9 Best Restaurants in Brussels, Belgium

With superb cuisine, excellent wines, and attentive service, this two-star Michelin restaurant remains a regal choice, with an interior (and prices) to match. Lionel Rigolet, who took over the reins as chef from his father-in-law Pierre Wynants in 2006, is a ceaselessly inventive character with one foot in tradition, dishing up elegant racks of veal dashed with sweetbreads or cockerel breasts crowned with crayfish. Earlier creations have been relegated to the back of the menu, but one favorite remains—fillet of sole with a white wine mousseline and shrimp. Book weeks in advance to guarantee a table.

Hidden away in the streets just to the south of Parc Josephat, opposite the wine bar Ethylo, the local buzz is strong about this charming restaurant. The "market menu" is adapted in case of intolerances and geared around local producers. Its focus on gut-friendly fermentation, from kefir to sauerkraut, is explained knowledgeably, as amuse bouches are carted out with enthusiasm. 

A short walk from place Jourdan reveals this elegant, modern French restaurant, its pared-down, neat decor broken up with colorful prints of animals and the bustle of the open kitchen. The choice of food is equally sparse but to the point: four-course set menus deliver with imagination and no little amount of skill, letting you mix and match from your pick of cold, warm, hot, and sweet dishes on the blackboard. Lunch is a great deal at €25 for a starter and main.   

This elegant dining spot has a charming terrace surrounded by a grassy lawn and trees. The menu is grandiose but not afraid of the more interesting rural delights of French cooking, from saddle of hare to fillet of fawn via a number of interesting pheasant dishes. Just as exciting is its new food-sharing menu, as it tries to capture the postgarden walk-in crowd, where baked sweetbreads, caviar, and Duroc pork belly offer a more classically French take on the format. 

A couple of miles west of Gaasbeek is the rather bijou little town of Lennik, home to a fair number of high-priced dining options. One of the finer is August, a wine shop-cum-restaurant that oozes class and is set in an 18th-century wine merchant's premises. Paired set menus aren't cheap, but they pack a lot of flavor in, arriving immaculately presented. 

Luigi Ciciriello's Michelin-starred "Black Truffle" attracts a sophisticated and well-heeled clientele with its modern design, well-spaced tables, and cuisine that often requires bottomless pockets. Its menu draws on classic Italian and modern French cooking. Carpaccio is prepared at the table and served, like most dishes on the menu, with long strips of truffle. Entrées may include instant smoked bass with a truffle julienne or sautéed foie gras with dried fruits and speculoos. In summer you can eat in the garden—just don't forget your credit card. 

While COVID-19 forced a lot of restaurants to embrace reservation policies, 203 has gone for the first-come, first-served approach, and recommends turning up at 7 (we'd argue 10 minutes beforehand) to guarantee a spot at dinner. It's certainly worth the effort. Set menus at this charming bistro change every week, according to the whims of the season, and there's a fine selection of natural wines, which are, by now, almost mandatory in all modern Brussels restaurants. 

A restaurant with a firm eye on seasonal cooking, slow food, and organic produce. No surprise, then, that it's from the same people behind the Titulus wine bar (see Nightlife), and that its selection of natural wines is among the finest in any restaurant in the city. The food isn't half bad either, and impresses with its often pared-down simplicity: from Asian-style duck with miso and wakame to a gamey venison stew. Dishes are not over fussed but presented simply and with confidence. 

Leuven has a good reputation for its dining, with a couple of Michelin stars knocking about its streets. This isn't one of them, but it's not far off. A little cluster of high-end restaurants scatter Bondgenotenlaan, leading up from the station. The setting here is rather unique, with a long, narrow dining hall below a beamed ceiling made entirely of skylights, leading to a small walled terrace. It couldn't be lighter, and the same goes for its food, where it almost seems to float off the plate it's so dainty and wistful. Dishes are an experience, with its collection of ingredients arriving in ever more inventive ways.