What are the most delicious foods, refreshing drinks, coolest cafés and intriguing restaurants in Brussels at the moment?
Restaurant: Wasbar
This unusual chain of restaurants combined with a laundrette was founded back in 2012 by two young men from Ghent, Dries Henau and Yuri Vandenbogaerde, and became an instant success. Their idea was to provide an enjoyable eating-out experience for people living in dense urban environments with no space for a washing machine or dryer at home.
In 2015, Wasbar outlets were acquired by Top Brands, a Belgian group that owns the Ellis burger chain, Pizza Hut and Paul bakeries. Belgium now has more than 10 Wasbar restaurants, including one in Brussels, opened in 2021, next to the Bourse. The decor is very cosy with its wood floor, suede-coated, comfortable seating and well-chosen lighting. Open from 9am to 9pm, it offers breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner.
The portions are copious, with a huge brunch at €23, bowls (€10) or classic crispy bacon pancakes with banana and blueberry (€12.50). A basic breakfast starts at €14 but extras are available if you prefer something more substantial. The signature dishes are bagels, hot (€15 including salad and crispy potato waffles) or cold (€12 with soup or quinoa).
You’ll find veggie and vegan options as well as one-dish salads at €16.20. Dips (€5-11) include focaccia and hummus, burrata, shakshuka, nacho or falafel. Students get a discount and takeaways are possible.
The comprehensive drinks menu includes a great selection of Belgian beers, as well as coffee, tea and milk. And, of course, you can wash (€6 including Ecover washing liquid) and dry (€3) your clothes on site. Each device has a name – female for the washing machines and male for the dryers.
Their purring noise doesn’t compete with the excellent chill-out music but the machines are very much present, especially on Mondays when you can wash & dry for a mere €6. A five-minute walk from De Brouckère metro station, the service is warm and friendly. What’s not to like?
Wasbar 45, rue Henri Maus - 1000 Brussels
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Drink: MeuZenne
‘Only in Belgium’ could be the name for this surprising drink, combining white sparkling wine and lambic beer – or “Vin lambiké” as the label puts it. MeuZenne was invented by Andy De Brouwer, sommelier at Les Eleveurs (Halle) and mad about lambics, a beer created from spontaneous fermentation.
The lambic, accounting for 25% of MeuZenne, is aged in wood and comes from Den Herberg brewery in Buizingen, southwest of Brussels in the Senne valley. Its owner originally planned to become a winemaker in France before brewing beer in 1998.
With MeuZenne, you’ll discover the best of both worlds in one drink. The wine and lambic are blended before bottling, while the sparkle is added via the traditional méthode champenoise. The wine and beer ferment together, producing carbon dioxide at the so-called prise de mousse step. The final product, aged for at least a year, contains 4-5g of sugar per litre, about as much as the driest brut.
The result is stunning and some high-end restaurants, such as Kruisem’s Michelin three-star Hof van Cleve, include it on their wine list. The unique, patented process creates aromas typically found in lambic (very dry acidity, citrus) or wine (rhubarb, pear, firestone).
While too dry to enjoy as an aperitif, it pairs well with seafood or fat and milky cheese such as Brillat-Savarin or young comté. Retailing at €24 a bottle or so, MeuZenne is part of the range at Vin de Liège, the top-notch social impact cooperative based at Heure-le-Romain.
Food: Brussels Ketjep
Ketjep is a portmanteau blending ketchup and ketje, meaning boy in brusseleïr, the local Brussels dialect. Ketjep was created in 2010 by a ketje, Sylvain Bologne, who came up with the idea while eating a croque-monsieur with sub-standard US ketchup and reckoned he could do better. "I thought I'd make a ketchup that actually tastes like tomatoes," recalls Bologne.
And he did. His sauce contains 50% more tomatoes than most other ketchups. It was very soon joined by a partner mayonnaise – a must for friteries insisting that their red and white sauces bear the same brand. The success sealed the DNA of the young company: it’s always on the lookout to create new sauces and each gets its own zinger slogan on the label. "We all know French fries are Belgian" Mostoed ("mustard" in Brusseleïr) and "You are what you eat".
Cowboy BBQ sauce soon followed, before the firm went super surrealistic with "Space is the limit" 16-2 ketjep, named after a radio show which launched the sauce into space, and the "A Dikkenek knows why" chilli Dallas, featured in Belgian cult movie Dikkenek. The latest additions to the range are "Hot like a fritkot" Brava and "The only thing I miss is u" Andalose, two slightly spiced orange sauces.
They’re gluten-free and made with free-range eggs. Industrial chemicals are a no-no. As a bonus, non-mayonnaise sauces (Mostoed and Ketjep) are suitable for vegans.
For readers who can’t get enough of all things Brusseleïr, the ketjep logo is a variation of a Brussels street sign and the bottle evokes an upside-down Brussels street lamp. The checkerboard frieze around the label is inspired by the one on Brussels' taxis. The sauces are delicious, of course. My favourite is the incomparable Dallas, Bologne’s contribution "from a ketje to the world" for which I’m truly grateful.
Café: OR café
The espresso bar in Brussels’ Place Jourdan, named after Belgian specialty brand OR Coffee, was acquired last year by Oats Day Long, a chain of coffee bars from Ghent.
Twenty years ago, specialty coffee was still an unknown territory for most people. Hardly anyone was talking about ‘single origin’ or ‘Direct Fair Trade’. However, when Tom Janssen and his wife Katrien Pauwels founded the OR Coffee roastery in Aalst in 2001, they soon transformed their passion into a ground-breaking business.
They bought their first batch of beans directly from a farmer, the best way to discover how the beans are grown, harvested and processed. Specialty coffee
took off in Belgium and many brands have popped up since. OR Coffee works with 11 countries of origin, focusing only on lightly roasted arabica which retains most of its natural aromas. The beans are all pesticide-free and some organic certified.
OR Coffee is poised for a makeover to bring it more in line with other Oats Day Long outlets, with a more extensive menu including pancakes, bowls, bagels, sandwiches and breakfast. However, the essentials should remain: premium coffee served with artisan quality pastries from Belgian suppliers, small bar tables, convenient seating and free wifi for nomad workers.
“It’s a living room for everyone”, says co-owner Ewout Vanmassenhove. Yes, it’s noisy but the smell of coffee is heavenly. It’s a very cosy place to work remotely or share a hot drink with friends on a wet and cold winter day.
OR Café 13a, Place Jourdan - 1040 Etterbeek
