Shop: Scandinavian cuisine in Brussels

We have all heard about the healthy benefits of Mediterranean cuisine. However, our friends in the north have been gaining more and more attention in the last years, and Nordic cuisine is on an upswing not only in Europe, but on other continents as well. Even New York has celebrated the delicious tastes of Northern Europe!!

The Nordic countries, in general, are known for their clean and vast nature, and for the people living in a symbiosis with nature rather than exploiting it. No wonder that the Nordic countries, in this case Denmark, has held the title of the world's best restaurant (Noma) for several years - celebrating just that, clean food from the nature to your plate (albeit with the twist of some really professional gastronomical hands doing their magic in the kitchen).  Apart from the usual domesticated stuff, Nordic cuisine will offer wild game, fish, mushroom, berries, and wild herbs. Many people like to take a walk in the forest using the so called "allemansrätt" (freedom to roam) collecting food. Spring is the best time for collecting wild plants, and foraging is becoming increasingly popular thanks to chefs such as, for example, Sami Tallberg, who reaches out both to normal "people on the street" and to the culinary expert circles worldwide. When summer proceeds, more and more mushroom start to appear. There are no signs forbidding you to pick mushroom "for biodiversity reasons" or what have you - that would just cause riots (or laughter) up there! So people take their mushroom baskets and spend the day wandering in the forests, picking chanterelles, porcini, russulas, etc etc. Knowing which mushroom are edible and which are poisonous is something most people grow up learning! The same goes for berries, with especially blueberries and lingon berries filling the baskets and ending up being eaten as such or added to porridge, cakes, cookies, or why not being made into marmalade - or even spirits. Only your imagination is the limit! And when it comes to animals, there are a lot of people who have hunting licenses or take their fishing hobbies seriously, so there will be an abundance of wild meat or fish on the plates.

Although we still have to wait for truly Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or Icelandic restaurants, it is already possible to indulge in Scandinavian delicacies right here in Belgium. There are a few places in Brussels where you can get products from the north.

First, let me introduce the Scanshop! There is one in Brussels next to Place Jourdan and one in Waterloo. From the Scanshop you can find products from all the five Nordic countries. You will find quite a wide variety of Nordic delicacies considering the small size of the shop at Jourdan! Especially noteworthy are the delicious - and healthy - rye breads available! I really would not like to sound like a commercial or put preference of one over another, as taste is always personal, but if you only pick up one thing from the rye bread shelf, then pick the Garlic Rye Crisps from the Finnish company Linkosuo. These are heavenly! You can eat them as such or you can serve them with cheese, pesto, mayonnaise, or whatever you find delicious! Apart from rye bread, there are lots of other products as well, not to forget Nordic sweets and chocolates. So, if you thought only Belgians were good at making chocolate - think again! Swedish Marabou and Finnish Fazer have lots of goodies to offer! In addition to food products, Scanshop also sells Scandinavian design, books and magazines. So to serve up your Nordic dinner, why not add something Nordic authentic to the setting? Scandinavian design is typically very simple and clean. No extra fuzz or mixing with crazy colours, but clean and simple lines with clear and distinctive colours. Whatever you choose, it will highlight the space without creating a fight with anything already there!

Second, there is a Scandinavian-Irish shop close to Schuman that also comes with a nice variety of goodies from the north. It is called Gourmet food and gifts and does unfortunately seem to lack a webpage. However, don't let that scare you away! You will find Nordic delicacies here as well! This shop does not have that many products from Finland or Iceland, though, so for that you may still be better off at the Scanshop. However, they have a slightly bigger section for frozen products, so if you are out of luck at the Scanshop, you may find yourself lucky here.

Should you be disappointed by the lack of Finnish products in the Gourmet food and gift shop, you can always head for the Finnish sailor's church and their store to find some goodies.

