This past weekend my friend Marco and I met my up with my best friend, Mary in Belgium. We’re both studying abroad but she’s in Italy and I’m in currently living in Switzerland and we don’t get to see each other often. Luckily, we both found a free weekend and decided to meet up in the waffle and french fry capital, Brussels.
Photo by Marco Tortilla
Because Marco and I arrived at 8 am, we decided to explore the city a bit before Mary arrived. Our first stop: Waffles (duh).
Gaufres (waffles) are all over the city – especially next to tourist attractions like the Manneken Pis statue. There are two different types of Belgian waffles, Liege and Brussels. Liege waffles are made with a thick, dough like batter whereas Brussels waffles use a liquid yeast batter.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the Brussels style of waffles, so I compensated by eating more Liege waffles.
Gaufers from Le Funambule – 1.80 Euros and up
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Le Funambule is located right next to the tourist attraction Manneken Pis. Traditionally, waffles are topped with sucre (powdered sugar), but they also offer waffles topped with Nutella, fruit, whipped cream and chocolate for those tourists who love their sugar. The waffles are anywhere between 1-6 euros depending on the toppings.
Photo by Hannah Cooper
We went back to Le Funambule after dinner on Friday night and tried the Nutella waffle and strawberry jam waffle. I highly recommend the Nutella one for all the chocolate lovers out there.
If you can’t make it to Brussels to taste these amazing waffles, I found their exact recipe from their website (winner winner, chicken dinner).
Fries From Any Stand – 2 Euros and up
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Brussels is known for french fries. Their fries are baked twice and then topped with a sauce – usually mayonnaise. Marco and I stopped in at Manneken Frites before meeting up with Mary for lunch. Their fries were delicious and super cheap, only 2 euros for a basket of fries.
Anything from Peck 47 – 11 Euros and up
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Lunch was recommended to me by one of my classmates Kendall. She writes a sick travel blog and creates guides for each place she travels to. I ordered their Chicken Salad, Mary ordered their vegetarian Eggs Benedict and Marco ordered a Panini.
Sushi from Makisu – 10 Euros for 16 pieces
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Mary and I both lived in Japan so when it comes to sushi, we have pretty high standards. We were a tad bit skeptical because Brussels isn’t on the water and we didn’t know how fresh the fish was, but their sushi was bomb.
You can either build your own sushi or order a roll off the menu. I ordered the Mushroom Kingdom (shiitaki mushroom, yam tempura, asparagus and sprouts) and the Dragon Roll (shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber and unagi sauce).
Photo by Hannah Cooper
We couldn’t get enough of Makisu so we went back Saturday night too, and this time I used my own money. It was so delicious and cheap there was no way we were going to skip out on 10 Euro sushi. This time, I ordered the Up the River (salmon, masago, cilantro, mint and avocado) and the Slammin’ Salmon (salmon, avocado, cream cheese, avocado and chives). I didn’t realize how similar these two rolls were until they came out, but they were both amazing.
Burgers from Ellis Gourmet Burgers – 9 Euros and up
Photo by Hannah Cooper
We took a day trip to Bruges on Saturday and had lunch at the best burger restaurant in Bruges. This place was packed with burger fans, but the service was quick and the burgers were delicious.
Photo by Hannah Cooper
The burgers were about 9 euros a piece and they didn’t come with fries. Their burgers were good, but I think In-N-Out still wins for best burger.
Gaufers from Be Waffle – 1.80 Euro and up
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Friday morning we walked past a waffle shop that was being built. Saturday morning when we walked by, it was built and there was a line out the door waiting for hot liege waffles. These waffles were the best by far. The batter was buttery and sweet and the Speculoos cookie butter on top just took it to the next level. Plus, these waffles were cheaper than any of the other waffle stands on the same street – only 1.80 for a waffle with one topping.
Hot Chocolate from Le Comptoir de Mathilde – 3.50 Euros
Photo by Hannah Cooper
Le Comptoir de Mathilde is a cute chocolate shop located a few minutes away from the center square. They have wonderful chocolate spreads (try the dark chocolate pistachio and Speculoous). The hot chocolate spoons are also amazing. For 3.50 euros, you get a cup of steamed milk and your choice of hot chocolate spoon. I ordered the dark chocolate; it was creamy and rich and just a little sweet.
Juice from Helixir – 5 Euros
Photo by Hannah Cooper
After a weekend of indulgence, I definitely needed a clean juice. Luckily, the airport had a relatively cheap juice stand that fit my needs. I ordered the carrot, apple, ginger juice before heading back to Switzerland.
In total I spent 50.10 Euros eating my way around Brussels and Bruges. Here’s the breakdown:
Waffles (x3): 5.40 Euros
Fries: 2 Euro
Lunch at Peck 47: 11 Euros
Dinner at Makisu (x2): 10 Euros
Lunch at Ellis: 13.20 Euros
Hot chocolate: 3.50 Euros
Juice: 5 Euros
Notable Mention:
Go into every chocolate shop and take as many samples as you can before they realize you aren’t going to buy any chocolate. #collegeproblems