Brussels is a great city for food. There are traditional dishes like: ‘mosselen met frieten’, vol-au-vent, steak tartare, ‘stoemp met worst’ and ‘konijn met pruimen’. ‘Frieten’ with Belgium mayonaise and gaufres nature are great as street food. When I visited Brussels in December there was a Christmas market with many stalls selling mulled wine (vin chaud) and freshly sugared almonds. Another place I like is the classic Café Cirio. They serve a speciality called ‘half-en-half’. The waiter first pours rather sweet sparkling wine in the glass until half full and then tops it off with white wine. The result is a bit too sweet for me but the interior hasn’t changed much in many decades.

La Mer du Nord / De Noordzee

I don’t know how old this fish street bar is but I have been visiting this bar since more than decade. My favourite is the soupe “escargots”. This soup is made from a strong dark fish broth with red chillis, possibly quite a bit of black pepper, celery as the only vegetable and snails. This soup is spicy! I’m pretty sure the snails are whelk, which are common in the North Sea, although the population has dwindled. This is street food and it fun to spent some time at the bar among locals and tourists.

Location
Sint-Katelijnestraat 45
1000 Brussel

Au bon bol

I stumbled upon this noodle bar by accident because my eye caught a lady in the window making fresh noodles by hand. Fascinating to watch. I was so mesmerised by the lady pulling and twisting the noodles I forgot to make photos. The photos below are from the official website of Au bon bol. Freshly made noodles are a far cry from instant noodles. Sadly many noodle bars use instant noodles.

Location
Paul Devauxstraat 9
1000 Brussel

Taverne L'archipel - restauration africaine

On Saturday afternoon I visited Matonge. After the Dipenda of Congo many Congolese moved into this neighbourhood. Later people from other African countries settled in Matonge. This is the place to find many African restaurants. I settled for L’archipel on Rue de la Paix 29, 1050 Ixelles, which is more of a community meeting center than a restaurant. They serve simple but filling Congolese style food. I had poulet sauce d'arachide: tender chicken in peanut sauce, with fufu and some fried plantain.

Poulet sauce arachide

4 cuisses de poulet
1 gros oignon
20 cl de coulis de tomates
150 g de beurre de cacahuètes (home made)
2 gousses d'ail
1 cuillère à soupe d'huile d'arachide
Sel, poivre, piment

Smoked catfish is a must for some west African stews. I think the blackened fish in the photo below are are catfish and it is hard to imagine they taste well. I haven’t cooked with smoked catfish yet but I hope to in 2020. Another ingredient for stews or soups is sauce graine, which is made from palm fruit and can be used for palmnut soup. Brussels is a great city to pick up some West African ingredients.