Hopefully this blog inspired you to give Nordic cuisine a try! If you want to start off easy, go to the store and ask for "gravad lax  or gravlax" and rye bread and make a small starter of that, then ask for some reindeer fillet and make a main course of that (e.g. with root vegetables), and why not ask for some Nordic berries that you can utilise in a dessert - and voila, you will have yourself a five star dinner!! There are several cookbooks available in English to help you out as well, just wander off to Amazon...

Restaurant: I Latini

I Latini is an Italian restaurant at Place Sainte-Catherine - one of the few non-fish restaurants in the area. The place is not super cozy, though, especially if you sit in the back of the restaurant. Although you have a view into the kitchen, the bright lights coming from there kind of spoils the candle light atmosphere. Don't accept a table in the back if you go there. On the other hand, sitting up front on a cold day may not be for people with chilly feet either. However, service is really friendly and helpful! The restaurant offers an amuse, which in our case has been quite delicious, so expectations are high from the start. As for the food, it is good but not heavenly - you will not start singing opera out of euphoria. However, you have to give a plus for not having one of those "thirteen in a dozen" Italian menus. It is definitely not a "Garfield wants lasagna" pasta craving restaurant, such as many family style Italian places, so choose to visit when you want to eat your Italian food with style rather than diving into a heart warming bowl of pasta.

I Latini is a place worth visiting if you are in the area and do not crave for seafood. After all, you cannot have lobster every day, can you? (Of course you can...)

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 4-
Atmosphere: 3-
Friendliness of staff: 4
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, even for business dinners.
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor.

Restaurant: Enoteca da Valentino

Enoteca da Valentino is a nice little Italian place hidden in a small street behind Porte de Namur. The service is really nice and friendly, a bit slow at times, but nothing to get you annoyed. The food is good; not "gourmet kinda good", but good enough to keep even your Italian friends happy and content! The pasta dishes on the menu are not the most creative ones, but fortunately they may have specials of the day to - well, save the day! This is one of those places you can go to when you want to relax with some good food and some nice wine, and you can even bring your friends without feeling ashamed of having made a bad pick for the evening.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3+
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 4
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes for relaxed dinner with spouse/family, friends, business lunch and even business dinner if you already know your business partner (and don't need to impress)
Value for money: yes

Click here for reviews by TripAdvisor.

Restaurant: Sensi - for a sense of being yelled at!

There are restaurants that take customer service to a whole other level - but not in a good way! We had quite an experience at SENSI concept store!

To start with, we really wanted to like the restaurant! It had that kind of laid back atmosphere where you think you can enjoy a nice evening with food, wine, friends and even some music. You are willing to accept that things don't go as planned and that everything on the menu is not available, because c'mon - c´est la vie! And to be fair, the young people of the staff were super friendly!

The rest of the evening, well... First of all, it was ice cold in the restaurant, because they insisted on keeping the door open for people to come in for their buffet option. But seriously, when it is cold outside it will get cold inside if you don't shut the door. As a customer, you don't get to keep your body temperature up by running around in the restaurant, as you will be sitting at your table, freezing. And once you freeze, you stop enjoying your stay. There is no reason to keep the door open as you can advertise your existence with blackboards and signs and whatnot - like most other restaurants do!

Then we ordered some starters and the main course. We wanted to share our starters, so we ordered one plate of meats (Italian sausages and hams) and one plate of cheese. We even asked if we could do that (share) and they said yes. Then each person wanted a pasta as a main course. Pretty simple, you would think. At first, we were positively surprised as they brought us some extra appetizers on the house, and they were really delicious! Then, however, they bring us the pasta, without having brought the appetizers that we ordered. Ok, no problem, we are flexible - we said that we can start with the pasta and have the meat/cheese plates afterwards.

The pasta dishes were kind of lame. For example, the pasta with pesto and ricotta had a nice taste, but there was way too much sauce. Never ever drown your pasta! The pasta with truffles was just boring; looked like pasta and sand, and it didn't really have much taste. The pasta with vegetables looked nice and tasted ok. Mediocre dishes, but okay, you can live with that.

