Mussels or moules a la marinere is the national dish of Belgium and now is the season (between September and February). This is done in white wine, shallots, parsley and butter, served with side frites (or French fries) and homemade mayonnaise. I heard that Belgians use a discarded shell as a spoon to scoop out mussels off the shells and the juices. There are hundreds of restaurants serving this dish in Brussels, off course. I heard Chez Leon (www.chezleon.be) is a place to go albeit a bit touristy. Another place is Au Vieux Bruxelles (www.auvieuxbruxelles.com). I wonder which one he went to eat. He has lost counts of how many times he has eaten this dish as he goes to Brussles regularly for business, so he probably does not remember the name of restaurant as long as it's near his hotel and not too touristy...
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| Moules a la Marinera - where is the homemade mayo??? |
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| Cheese croquettes - I guess this was a starter.... |
I shall once day tag along with him to visit Brussels. I definitely want to eat moules a la mariner, Belgian waffles, go to Neuhaus and Godiva for chocolates!! I suggested to my husband for going there for Christmas Market season but my husband is more like 'bah humbug' and now suggests Barcelona instead - mmmmm this would be a difficult choice as Barcelona would be definitely milder in winter and we love going there.
I will let you know what we decide.
3 comments:
I was in Brussels last December for some training. I didn't actually get to the Christmas market - it is the biggest in Europe but some of my colleagues that did go found it very kitschy. The place to go for Christmas markets is Germany - they're experts! What was fantastic was the winter light show around the old square with music and lasers - very impressive! I think I might have been to Chez Leon - I don't remember the name of the restaurant we went to for moules but it was very popular with queues of locals outside - this is why we went, we weren't following a guidebook. I've just checked your link, and yes that is where we went. And yes, you have to buy the chocs - just looking at all the shop windows full of chocs is an absolute pleasure!
Deleted my first comment as I had such a strange signature! I've now changed my settings.
Hi Dace, thank you for your comments! I have just realised that I could also leave my comments....silly me. One day I shall go to Germany for Christmas markets and Brussels for mussels!
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