Brussels: Shopping for dinner, "Chinatown?", Pierre Marcolini, and Moeder Lambic

Lunch had been a wonderful, but pretty rich meal. Since we had an apartment, we decided to self cater dinner and dropped by a couple of the nearby shops.

Some nice cheese from the cheese shop, tomatoes, head cheese and prosciutto from the nice gourmet shop on Rue St Catherine. There's a good sized Delhaize Supermarket on Anspach where we picked up greens for a salad......we just needed some greens after all of this. And beer of course......

And so we headed back to the apartment with dinner all set. It would be nice to relax since we'd bee flying to Prague in the morning.

Funny thing, I hadn't even heard of a "Chinatown" in Brussels, but then we passed a short strip of Chinese restaurants and markets right across the Stock Exchange Building (the Bourse), so of course we had to check at least on of the markets out.....man, it was sticker shock.

Try almost 17 Euros for a small bag of frozen Jiaozi.....

The Asian vegetables seemed pretty scarce and did not look in very good shape as well.....

The Missus couldn't help but laugh when She saw this......

Man, it would be tough if we lived here......

We also checked out the menus and offerings of some of the Chinese Restaurants on the street.....

And decided to stop after seeing the 6,80 Euro ($9.25) price for 4 pieces of Shiu Mai.....then of course those places that serve Chinese-Vietnamese-Thai-Sushi......

We headed back to the apartment and took our usual afternoon nap, awakening a short while later. It was time for us to shake off our grogginess. The sun was out and wasn't scheduled to set until almost 10pm, so we headed back to Place Poelaert and the Upper Town.

We passed by several sections of Brussels' midievel city wall and Eglise Notre Dame a la Chappelle, which is Brussels' oldest existing church.

We got to the Marolles neighborhood and took the elevator up to Place Poelaert. All the rain and dreary weather had been chased away, it was now a bright and sunny afternoon. Too bad we were leaving the next morning.

The view from here when the sky is clear is quite nice. You get to appreciate Brussels....

We strolled around the Upper Town area, antique and designer shops, and some interesting cafes and restaurants as well. Love Joel Robuchon, not sure about his sushi though.....

My MIL loves chocolate....we were in Belgium, so we decided to get her a collection of chocolate from our travels....but not just ordinary stuff...i.e. Godiva, Neuhaus, Leonidas....no we'd try and get her a variety with a little meaning, not just the usual tourist stuff. It just so happens that Pierre Marcolini's flagship store was right along our path back to the apartment.

Winner of the 1995 World Cup of Pastry and known as a master chocolatier, this would be a good start for my MIL's collection. The variety of flavors and chocolates of various regions made this quite an interesting experience for us, which would suite us well later on.

The shop actually looks more like a fine jewelry shop, boutique, or gallery than a chocolate shop. So we made our first purchases for my MIL here.

I think it was a nice start..... 

The day was so bright and beautiful, folks were out and about, the cafes (the beer cafes) seem to be doing great business with folks enjoying the weather. It was a perfect chance to check out the Fontainas location of the legendary Brussels' beer bar Moeder Lambic.

The Missus and I immediately loved the place....there are no airs...what few tourists who came in and stared in awe at the beer list of unfamiliar and familiar brews were treated graciously and there was harmony with the locals....who seemed to appreciate the fact that folks were making the effort to find the place...which isn't hard, but like Le Fin de Siècle, you pretty much either just run into the place or have to seek it out.

It's easy to just stare off into space at the listing of beers familiar and unfamiliar. The Servers were really nice with the 2 parties of tourists we saw....

The Missus and I, knowing how analysis-paralysis would be, just went for it. She ordered a Gueuze Tilquin and I a De Ranke Guldenberg.

We've had Tilquin here in the states, but this was a bit different; you could make a out a bit more fruitiness, though it was still pretty funky and puckery-dry. The Guldenberg was a nice tripel, a bit more hoppy than what I expected, with almost the feel of a boozy saison. A very nice beer. This place should be on any list if you're in the area and enjoy beer. We'd go to the original location of the Moeder Lambic on our way back, which we laso loved.

Moeder Lambic
Place Fontainas 8
Brussels, Belgium

It was a beautiful afternoon. On the way back to the apartment we passed a bar that had a street musician playing an electric violin, I wish I recorded it.......he started playing as we passed...I recognized the music right away. I Love Rock and Roll.....a Joan Jett classic! It seems like all the places we visited (in both the Czech Republic and Belgium) loved American and English music...whether rap, death metal (Moeder Lambic in St Gilles), Jazz, or good 'old Rock n' Roll. Honestly, I think it might be our greatest export. As the violinist hit the chorus, the entire street broke out and sang with unbridled joy and spirit:

"I love rock and roll
 So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
 I love rock and roll
 So come and take your time and dance with me....."

It was just the cherry on top of the sundae for us.....ending a very nice afternoon.

We returned to the apartment we were staying at smiling. Like most of these type of units we've stayed at; there's no lift, the stairs can be narrow and somewhat steep. We were rewarded in that this was a single unit above a a gallery that was closed the two days we were staying there. There was also a wonderful, older cat named "Sushi", mellow and sweet, he was a good ambassador for the place. The bedroom and bathroom was on one floor with a kitchen nook above.

It was a nice place to make a quick breakfast, or do a quick post, like I did, or have a nice little dinner, like we did on this evening.

With of course, some beer.......most stores sell singles here; and those Belgian's go for less than 2 Euros a piece, so how could we resist?

The Missus prepped a quick breakfast for us, we'd be heading out early for our next stop.....Prague and the Czech Republic..... 

Comments

[caninecologne]

Wow, Bert would go crazy with that great beer selection! Lovely photos!!!

[Bart]

I envy you. I love Brussels. I'm never there long enough to do the kind of shopping you do! I stick to the basics: mussels, frites and the pot pies.

Last time I went, my buddy, who lives in Herentals, gave us the grand beer/food tour. Super fun.

Did you go tour Cantillon?

Have you been to Antwerp? I found that more laid back and enjoyable than Brussels. Both are still a fantastic time.

[Kirk]

Hi CC - Moefer Lambic is legendary, but there are quite a few places with selections of beer that go into the hundreds....like you could drink all of that before your liver failed.

Hi Bart - We really enjoyed Brussels, and yes, went to Cantillon and Antwerp....Bruges, Ghent, and Poperinge as well. Overall, I thought Belgium, except for Bruges is very laid back.

[santos.]

i haven't been to brussels in a long, long, long time, but i was mistaken for a popstar which was flattering and weird. they know their obscure popstars there along with all the american rock n roll stuff!

[Kirk]

But Santos - Don't they know....you're not a Pop Star; you're a Rock Star!! ;o) And yes, they do love American/British pop and rock.....in the Czech Republic as well.

[Lynnea]

it really is amazing how cheap those belgian beers are in brussels. we were in heaven =D

[Kirk]

It really is......we had a blast. We're quite amazed at how much we were able to taste during our short time there!

[kat]

great beer selection, I just read something about Prague having good beer too...

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - Prague is coming up. We weren't that impressed with the beer in the Czech Republic, but found some good stuff in the end.