It’s the first place I’ve ever eaten in Brussels, so it’s a very special place to me. 5 years, and not much has changed!

Getting more popular by the minute l’Ultime Atome is a typical café restaurant in the heart of Ixelles, squeezed between the shopping street of chaussee d’Ixelles and the African neighbourhood in chaussee de Wavre.

It’s a great place to rest after shopping or drink before clubbing. It offers food all day long, and has a very good beer list (seasonal beers, Trappist beers, regional beers,…). They also serve breakfast daily, but unfortunately only ’till 12:00!

I like the pot of fresh mint tea (with liquid sugar!) a lot. One of the specialities is the “chocolat chaud”, the hot chocolate which is served as hot milk and separate chocolate pearls which you mix at your taste. Not to miss is the “molleaux au chocolat” served with custard and the cakes in display on the left of the main entrance.

It has a dozen tables on the terrace, a bit squeezed but great on one of those few warm sunny day. The staff is friendly, prices are average but you’ve got to pay for the loo.

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L’Ultime Atome | Bars, Restaurants (Café) | Beer € 2.00
14, rue Saint Boniface | Ixelles | +3225111367
Mon – Fri 08:30 – 01:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 01:00

In Brussels you can find cafes on every corner. Typical, busy, 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, all biological! You just have to choose. Everything is prepared in front of you in the kitchen open to the room. What I like about 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!

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Het Warme Water | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (Bruxelloise) | Breakfast € 10
25, Rue des Renards | Center | +3225139159
Thu – Sun 09:00 – 17:00

This restaurant is excellent. Everything about it is worth your visit. The food, the service, the interior, and the price quality equation.

I go there often and I always have such a great experience. I have rarely encountered such a perfect service. You will be treated as royalty. You are offered a very high quality appetizer, with papadum, pickle, chutney and raita. All served in beautiful traditional bowls and plates. The main course is so fresh and great tasting you will feel good all evening.

Furthermore it is situated in a very active neighbourhood with bars everywhere and people walking even on a Tuesday evening.

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Shezan | Restaurants (Pakistan) | Main meal € 25
120 Chaussé de Wavre | Ixelles | +3225129495
11:00 – 00:00 daily

This Ethiopian restaurant also happens to be a exposition venue, bar and concert place.

It serves traditional Ethiopian dishes served with injera, the bread like pancake that serves as an edible plate. You can choose between fish, meat (chicken, beef, lamb) and vegetarian. Next to this there is a large variety of salads to accompany your meal.

The restaurant is located in a very inviting neighborhood right off boulevard Anspach. The prices for the meals are very reasonable and relatively cheap. Afterward you can visit other equally enjoyable bars there like Au soleil or Fontainas. This area can give you an enjoyable night out and offers nice clothes, shoes and gift shops during the day.

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Kokob Ethiopian restaurant | Restaurants (Ethiopean) | Meal € 20.00
Rue des Grands Carmes 10 | Center | +3225111950
Tue – Sun 12:00 – 22:00, Mon 18:00 – 22:00

This is one of the best places to eat if you are in the center.

The food is excellent. The servings are big and they offer a very large variety of dishes. I always go for the soup with curry, coconut milk, noodles, fresh Thai basil, lemon-grass, calamari and scampi.

The service is great and the whole experience is just too good to miss out on.

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Le Lotus bleu | Restaurants (Vietnamese) | Meal of the day € 5.00
Rue du Midi 70 | Center | +3225026299
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 23:00, Sat – Sun 18:00 – 23:00

There is only one good vegetarian place to go on the Anspachlaan. This little restaurant offers the best falafel ever. A counter, three tables, a fridge with beverages and a large salad bar are the settings for a cozy restaurant experience.

You order your falafel and watch the skilled cook preparing it. Then you take your falafel to the salad bar and you fill it up with a nice assortment of vegetables. Do not forget the delicious white tahin sauce that goes with a genuine falafel. This restaurant is a wonderful change from the abundant sandwich joints in Brussels, here you can eat a falafel that’s definitely worth the name.

The people of this place are opening another Mr. Falafel at the Horta Gallery soon and in Ghent, Antwerp and Brugge. Tasting their falafel will have you wanting more. Especially the fresh sauces and salads that are full of flavor and herbs. I know you’ll be wanting to return or ask the owner to establish one in your hometown. And these must be the nicest restaurant owners in town.

