When it comes to a true sense of togetherness, Brussels is definitely the place to be. It has always been a welcoming and cosmopolitan city, open to the world and to its many visitors. By the early 1990s, these are precisely the values that drive Alain Coumont when he opens his first Le Pain Quotidien on Rue Antoine Dansaert in the very heart of the city.
For 24 years now, people have been queuing up to sit down — generally with total strangers — at the huge communal table of reclaimed wood and savour the simplicity of good food and good company. This communal table is indeed the centrepiece of all Le Pain Quotidien outlets all over the world, in countries as different as the United States, Japan, Brazil, India or Turkey, to name just of few.
Ten years later, in 2001, it is up to another innovative concept to see the light of day: Exki opening its first outlet at Porte de Namur. Here too you eat fast but healthy food with as many organic and local products as possibly can and particular focus on ethically and ecologically sourced salads and soups which gained the brand its reputation. Exki is currently established in five countries but remains closely tied to the capital city.
These two iconic brands have paved the way and literally set the trend. As a result, you can now enjoy this healthy and fresh dining packed full of flavours almost everywhere in Brussels. A common concern shared by all these so-called neo-canteens is the determination to offer premium quality food at an affordable price in a warm and homely environment. Moreover, many of these eateries favour organic and locally produced ingredients and are generally fervent followers of the slow food movement.
We name just a few — the list is long and by no means exhaustive — and to start with, two places that firmly uphold the principle so dear to Le Pain Quotidien of joining others at social friendly dining tables:
Les Filles - Plaisirs Culinaires : although their story started a few years ago, the “girls” only recently relocated in the fashionable Dansaert district. At large wooden tables, they invite guests to communal family-style dining and serve a single fair-price lunch/dinner menu at midday and in the evening. The place oozes with love and passion for food, and urges you to (re)discover great tasting seasonal food. Simply put, a must visit!
Le Garage à Manger : when he is not touring around the numerous Brussels markets with his trendy food truck El Camion, Joël Geismar officiates with unmitigated pleasure in the kitchen of an incredibly luminous and exceptionally tasty Garage à Manger. In a matter of months, the establishment has become a very popular rendezvous, and deservedly so.
Much like Les Filles, Garage à Manger proposes a short menu with savoury dishes prepared on the spot, allowing you to enjoy it fully and preventing it from going to waste as well as offering prices that are little short of a miracle.
Mer du Nord/Noordzee : once a very well-kept secret, now one of the city’s best-known fish shops turned street food outlet on the edge of Place Sainte-Catherine, Mer du Nord/Noordzee is all the rage and just opened two fish-bars in the heart of the European district and in the Marolles. Here you share the typically Brussels sense of togetherness standing at a table on the pavement to eat a nifty selection of first-class, as fresh as it gets, fishy snacks such as razor-shells cooked “à la plancha” right in front of you, whelks, prawn croquettes... or whatever grabs your fancy.
God Save The Cream : as everyone knows by now, unless of course you have spent the last twenty years stuck on board a submarine – whether yellow or not – British cuisine has come on leaps and bounds. The very pleasant God Save The Cream is a shining example of the best products England has to offer... on Belgian soil. You cannot but fall in love with the cosy place once lured inside by its promise of “serious coffee/sincere food/truly homemade”.
Chez Josy : organic canteens are popping up like mushrooms all over the capital and so much the better. And there is no denying that Chez Josy is one of those diners you can only warmly recommend. Another fine example is Henri & Agnès that recently set shop in the Schuman neighbourhood.
These modern, often organic, always hip and trendy canteens are in plentiful supply in the city centre but also in other parts of town, for instance the Châtelain district. On your wanderings through Brussels, you might get lucky enough to come across and have a fabulous lunch or dinner at Jour de Fête, Ici, Delicatessen, Yeti, or Charlotte Ses Tartines.
Real burgers lovers shall rather go to the two Manhattn’s, Green Mango, Burger Republic or les Super Filles du Tram bij among others. Numerous delicious foodie places are dedicated to world cuisine such as Mo Mo and its Tibetan dumplings, noodle or ramen bars such as Kokuban, Au Bon Bol, Yamato, Menma or Umamìdo. Or the trail-blazing but still topical tiny little Italian Vini Divini where the chef cooks on the stove at the bar and which just opened its “negozio”: in a nutshell, a Lilliputian place where divine Italian wines and cuisine perfectly complement each other.