Then they bring the meat and cheese plates and they were awesome! There was a lot to eat and we even joked about them bringing this after the pasta as customers would otherwise cancel the main course. So we were really happy with this one!

Coffee was ok, tea was kind of like boring tea from a bag with some weird foam on top. Meeh. And no desserts available.

Up to this you could say that you were in for a mediocre restaurant experience with some lows and some highs. You still had the idea that you could come back, but perhaps once the weather gets warmer. But this is when things started to go really bad. We asked for the check. When the check came, they had charged us 120 euros for the starters alone! This was ridiculous; one plate cost 15 euros, so the cost should have been 30 euros. At first we thought it was just a mistake, so we asked the staff to have a look. This is when hell broke loose! The woman in the restaurant started to literally shout at us in Italian! She kept screaming at us and claimed that we had ordered two plates per person and not two plates for all of us. She even brought out the smaller plates and started to waive them at us, like we were stupid customers or something. Like it would be ridiculous to order such small plates for several people. (Well, excuse me, but it would be ridiculous to order two such plates per person, and an honest restaurant would at least have informed the customer of what they were about to do). As she left our table she even kept on screaming at us from halfway down the hall. It was something like none of us had ever EVER experienced in a restaurant before. After a while we got her to bring back the menus and we again pointed out what we had ordered.

Now here's the thing. The restaurant made the mistake. We understand that it is unfortunate, but these things happen. Man up to your mistake and don't yell at the customer - especially since we had even asked when ordering whether sharing was possible!!! Also, had she been friendly, we would most definitely have left a huge tip to cover some of the pain, because the plates were delicious. But being screamed at - well, it destroyed our evening. We did not even want to stay for the jazz evening. Nor do we want to go back ever again. It didn't help that she later on kind of apologised. Especially since we ended up paying 18 euros too much anyway, but we were so tired being yelled at that we just wanted to leave...

So, rating this restaurant is not easy. I am trying to be as fair as I can and not let one person's behaviour affect everything, but we all know that service is half the restaurant experience.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3 (2 for the pasta, 4 for the rest)
Atmosphere: 1+ (3 had they kept the door shut)
Friendliness of staff: 1 (4 for the young people, "minus one hundred" for the lady)
Would I go there again: NO!!!
Would I recommend the place: No!
Value for money: no

And I truly feel sad to write this review, because as I said in the beginning - we really wanted to like this place, and had the service been friendly, we would have left remembering the highs and forgiving the lows. But there is a limit to everything! 

The reviews on TripAdvisor are very good, which is why we also had high expectations. 

Restaurant: Prego

Prego is an Italian-style restaurant in three different locations. The one tested here is the one at Place Jourdan. The atmosphere is modernist with a bar at the front and the restaurant at the back. Service is friendly, but nothing that will make you feel extraordinarily well treated. You even have to drag yourself to the cashier to pay instead of having the check coming to the table (at least if you pay by credit card). The menu is on the narrower side, however, the pastas offerred are at least a bit more inventive than you will find in your average Italian (tourist friendly) restaurant. The food is relatively good; nothing to complain about, but nothing that will rise an urge to go and give the chef a big hug. Let's put it this way: it is a safe choice, but not the most exciting one.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3+
Friendliness of staff: 3
Would I go there again: maybe, if someone else suggested it
Would I recommend the place: for having a night out with friends, yes. For business dinners, maybe no. Business lunch may be okay?
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check the TripAdvisor. It seems they are more critical to the place than we are, but maybe we had better luck...

Take away: Yoko wok

Yoko Wok is a small thai take away restaurant in Waterloo, close to the international school. You may combine the fillings to your own liking, creating a wok that is just what you yourself want to have. And they are delicious!! And huge, so unless you are hungry like a tiger, you will have a meal for the next day as well. Or you can share your meal!

In general, service is fast, but the place is popular, so you may want to place your order by calling them first, and then just pick it up.

Good Food in Belgium recommends this place for anyone who wants good thai take away and live within a 15min drive from Waterloo!

