Traditional Belgian Cuisines
Asha MenonCommunity desk
Brussels · Belgium · 7 March 2024 · 2 min read
Belgian food is better than its reputation and stranger than you expect. Two dishes are worth seeking out properly — and there is one thing every vegetarian arriving here needs to know about the chips before ordering them.
Belgian fries are usually cooked in animal fat
Traditionally beef tallow (blanc de bœuf), at most friteries and many restaurants. It is not mentioned on menus because it is simply assumed. If you are vegetarian, ask before you order — some places do fry in vegetable oil and will tell you plainly. This catches out more newcomers than anything else in Belgian cooking.
At a glance
Moules-frites
The national dish: fresh mussels steamed or cooked in white wine with herbs, and a mountain of chips alongside. Best in the colder months, when the mussels are at their best.
- Chez Léon — a Brussels institution serving it since 1838. Touristy and still good. Book at peak times.
- La Roue d’Or — a classic brasserie doing the same thing in a cosier room, generally without needing a reservation.
Waterzooi
A rich Flemish stew — chicken or fish simmered in a creamy vegetable broth with herbs. Comfort food, and the dish to order on a grey February evening.
- In’t Zand — an elevated, seasonal version. Book well ahead.
- Aux Armes de Bruxelles — the traditional tavern rendition, warm and unfussy.
A friterie is not a lesser version. The standalone chip shop is where Belgians actually eat chips, and a good one is better than most restaurants. Order them with a sauce — andalouse, samurai or brasil — because plain with ketchup is a tourist’s order and you will be missing the point.
The rest worth trying
- Stoofvlees / carbonnade — beef slow-cooked in dark beer, sweet and deep.
- Vol-au-vent — chicken and mushroom in pastry; the Belgian weekday lunch.
- Waffles — the Liège one is dense and caramelised, the Brussels one light and rectangular. They are genuinely different things.
- Speculoos — the spiced biscuit, and the spread made from it.
- Chocolate — see where to buy it cheaply.
Written in 2024. Restaurants change — check current opening hours and book where noted. And ask about the frying fat every time; it varies by kitchen, not by city.
From our desk, not official advice
Written by the Namaste Community desk under our standing byline, from the questions this community asks most often — not a single person's own account. Rules change and offices differ — check anything that matters with the people who decide it.
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