Atypical, unique and unexpected to say the least, Cook & Book located in the south of Brussels welcomes both bookworms and food-lovers in nine different cleverly linked shops, each with its own atmosphere and matching lunch/dinner space. Not surprisingly ranked in the top 20 of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, the store is a real crowd-puller, well worth a visit.
Let us also mention, since there is not a dearth of canteen-like eating spots in Brussels, eateries that focus on one main, or even single, product such as JAT (bagels and coffee bar), Bia Mara (fish & chips) or both addresses of Pistolet Original.
Pistolet Original is a new deli focusing on the genuine good old “pistolet”, a round crunchy bun that is so typically iconic of Brussels. Pistolet Original resolutely strikes a nostalgic chord revisiting the emblematic stuffed “pistolets” of the old days with la crème de la crème of Belgian products all locally sourced such as home-made chicken curry, meat delicatessen from butcher Dierendonck or hand-peeled grey shrimps. This is what we call love at first bite!
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Address book :
Le Pain Quotidien
about ten outlets in Brussels. List available on www.lepainquotidien.be
Exki
about twenty outlets in Brussels. List available on www.exki.be
Les Filles - Plaisirs Culinaires
www.lesfillesplaisirsculinaires.be
Rue du Vieux Marché aux Grains 46, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 534 04 83Le Garage à Manger
www.garage-a-manger.be
Rue Washington 185, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 880 67 74Mer du Nord/Noordzee
www.poissonneriemerdunord.be
Rue Sainte-Catherine 45, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2/513 11 92
Rue du Luxembourg 62-64, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 280 05 00God Save The Cream
www.godsavethecream.be
Rue de Stassart 131, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 503 07 75Chez Josy
www.facebook.com/ChezJosy
Place Keym 15, 1170 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 679 01 53Henri & Agnès
www.henrietagnes.com
Rue Véronèse 48, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)471 22 28 02Jour de Fête
www.jour-de-fete.be
Boulevard Anspach 181, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 512 38 00Ici
www.facebook.com/ICI-neo-cantine
Rue Darwin 35, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 343 88 57Delicatessen
www.facebook.com/delicatessenbxl
Rue Sainte-Catherine 17-19, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 324 78 79Yeti
www.iloveyeti.be
Rue du Bon Secours 4-6, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 502 24 26Charlotte Ses Tartines
www.facebook.com/Charlottesestartines
Rue du Bailli 17, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 649 15 42Mo Mo
http://mo-mo.eu/
Rue Defacqz 27, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 522 09 68Kokuban
www.kokuban.be
Rue Vilain XIIII 53-55, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 611 06 22Au Bon Bol
http://sites.resto.com/aubonbol/
Rue Paul Devaux 9, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 513 16 88Umamìdo
www.umamido.be
Chaussée de Vleurgat 1, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 640 40 57 (pas de reservations)Menma
www.facebook.com/menmabelgique
Avenue des Saisons 123, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 648 73 70Yamato
www.facebook.com/yamatobelgique
Rue Francart 11, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : + 32 (0)2 511 02 00Vini Divini
www.lebergerhotel.be/restaurant/
Rue du Berger 24, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 510 83 40Cook & Book
www.cookandbook.be
Avenue Paul Hymans 251, 1200 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 761 26 00JAT’ Café
www.facebook.com/JatCafe
Rue de Namur 28, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 503 03 32Bia Mara
www.biamara.com
Rue Marché au Poulet 41, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 502 00 61Manhattn’s
www.manhattns.com
Avenue Louise 164, 1000 Bruxelles
Rue Henri Maus 39, 1000 BruxellesLes Super Filles du Tram
www.superfillesdutram.com
Rue Lesbroussart 22, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 648 46 60
+ Café Gudule (same card,at noon and during the week)
Rue du Gentilhomme 11-13, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 503 10 15Green Mango
www.greenmango.be
Chaussée de Vleurgat 142, 1000 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 649 90Burger Republic
www.burgerrepublic.be
Chaussée de Vleurgat 7, 1050 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 640 10 14Pistolet Original
www.pistolet-original.be
Rue Joseph Stevens 24-26, 1000 Bruxelles
Rue Breydel 46, 1040 Bruxelles
T. : +32 (0)2 880 80 98