Restaurant: Basta Cosi

Basta Cosi is an Italian restaurant at Place Chatelain in Ixelles. When weather permits, it provides a terrace where you can sit and enjoy the square, especially on Wednesdays when there is a market. The food is okay and portion sizes are generous. It is nothing to die for, but you will not die from it either. You might die while waiting for it, though, since service is not always the fastest on the planet. However, service was not unfriendly in any way.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3
Atmosphere: 3+
Friendliness of staff: 3- (minus for speed)
Would I go there again: yes, if in the area. Would not travel there just to go here.
Would I recommend the place: not really. I would not discourage anyone from going, but I would not jump up and down for anyone to go there. It is ok.
Value for money: a bit pricey for what it's worth.

For more reviews, check TripAdvisor.

Restaurant: Ellis Gourmet Burger

Ellis Gourmet Burger is a small hamburger chain. It is concept by some young enthusiasts: to serve good burgers!

The restaurant at the Dansaert quarters, next to Saint-Catherine, is a modern, lively, and enjoyable place full of life. The burgers are very good, but not heavenly, and your interpretation of raw/medium/well done may differ from theirs. Nice side meals are offered and they are generous enough. Service is a bit "distant"; they are friendly when attending you, but let's say they don't mind leaving you alone either.

Of course, it is a chain, so things may be different in another restaurant of theirs. For better or worse.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3+
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 3
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, for going out with friends and colleagues. Not for business dinners.
Value for money: yes

Check out the review by TripAdvisor

Restaurant: Eccetera

Eccetera is a nice Italian restaurant hidden away in a backstreet from Place Jourdan. If you don't know about its existence, you will probably not find it by accident (which we, strangely enough, did). But it is a good find! Food is really good, among the best ones in its price category. Service is fast, but not hectic, and very friendly. The atmosphere is nice if you like to have some noise and chatter around you.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 4+
Atmosphere: 4+
Friendliness of staff: 4+
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, for going out with friends and colleagues. Business dinner may be okay if it is not suoposed to be formal or you need to continue business talks.
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor

Restaurant: Cool Bun

Cool Bun has two restaurants, one at Place Stephanie, the other at Schuman. This place is for some serious burgers! Everything is handmade and the beef is flamed grilled, so what you get on your plate is real food done with a good heart for an empty stomach! And make sure your stomach is empty when you get here, because portion sizes are huge. The atmosphere is nice and service is really friendly. It is especially interesting to go to the one at Schumann while serious EU meetings are going on, because you may spot people having a bite while waiting for their cell phones to call them back into the meeting. You are right where things happen! Or at least close...

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 4
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, for going out with friends and colleagues. Maybe not for business dinners, though.
Value for money: yes. It is a bit pricey, but considering that everything is handmade, it is value for money.

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor

Food Truck: Ty Penty

Ty Penty is a creperie on wheels serving wonderful and authentic crepes at various markets in Brussels. The crepes are as thin as they should be, coming with various fillings. You have both savoury and sweet alternatives. The owners of the food truck are extremely friendly and warm. The atmosphere surrounding the van is comforting, like you would be in a small village market somewhere in France.

Grades given (in the #foodtruck category) by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 5
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes
Value for money: yes

Food Truck: El Taco Mobil

El Taco Mobil is what you already could call a famous food truck in Brussels that serves Mexican street food every Thursday at Parvis de Saint-Gilles (and every second Sunday of the month at Atelier des Tanneurs). In addition to a real fun atmosphere, they serve heavenly tacos with a delicious guacamole, and just perfectly spicy sauces. Both meat and vegetarian versions are available, most made out of organic ingredients. Furthermore, you have an option of beer, Mexican lemonades, and a few other drinks as well. The service attitude is friendly and happy even when the place gets busy. This food truck is really worth a bus/metro ride to even if you don't live in the area. 

