Im in ur Brussls, eatin ur mussls

So I’m in the midst of my first ever trip to Belgium, and so far I’m having a great time. The biggest revelation? MUSSELS!! I’m not a big shellfish fan, but I believe in eating local food, so I gave them a try. Wow!! Naturale, meuniere, l’escargot, I don’t care, it’s all good. Who knew a couple of grams of protein and other sundry guts could be so good?

OK, probably a lot of you knew that, but this is a revelation to me. Mussels, and lots and lots of yummy beer. What is not to like about this place?

Mods, feel free to move this to MPSIMS, but I though it likely to generate a discussion of mussels, or Belgian cuisine, so I put it here.

Oooh…the “Irish Times” in Antwerp, the best pub to see some of the most cracking bands. And the beer’s not bad either!

When you get back to Chicago, check out this place. It has everything you’ve described and is right in town, in a lovely and walkable neighborhood. They have cheese sampler plates chosen to go with specific beers which are chosen for steaming the mussels in…and they change them up pretty frequently. The staff is great and helpful and the prices are decent, too. It’s one of my favorite restaurants ever.

<<<< is jealous

Do you come from the land down under?

So where else in Belgium are you headed? I’ve got pub suggestions! (and restaurants, depending)

Actually, we’re taking off tomorrow morning for a couple of days in Amsterdam. My wife has enough business developing in Belgium that we’ll be back, and I’ll do some exploring outside Brussels then.

Pub suggestions for Amsterdam are more than welcome.

Just got back from Brussels last Sunday. The frites were fab, the moules were delightful. The beer was too strong (had to go for the milder stuff). I liked the city, too, but man was it filthy!

Hope there was plenty of Mayo on those [del]French[/del] fri(t)es.

Too strong? Get thee behind me…thou…well…not quite Satan, but I believe you might be an admin in his office.

And, as incredible as it may sound, I haven’t yet had a cone of frites. Had some with meals and they were, well, fries, but I will hit Fritland (unless someone has a better idea) before we leave.

Amsterdam pubs: In de Wildemann, at. . . Kolksteeg 3-- it’s in the warren of streets sort of close to the station. Great selection. Also a good old (very old) “brown bar” Papeneiland at Prinsengracht 2. Mostly for ambiance-- one of the contenders for oldest pub in town. My favorite sort of local neighborhood bar Onder de Ooievaar on Utrechtsestr. at about Prinsengracht. And the brewpub Het Ij is neat-- built in an old windmill a tad east of the center on the waterfront (Prins Hendrikkade?)-- neat location and their beer isn’t bad at all. There’s (was?) another brewpub in the Wallen red light area but it’s much more corporate and meh feeling.
Post again when you head back to Belgium.

And while you’re in Flanders (maybe Ghent or Bruges as your best possibility of this rare bird sighting), if you happen to see that any Westvleteren beer is available, sacrifice a limb for a bottle, because it’s excellent and you will never see it again.

Are you seeing a lot of the Flemish vs. Walloon tension that we’re hearing so much about in the news?

Next thing to have is steak au poivre a la creme with a big plate of frites on the side. Most pubs serve this and it’s to die for.

Well, you’re talking to someone who likes a casual seven or eight beers of a night out - and those 8% things with banana or pomegranate or whatever would just wipe me out. I went for Bock or Hoegaarden in the end and was fine. But if you like a variety, get to ‘Delirium Tremens’ by the Janeken Pis - they have 2,000 beers and a beer menu about 6" thick. Their eponymous beer, brewed for them, is fucking lovely.

ETA: beergeek279, I can’t speak for the OP, but I saw pretty much nothing in a total of six days there (I went twice in the same week - don’t ask). But my friends who were living there pointed to a profusion of Belgian flags on various apartment buildings. These represented people who wanted to hold onto the union. My friends said “mostly foreigners working for the EU or EC - it’s difficult to find an actual Belgian in Brussels”.

I love moules-and the frites are better than in France. Enjoy a “kriek” (my favorite is cherry). Also, try to find “mannikin piss”-the old town hall is pretty

By the way, when you eat your moules, make sure you use one of the shells as a pair of tongs to pick them up. Using a fork is just so. . .tourist.

Ooh, I’ve eaten Mussels in Brussels. One of my favorite memories. We had buckets and buckets of 'em. The locals proudly told me of their 600 types of beer. I did my best, but didn’t make it far past Duvel.

Good times.

Is there any language they don’t speak? They seem to have a real knack for it.

Hah! There’s a reason for that. Few things more epic than that. You need to give jjimm a inspirational talk.

Piraat.
Bush/Scaldis.

Yep, absolute musts there are frites in a paper cone from almost any street corner stall with lashings of the vendor’s own mayonnaise, and a visit to the grand town square which must be one of the prettiest urban spaces in the world.

The day we were there was a flower market, and it was spring so we had fresh (as in picked THAT DAY) strawberries, fresh cream and waffles; probably the best breakfast of my life.