Most Perfect Weekend in Brussels - eat your way through the city!

We often find ourselves walking the beautiful streets of Brussels and keep on going back time after time for a quick, easy and also a romantic weekend getaway. These are two of our favourite walks to enjoy in good company and great food!

It cannot get more delicious than this - Belgian waffle with Nutella and strawberries!

Saturday

We love to stay at The Augustin. The hotel has quite a remarkable staff, comfortable rooms, delicious breakfast and a great location. It's a small boutique hotel with lots of class. They managed to impress us so much that I doubt we'll be staying anywhere else in Brussels anytime soon. Their service level is incredibly high and they respect their customers. That's why we go back and are happy to spread the word!

Have a glass of wine at Le Cercle Des Voyageurs. They also serve some nice food, the menu is a mix of different continents which makes it quite fun! The food is good and service fast & friendly.

Le Cercle Des Voyageurs is located a couple of minutes from the Grand Place on Rue des Grands Carmes, 18.

Perfect spot to write some cards to send to the family

You might be tempted to skip the crowds of  Rue de l'Etuve but don't! This is the street corner where you'll find Manneken Pis but more importantly (for your stomach) there's also several waffle stands side-by-side. We definitely recommend the Caramel et Chocolat, it's a black framed small shop selling chocolates and waffles. It's not as crowded as the rest of the stands in this corner but don't be fooled. The waffles taste absolutely delicious and the service comes with a smile which isn't the case with some of the more popular stands in the area.

Take a walk across the city center / Grand Place to the direction of Mont Des Arts to enjoy a beautiful view over the city and pop in to one of the art galleries, shops and museums in the area. Brussels is a great shopping destination for just about anything. There's also a fantastic selection of museums, all pretty much near to one another. You can find Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Musical Instruments Museum, Coudenberg Museum or the Royal Palace, to mention a few.

True Brussels

Museum of Natural Sciences is slightly further, in between Mont Des Arts and a wonderful restaurant, Au Cor de Chasse. Great places to combine by first visiting the museum and then continue to have a lovely dinner at Au Cor de Chasse.

Au Cor de Chasse is located in Avenue des Casernes 21.

The changing menu

All reserved!

Although a little further from the city center, Au Cor de Chasse is a restaurant we keep returning to. It's managed by a Portuguese & Brazilian couple who prepare their favorite dishes in their tiny neighborhood restaurant. Without a printed menu, you'll be getting some of their most successful dishes that are written down on a board. The owner will introduce the menu and explain every dish personally. The restaurant is tiny, only has 5 tables so be sure to make a reservation. After dinner you can either take a walk back (about an hour long) or ask the restaurant to call you a taxi (15 min, 15-18€ from the restaurant to hotel The Augustin).

Sunday

Brussels is such a wonderland for someone with a sweet tooth and love towards everything beautiful! A Sunday walk at Grand Sablon is a must! Drop by Godiva to buy some white chocolate covered strawberries, continue to Pierre Marcolini for a box of incredible macarons and pop in to Ladurée for a glass of champagne and a pastry.

Continue walking further up to Square du Petit Sablon to view the beautiful statues of different historical professions and continue walking towards the Royal Palace and the Brussels Park. 

After enjoying the Royal Quarter, walk down towards the Mont des Arts - because it's worth visiting over and over again!

The Royal Palace, Brussels

A Tale of a Restaurant Visit That Turned From a Regular Saturday Night Dinner to a Movie-Scene-Like Adventure (cute dogs and car racing included!)

Once upon a time there was a little restaurant in a country not so far away. The restaurant was surrounded by hills with medieval castles and thick, dark forest in a small town famous for its picturesque landscape. Despite of being popular among mountain climbers the town is not often visited by hordes of tourists but does get it 's share of visitors from the neighboring areas. With mainly one spoken language, visitors often need to use sign language and use their creativity to communicate with the locals. Friendliness is often the second language people tend to go by in this little town by the country border.

