Top 5 Food Finds in Brussels

Godiva chocolate-coated strawberries

Maison Dandoy

If I had to pick a country where I gained the most weight in, it would be Belgium. Welcome to the land of Belgian chocolate, waffles and more chocolate! Brussels really made the inner fat kid in me who loves cake, ice cream, chocolate, waffles and all things sweet squeal and jump for joy.

After a short but fattening weekend there, I have compiled a short and sweet list of my favourite Belgian food finds! Here are my top 5 food picks from Brussels, Belgium (in no particular order).

1. Waffles

Waffles are everywhere in Brussels! They're a typical street food here and not only are they gorgeous to look at, they taste amazing too! The plain waffles (with no fancy toppings) are usually sold for 1 euro while the fancier waffles with cream, sauce and fruits usually range from 2 to 6 euros.

Every waffle shop sells a variety of flavours from plain waffles (1 euro) to sugar-dusted waffles (2 euros) to speculoos waffles (3 euros) to waffles with strawberries/bananas and cream (5 euros). It was real tough to just pick one! The chocolate-banana waffle I tried (above) cost about 5 euros.

The waffle itself was crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. But my favourite thing about the Belgian waffle isn't the waffle itself or the fruits or the sauce - it's the whipped cream that really hits the spot! Words can't fully describe how different and absolutely Belgian whipped cream is. I don't know what's so different about it but it just is. Belgian whipped cream is probably the BEST I've ever tried. It's light, fluffy, milky, silky smooth and not overly-sweet. More please!!!

If you don't like whipped cream (you're missing out), there are plenty of options to choose from! Don't worry about finding the best place to get these waffles because it's more or less the same everywhere and just as good!

2. Chocolate

Yes, I consider chocolate as food. And it's one of my all-time favourite foods!!!! Chocolate is life and life is chocolate. So of course, I have much to rave about Belgian chocolate.

Chocolate shops are literally everywhere. Nearly every street you go in the city has at least one chocolate shop. And I'm not just talking about shops that sell pre-packaged, machine packed chocolate, but I'm talking about the artisanal chocolate shops that have hand-made chocolates in a display case.

Brussels really is a chocolate lover's heaven. One of my fave chocolate shops in Brussels is Leonidas and it's quite prevalent, especially in the city and touristy areas. When you walk in, you're greeted by the sight of hand-crafted chocolates and pralines of different flavours, shapes, colours and fillings. Caramel, hazelnut, coffee, marzipan, white, dark, milk, fruit, liquor - you name it, they have it! And the best part is, it's pretty affordable. It was about 8 pieces of these delicious hand-crafted melt-in-you-mouth decadent chocolatey goodness for only 3 euros - but the price varies as it's according to weight.

Leonidas also sells pre-packed chocolate that make great gifts for family and friends and I admit, I went a little crazy buying chocolate hehe. The cheap but really good chocolate bars are priced at 1 euro per bar and they have packaged ones, such as the package of 6 that I got for 6 euros (below).

If you have limited time and just want a quick fix for all the chocolate gifts to get for your friends and family, believe it or not - you can get them all at one street! Recommending you my favourite chocolate street in Brussels where you can find ALL of the famous Belgian chocolate shops there such as Neuhaus, Leonidas, Godiva, Elisabeth and Chocoholic (please visit them all, you won't regret it). The place you just need to visit is the Mannekin Pis, the famous small statue of a peeing boy, and you're killing 2 birds with 1 stone - you get to visit a famous tourist attraction and visit all of the renowned Belgian chocolate brands! The name of the street is Rue de l'Etuve and you can find Neuhaus right beside Mannekin Pis.

I really recommend both Leonidas and Neuhaus as they have fantastic, rich and sinful chocolate as well as great service (ahem, free chocolate samples).

P.S. I bought chocolate from all of the 5 aforementioned chocolate shops (Neuhaus, Leonidas, Godiva, Elisabeth and Chocoholic). My bag was really heavy by the way.

P.P.S. You'll be really full from all the samples after consecutive visits to the chocolate shops. ;)

3. Bia Mara

From top (in clockwise direction): Lemon Basil Tempura with garlic truffle sauce, Classic Panko with Blue Cheese Fire Sauce and Classic Panko with tartar sauce.

