early breakfast – late dinner daily

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Image by Wouter Spitters

Looking for a tasty crêpe and don’t have time to go to Brittany or Normandy? We Belgians like pancakes too. The sweet ones are the most popular and widespread, most brasseries offer sweet pancakes as a dessert and it is a typical treat at children’s birthday parties.

Pancakes with savory fillings are a little harder to find however. Maison des Crêpes is one of those places that offers both sweet and savory fillings.

Enjoy your lunch/dinner or ‘in between’ in this cosy place with over-friendly service…and don’t forget to order your apple Cider… ;)

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La maison des Crêpes | Snacks, Restaurants (Crepes)
Zuidstraat 13 | Center | +322475957368
Tue – Sun 11:00 – 23:00

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Image by Wouter Spitters

Alright, it’s Saturday evening and you’re going out with a group of friends, you are hungry and longing for great food…but no one thought about making a reservation… Only a couple of steps away from the Grand Place there is already a solution to your problem, in Tapas Locas you simply cannot make reservations at all. Order the excellent sangria while waiting for a free table or go and sit right away if there are seats available.

Meat lovers, veggies, lot of appetite or only looking for a nice dessert, all of you can come along in this charming place. The menu isn’t limited to Spanish classics as costillas, chorizo frito, manchego and albondigas, there is also a variety of common Mediterranean food like Bruschettina, keftedes with tzatziki, spinache ricotta lasagna and with witlof and mussels they even have some Belgian specialities. No better way to finish the evening ordering one of the dessert tapas. The heavenly crepes, chocolate mousse or the pear-almond cake may start a fiesta in your mouth.

Each tapa costs 3.50 euro, the only thing that is mandatory is that they ask you to take at least three portions per person.

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Tapas Locas | Restaurants (Tapas) | Per tapa € 3.50
Rue du Marché au Charbon 74 | Center | +3225021268
Wed – Thu 19:00 – 23:00, Fri – Sat 19:00 – 00:00

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Image by Wouter Spitters

You can already smell this is a place where you can forget the clichés of the typical Greek restaurants you’ve been to too many times. No giant souvlaki on your plate, sitting between fake Corinthian pillars while you’re being disturbed by bouzouki players bringing serenades at your table.

A typical Greek ouzerie is a place where people come together to drink their ice cold ouzo and enjoy some often cold appetizers, called mezedes. This mezedepoleio of course offers you ouzo, and has a broad selection of delicious cold and warm mezedes.

Fill your table with stuffed peppers, warm saganaki cheese, the Cretan dakos bread, fried aubergines, meat skewers, keftedes meatballs and fish.

Jump into the world of the authentic Greek, Cretan and Mediterranean kitchen and select, mix and share your favorite menu.

Kali oreksi

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Ouzerie mezedopolio | Restaurants (Greek) | Ouzo € 25.00
Chaussée d’Ixelles 235 | Ixelles | +3226464449
Mon – Sat 19:00 – 00:00

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Image by Renata Riva

In Brussels you can easily find all kinds of food, but what’s missing in many places is the atmosphere. What attracted me to La Kasbah in the first place was its window full of oranges.

As soon as I entered I felt I had been instantaneously transported to Morocco. Dark light, low tables, lanterns and a good smell of food. Yes, this is the place for me I thought.

I always start with mezze, a small Moroccan tapas including aubergines, Moroccan salad and spinach. I then continue with tajine, the lemon chicken and the prunes ones are fabulous. Be careful, they are burning hot when they are served!

To finish the dinner, I usually go for fresh mint tea served Arabic style, very very sweet and poured from high up. The service is very good, waiters are friendly and they will remember you if you return.

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La Kashba | Restaurants (Moroccan) | Tajine € 18.00
Rue Antoine Dansaert 20 | Center | +3225024026
Sun – Thu 12:00 – 14:30 & 19:00 – 23:00, Fri 12:00 – 14:30 & 19:00 – 00:30, Sat 19:00 – 00:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Brussels

Image by Wouter Spitters

The world refers to them as French fries, although there is no population in the world that eats more of them and they are invented here, in this country. You spent all your money in chocolate stores and you’re running out of budget? Or you’re just looking for some quick and cheap snack?

Try a typical ‘frietkot’ and head to Fritland, located in the tourist heart of the centre. Ready in a minute and you can eat them inside, outside on the terrace or as takeaway to enjoy your meal at the steps of the Bourse.

Wanna act like a local? Eat ‘french’ fries with mayo. And when you’re desperately looking for a bit of meat… try a mitraillette, Fritland has the best ones in town. No fear, no one will get harmed, it’s just a baguette with hamburger, lettuce, baked onions, cocktail sauce and – of course – Belgian fries.

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Fritland | Snacks, Restaurants (Friterie) | Mitraillette € 3.50
Rue Henri Maus 49 | Center | +3225140627
Sun – Thu 11:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 07:00

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Image by Seán Kerrigan

I loved the idea of  this place before I’d ever been. A one man, open kitchen firing out made-to-order delicacies all based on the glorious mushroom? Even the creme bruléé? Surely, it would prove a disappointment; a one trick gimmick designed for birthday parties and garden gnomes? Happily, it is a success on nearly every level.

The restaurant’s warm welcome and cosy setting match the inviting smells and inventive wine list in getting bellies rumbling. So just how many dishes can you get out of a fungus? Enough to keep our merry party of 5 all happy and eager for the next dish anyway. Groups are recommended to go for an ‘ensemble’ which basically means following the whims of the chef. But proper order is followed and the result is definitely a square meal, not show cooking. An autumn walk in the forest with some successful hunting thrown in about covers the fare on offer, all imaginative and delicious. And not a smurf in sight…

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Café des Spores | Restaurants | Dinner + drinks for 2 € 60
Chaussée d’Alsemberg 103 | The South | +3225341303
18:00 – 22:00 daily

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