The village with brown roofs

In the centre of the town there is a building made of beige limestone. It looks just like any other building in the village, hiding it's treasures behind the windows with red window frames and blue linen curtains. There is a sign nearby, not particularly inviting, pointing to the restaurant and tavern. A few steps lead you to the terrace and further ahead inside the building.

Image source: http://restina.net/nl/belgium/leffe/restaurant-cafe/le-confessionnal/486691874782186#1

A deep red door leads you to the cozy dining room with checkered table cloths, candles and flowers on the table. There is art on the walls, newspaper articles, drawings and such. It's usually packed with locals and some tourists sitting in one of the three dining rooms or the lovely terrace if it's a nice day. The owners often drop by from the kitchen to say hello to new diners and check up on all of the guests while preparing the food and taking care of the restaurant. They are a lovely local couple who work there by the two of them since what to us looks like a forever. They share the work taking parts in kitchen and the dining room, having mutual understanding and sharing responsibilities without even saying too many words, It's comes naturally, as if they've always done it.

Image source: http://restina.net/nl/belgium/leffe/restaurant-cafe/le-confessionnal/486691874782186#1

There's also someone else in the restaurant that everybody knows - and loves. It's the family dog who behaves better than most people even and doesn't pay much attention to the diners - yet won't decline a pad or two, if you really insist!

The cutest dog!

There is no set menu in the restaurant and foods do run out sometimes! The restaurant gets its ingredients from the nearby producers thus it's never a problem to get fresh produce to make up for what ran out. They will explain every dish in detail and even give you a taste if you find it hard to decide or don't know what something is! The restaurant has the most exotic dishes, well at least for the city folks! They are not afraid to cook the most authentic local dishes and they prepare them with great tradition and skill.

Normally the days go by in the same peaceful pace. There are locals visiting but every time also people from out of town or even far away countries. Some get a drink, some have a full meal but all leave with an full stomach and a smile. Sometimes there's more behind the smile though, sometimes it will hide fun memories for years to come.

Delicious, home-made starter

We were enjoying our meal from the first sparkling wines to starters, mains and all the way to desserts. The wines were superb and service the warmest. However, every day comes to an end eventually and so do the dinners. When we were happily full of the delicious food and it was time to pay we found out that no card payment was possible! As we arrived in a slight hurry we didn't have a dime in our wallets! What to do, where to go? How to ask for an ATM when we don't have a common language besides the drinks vocabulary covering cremant and vin rouge? Many smiles and signs were shared and the lady of the restaurant took Tony by his hand and off they went!

She opened the wooden garage door where the old, blue and lovely Citroen stood in all it's old days' charm! The lady took the drivers seat, of course, and rushed through the town, driving a good 10 minutes to the ATM. The Citroen was caughing a little and you could tell it wasn't born yesterday but it did it's job well.

I really cannot believe we were able to find this photo online! The car and the restaurant in the same picture looks like it was made for a blog post! :)

Image source: http://restina.net/nl/belgium/leffe/restaurant-cafe/le-confessionnal/486691874782186#1

Meanwhile I sat in the restaurant, sipping my (complimentary, I must mention) glass of bubbles and talking sign language with the gentleman of the restaurant as well as some guests. No one seemed to understand each other but everyone were very entertained. It was an amusing situation to find yourself in but I believe it was much more amusing for Tony, driving through the town with the lovely lady in their old Citroen.

After 20 bizarre minutes Tony and the lady returned, all smiles and laughs. We paid and left on our way, being cheered off by the remaining guests, the owners and the elderly dog.

You can find the charming Le Confessional on the Rue Rémy Himmer 4 in the town of Dinant in Belgium.

Don't forget to bring cash!

Some of the pictures are not ours as we were enjoying the food and not taking that many pictures. Luckily Google and eventually also Restina.net were able to help us find some great photos that show the restaurant as it really was!