If you are a tourist in Brussels and you wish something different than your average restaurant meal, this one is worth a visit. Not only will you have good tacos, you will also be able to explore a part of the town you probably would not otherwise wonder into. There you will discover a multitude of restaurants and bars (for the days the El Taco Mobil is somewhere else). Just take the metro to Hallepoort (Porte de Hal) and walk, or the premetro/tram to Parvis de Saint-Gilles (Sint Gillisvoorplein), and you are there!

Grades given (in the new #foodtruck category) by Good Food in Belgium:

Food: 4+ 

Atmosphere: 4 

Friendliness of staff: 5

Would I go there again: yes

Would I recommend the place: yes.
Value for money: yes

Restaurant: King Hwa

KingHwa is a Chinese-Thai restaurant in the heart of the European Quarter. It is one of those standard Far-East Asian restaurants; not fine dining but not a dump either. In summer, there is a terrace in the backyard. The food is pretty good depending on what you choose. If you choose from the regular menu, you will get a decent portion of food with a fairly good taste. It is not something that you will jump up and down out of joy for, but you will find yourself coming back on a day when you are too lazy to cook and feel like something Thai or Chinese. However, if you choose one of the chef's suggestions, you are in for a better treat! The chef's suggestions really remind you of why there are - well, chef's suggestions! These are delicious. Service is good; friendly, but not over the top.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3- regular menu, 3++ chef's suggestions 
Atmosphere: 3-
Friendliness of staff: 3
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: I would not specifically mention the place, but in case someone asked about a decent Thai/Chinese in the area, why not. This is where you can go with your significant other, your family, or a friend you just want to grab something to eat with. I would not book for a business meeting. 
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor!

Restaurant: Zio

Zio is an Italian restaurant in Waterloo. It is quite cosy with friendly staff and a good atmosphere. Although quite booked from time to time, they always seem to find a way to squeeze you in, if only possible. In summer, there is a nice terrace in the backyard. The portions are generous, so you will not leave hungry. In the beginning, one may find that the dishes take some liberties with regards to their names, however, the result is nonetheless delicious. This is a warm and comforting place to come to whenever you want to have a nice dinner out.

If this place was to be reviewed only within its own category (cosy, family friendly Italian places), it would score much higher. However, to be fair; Zio is not closing up on Michelin stars in any way, nor should it. But with the given reviewing principles, this has to be taken into consideration when comparing restaurants. After all, everything is subjective. And, by the way, so is taste! This is still a very good place to go should you be in Waterloo!

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3++ 
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 4
Would I go there again: yes!!
Would I recommend the place: yes, for family and friends. If you are not too formal, you can even take a close business colleague out for dinner. 
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor!

Restaurant: Nanaban

Nanaban is a Japanese noodle bar in Zaventem. It is rather small, with one center "bar disk" that you can sit around to enjoy your noodles and a few small tables for two. During lunch time, the place fills up pretty quickly, so be in time or prepare to wait. A good sign is that Japanese business people show up and queue for their noodles!

At first, you may find the service very limited and not flexible, however, the concept is clearly described on Nanaban's website. In order to be able to serve Ramen noodles without sacrificing quality, some compromises had to be made regarding the menu etc. So don't expect coffee/tea or dessert afterwards. Just slurp your noodles (and get out).

The noodles are good, no doubt about that. But do they blow your socks off? Hmm, maybe not.

Grades given by Good Food In Belgium:
Food: 3+
Atmosphere: 3
Friendliness of staff: 3-. It would not add to the costs to smile...
Would I go there again: maybe, if in the area
Would I recommend the place: if you really are into Ramen noodles, yes.
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, check out TripAdvisor

Restaurant: Barbanera

Barbanera is an Italian restaurant tucked away in the European Quarters of Brussels. The interior is somewhat posh, and somehow you get a feeling of being brought back to the 1980s (or something). If going for the all white tablecloth theme, there has to be something more to it. The things eating up the atmosphere are the use of too much light in part of the dining hall and the radio being used as the source of music. You are especially unlucky if seated under the loud speakers... The food was rather bland, and nothing worth mentioning. The main positive is that the service was friendly.

