9 Best Restaurants in Brussels, Belgium

Finally, the mushroom-theme restaurant of your dreams … well, someone's dreams. And while diners might discover that it isn't quite as eccentric as they'd expect (mushrooms feature in all dishes but often as side ingredients), it is nonetheless quite out there, particularly the desserts: try the cakey flan diplomate and wood-ear fungus! The owners also run the impressive fine-dining French restaurant La Buvette and the excellent bakery Hopla Geiss, whose cinnamon rolls are utterly moreish, on the same street, but this is where the "fun guys" go (groan). 

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.

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. 

This split-level restaurant, on a side alley off the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, has all the trappings of an old-time bistro: green-shaded lamps over marble-top tables, a forest's worth of dark wood paneling, and laid-back waiters. There's nothing casual about the French-style cuisine, however: grilled sweetbreads with baked courgettes, mille-feuille of crayfish and salmon with a puree of langoustines, and saddle of lamb with spring vegetables and potato gratin. The selection of Beaujolais is particularly good.

In and among the pricey antiques and jewelry shops of the Sablon, you'll find a fair amount of stylish dining. Among these establishments comfortably snuggles Lola, an undeniably charming brasserie of black-leather booths and a bar counter for those grabbing a quick lunch. The menu is rotundly French but with a small exclave of Belgian and house dishes, such as cod and peeled gray shrimp or Holstein carpaccio. 

This branch of a local minichain is one of several good-quality lunch spots on the pedestrianized rue Jean Stas, just off avenue Louise. With a vaguely beach-house decor and outdoor tables in warm weather, the restaurant's equally breezy menu includes Belgian staples like boudin noir (blood sausage) as well as quiches and salads; the latter are huge. It's also a great place to grab a morning or afternoon coffee and a slice of delicious cake.

Despite its name, this is not really a wine bar (though they run a roof terrace in summer where you can go for a drink) and it's just on the edge of the Marolles. Owners Vincent Thomaes and Joël Vandenhoudt relocated to rue Haute from Sablon in 2013, back when this was a popular bar. Since then, it's evolved into very much a grande-dame-style restaurant where haughty paintings hang in thick frames, the service is likeably fastidious, and wine is very much at the center of most meals. It's decadent in the best way possible, with an emphasis on classic French cooking and natural wines.

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.