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Mr Falafel-snackbar | Snacks, Restaurants (Egyptian) | Falafel € 4
Lemonnierlaan 53 | Center
12:00 – 00:00 daily

Metro stop Naamse Poort is the gateway to African shops, various ethnic restaurants, Italian, Greek, Indian, Pakistan, and Belgian cuisine. This is rue Nord, Brussels commercial clothes street converted into a nice area to wander in.

There are also a lot of African barber shops, clothes, food and jewelry shops next to HM, Zara and the usual pack of Belgian stores.

Further down the shop street right in front of the subway you’ll find a park to sit in front of the cities town hall, in Ixelles. Various bars and restaurants add to Matongés cultural offerings.

The Chaussée de Wavre offers mainly restaurants, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese bars and several African shops. There are also various second hand clothes shops and other specialised shops. The prices for food, clothes, or other items in this area are fairly cheap. Be sure to see this area at your own interests and pace.

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Matongé | Art & culture, Bars, Restaurants (Different)
Chaussee de Wavre, Porte de Namur | Ixelles
Daily

When hungry one should go to the street known for its Turkish pizza restaurants for lunch or dinner. The Haachtsesteenweg, at Saint-Josse, near the Botanique, has a lot of Turkish run pizzeria’s.

The lights are bright, the staff is quick and the pizza’s are one of the best in the area.

Another good one is more in the middle with a retro Greek decoration. There is even a fountain surrounded by white tiles and a bench with cushions in the waiting room (Metin, Chaussée de Haecht 94). There is an open furnace and you can watch the cook prepare the orders in the open style kitchen.You can also opt for a lentils soup or salad as a starter.

The area is growing fast with new buildings rising like mushrooms and the advent of various cultural events taking place in St. Josse, and the pizza’s remain exquisite!

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Turkish Pizza street | Restaurants (Turkish) | Turkish pizza € 5.00
Chaussée de Haecht 135 | The North | +323222184731
12:00 – 22:00 daily

A cinema theater that offers independent productions is Cinema Nova. It brings an alternative, artistic and limit surpassing cinema experience.

Via plastic transparent curtains you enter into a brick wall hall way with stairs going to the cinema’s bar. This bar stays true to cinema Nova’s alternative side by offering not too common beverages at cheap prices. I recommend tasting their pear juice.

Sometimes, depends on the people working and the activities scheduled, you can also have dinner in a tranquil family like camping setting. Actually being there reminds you of being at an indoor camping site with various people hanging around in couches, having discussions at tables or performers singing or playing music.

Even if you don’t see a movie there it is worth your while to check out this laid back environment. It has something to do with the building and the reputation cinema Nova upholds.

Every month there is a new theme that is being investigated. They screen contemporary as well as historic films. Nova also organizes various festivals around particular subjects. The films are shown round eight and they also offer midnight screenings. On Thursday you can view short films sent in by Cinema Nova’s film creating public.

To sum it up this place is one of the most worthwhile things to see when you are in the center. A true pioneer in less mainstream entertainment.

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Cinema Nova | Bars, Cinemas, Restaurants (Fusion) | Meal € 7.00
Rue d’Arenberg 3 | Center | +3225112477
17:00 – 02:00 daily

Set in the beautiful art nouveau building `The old England’, this museum guarantees a well spent afternoon. Various instruments, European and non European. are at display. Infrared headphones offer the possibility to hear extracts from the instruments you are viewing.

They collected a large sample of extracts for you to listen to, making a visit to this museum a feast for body and soul. In September until June concerts are organized there. These concerts make use of the enormous rare and ancient instruments in the collection.

Your visit is chronologically structured taking you to instruments and their sounds from ancient times until present day. Guided tours are also offered to give you a more thorough understanding of musical evolutions. Next to this rich collection of instruments the museum has a library where you can proceed your investigation of everything about music. It has a long history of collecting, renovating and preserving instruments that makes this museum extra spectacular.

There is also a shop where you can buy books, Cd’s and other music related products. Pictures and video extracts nicely put next to the instruments on display give you further insights. This is truly a museum where education, entertainment and conservation come together. Even if you don’t have time to visit this museum you can still visit the restaurant without paying for the entrance to the museum.

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Musical instruments museum | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Restaurants (Lunch)
Hofberg 2 | Center | +3225450130
Tue – Fri 9:30 – 17:00, Sat – Sun 10:00 – 17:00