Those who aren't fans of chocolate like I am, you must be like "Get on with the real food!" Well, wait no longer and feast your eyes on what is considered the best Fish & Chips in Belgium! Bia Mara is located at Rue du Marché aux Poulets 41, which is very central.

Personally I wouldn't call it the best fish & chips I've eaten in my life but it definitely makes it to the top few! I had the Classic Panko Fish with Seaweed Salted Chips & Homemade Tartar (11 euros). The fish fillet of haddock was breaded evenly with panko, creating a light but crispy crust on the fish, and most importantly, the fish was fresh and fried to perfection. The seaweed salted chips were thick-cut and well-seasoned. They gave a generous portion of the chips that I couldn't finish them all.

The Lemon Basil Tempura with Seaweed Salted Chips & Homemade Garlic Truffle (11 euros) was good as well. It had a perfectly-seasoned light tempura batter and came with homemade garlic truffle sauce.

The use of different types of fish for different types of batter/seasonings was great. The former used haddock fish in which the panko crust really brought out the flavours of the haddock while the lemon basil tempura batter helped to offset the fishy-ness of the seabream used in the latter.

You can add a sauce for an extra 1 euro, but if you prefer something spicy and strong to give your fish & chips an extra oomph, you can add on the Blue Cheese Fire Sauce for 3 euros. And it was indeed very fiery.

4. Maison Dandoy

Going back to desserts again - I have to say Maison Dandoy Tea Room is THE place to go for Belgian desserts. They sell amazing desserts such as pancakes, waffles, ice cream, cakes, speculoos biscuits. We waited about 15-20 minutes for a table and service was rather slow too but given that it was a weekend and they had so many customers, it was understandable.

It's also quite pricey so if you're willing to splurge on some desserts and don't mind the rather long wait - it's worth a try!

I had the praline ice cream with honey and caramel to satisfy my sweet tooth and it really did hit the spot! It was a beautiful tall tower of milky ice cream, drizzled with swirls of honey and caramel, topped with whipped cream, more caramel sauce and a wafer. It's a bit too much for 1 person, not in terms of the quantity but it was a bit too sweet for 1 person to finish it all by herself. I can't exactly remember how much it is but it's around the price range of 8-12 euros. I would recommend getting it if you have a sweet tooth just like mine and if you have fellow-minded sweet tooth friends to share this creamy glass of joy with hehe.

My friends had the pancakes with chocolate sauce (with vanilla ice cream in the background and one without in the foreground). They don't really taste like pancakes (?), they tasted more like crepes. Not really worth the price you pay for it so I wouldn't recommend it. Get the classic Belgian waffles instead - they seem to have better reviews and way more popular and well-received by Maison Dandoy's patrons.

Overall, I thought my ice cream was the best of the 3 we ordered and just looking at the amount of ice cream made me so happy! I would love to try more of their desserts but I was too full and the prices were also pretty steep.

5. Belgian food

What kind of food is Belgium famous for apart from Belgian chocolate, waffles and indulgent desserts? They have their own version of meatballs and sauce. Similar to Swedish meatballs that I absolutely love, these Belgian meatballs pack the same amount of flavour and aren't lacking in size either. They are hand-made and well-seasoned, drenched with tomato sauce. Served with a huge portion of fries and salad on the side, it was a very filling meal. And since the sauce was abundant, I could dip my fries in the sauce too! Kinda tastes like Spaghetti & Meatballs but replace the noodles with fries.

Another famous Belgian specialty is their goulash! It may look like a pile of slop on the plate but you know what they say, ugly and unassuming looking things taste great! This goulash was like a beef stew with hunks of meat in it and the gravy was just the right consistency - thick but not too heavy on the palate. Served with a generous portion of fries and salad as well, a typical Belgian lunch will never leave you hungry after that.

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So these are the 5 delicious things I loved from Brussels, Belgium and I actually ate all of that, and more, just within the span of a weekend! So go forth, ingest lots of sweet Belgian treats and hope you come back as fat as I did!

Eat now, regret later.

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