Perhaps this place could have more atmosphere if and when the restaurant would be full of people. But on the other hand, a half-empty restaurant also speaks for itself...

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 2
Atmosphere: 2
Friendliness of staff: 3+
Would I go there again: no
Would I recommend the place: no. Perhaps if you wanted a really quiet place to talk business or you wanted to take out your old auntie...
Value for money: no. Food too bland with regards to the prices.

For more reviews, take a look at TripAdvisor. They seem to give a slightly better review, although some opinions are similar to ours. Maybe we were just unlucky? But it only takes that one lame experience to not want to go back, especially since there are so many options...

Restaurant: L'Amour Fou

L'Amour Fou is a nice and busy restaurant in Ixelles that serve burgers and Mexico influenced dishes. They are also famous for their variety of brunches. The food is okay. There is nothing wrong with it, you will happily eat it. However, it will not blow your socks off. The place is often crowded with a youthful atmosphere. Service is friendly, although at busy times you may find yourself left to your own devices for some time. You will, however, leave happy and fed.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 3+
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, for an informal evening with friends, or for a Sunday brunch.
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, have a look at TripAdvisor!

Restaurant: Il ristorante Viticolo

Il ristorante Viticolo is a more upscale Italian restaurant in the European Quarters, close to the European Commission. It has a rather modern interior that gives a calm and classy feeling without being snobbish or stiff. The food is excellent with generous portion sizes making sure that you do not leave hungry. What is best about the place is the front of the house waiter/sommelier! What a service!  You feel well taken care of even at the most busiest time.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 5+ (excellent!!!)
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, whenever for good Italian food. Suitable for business dinners, as the place is classy and the sound level enables discussion.
Value for money: yes

For more reviews, have a look at TripAdvisor!

Restaurant: La Kasbah

Kasbah is a Moroccan restaurant in the Dansaert area close to the Fishmarket. The atmosphere is created by dark walls, lots of colourful lights, and soft cushions. Every now and then you will be entertained by a belly danser. The restaurant has both an upstairs and a smaller downstairs area. On the menu you will find classical tangines and couscous, as well as salads, soups, delicacies from the grill, and Moroccan desserts. You also have the option to try some wines from the Maghreb area.

Grades given by Good Food in Belgium:
Food: 3+
Atmosphere: 4
Friendliness of staff: 4
Would I go there again: yes
Would I recommend the place: yes, for informal gatherings. Maybe not for a business dinner, if you wish to maintain any formal discussions.
Value for money: yes


You may want to have a look at the reviews given by TripAdvisor. 

Market: Place des Chasseurs Ardennais

Place des Chasseurs Ardennais is a busy little market in Schaerbeek, open on Fridays around 1pm and 7.30pm. As it is close to the European Quarter, it has become popular among EU people for having a glass of wine and a small snack to start off the weekend.

In one of the wine bars, you can relax with some nice wines and a generous snack to share with friends. The background music keeps the atmosphere up. It is quite crowded, but just squeeze in, and enjoy the evening!

A snack to share together with friends over a glass of wine

Of course, there are plenty of choices here. For example, why not indulge in some grilled mussels? If you remember the cartoons from your childhood, where the character was following a very visible cloud of scent leading to delicious food, well, here you'll have it. You can tell from a distance that something good is on the grill.

Mussles on the grill. 

We are all so used to mobile technology these days. Of course, some mobile applications are more enjoyable than others. With this one, you can enjoy a glass of wine while looking over the market place. It is a bit more quiet, as it is on the outskirt of the market, however, if you just want to enjoy a glass and be a little bit outside the fuzz, then this one is for you.

Mobile winebar

In addition to enjoying something to eat and drink at the market, you may want to collect some food home for the weekend. There are plenty of choices here, from mushroom to vegetable and fruit, cheese, sausages, olives, spices, chilis...you name it!

Mushroom stall

Fruit and vegetable stall

Another mobile application to enjoy - movin' chocolates!

Apples and pears

Chicken!!!