Revelations: finding good coffee in Brussels

Despite the large Italian community in Brussels, sometimes it is hard to find good coffee in this city. When you ask for a cappuccino, you can actually get a black coffee with whipped cream (!!). When you politely try to complain, they say it's a "Belgian cappuccino". And you wonder if you just took a time machine to the early 1990s... 

However, with the help of my "500 hidden secrets of Brussels" guidebook and coffee-loving friends, I've been able to find a few spots with excellent coffee in Brussels. Going to these cafés is my weekend pleasure here. 

The top three places for excellent coffee in Brussels are definitely:

1. Aksum Coffee House, no. 132 in the list of "The 5 best coffee bars in Brussels"

This Ethiopian place is my favorite café for sure. It's in a beautiful green house close to the Grand Place. Their coffee made with Ethiopian beans is just fantastic and the cakes they serve are also delicious. They do organise Ethiopian coffee ceremonies at request and probably you can order an Ethiopian style coffee any time, but so far I've only had Italian style caffe lattes. Of course, the Ethiopian jazz in the background is just about the perfect choice for Sunday coffee moments.

2. Parlor Coffee, no. 131 in the list of "The 5 best coffee bars in Brussels"

Parlor  Coffee has a nice Nordic vibe in the ugly and noisy Chaussée de Charleroi in Saint-Gilles. Besides good coffee, they also serve nice small things to eat. I had a veggie bagel that wasn't a mind-blowing experience but suitable for a light Saturday lunch.

3. Or Coffee, no. 134 in the list of "The 5 best coffee bars in Brussels"

Or Coffee has two cafés in Brussels, one in the Dansaert quartier in the centre and the other one at Place Jourdan. I've only been to the latter one. It's a great spot for working as well; there are too few places like this in the city. 

Too bad the Place Jourdan branch is closed on Saturdays, it would be a perfect place to go after my Saturday yoga class next door.

Being vegetarian in Brussels

I hope this will be part 1 in a series of posts on vegetarianism in Brussels and the rest of the series will be slightly more positive... So far, I've been struggling a bit with my conviction of not eating meat or fish - not mentally but in pragmatic terms. The Belgians are a meat-loving people. It's like France, where the cuisine is heavily based on animal-products, but at least Paris is modern and diverse enough so that you'd find plenty of vegetarian, vegan or macrobiotic restaurants there - however, not Brussels. In one restaurant, they could actually only propose a green salad to me (really!!). Ok, but asking 16 Euros for it was kind of ridiculous. 

It should be said however that the EU cantines do provide a daily vegetarian option which is as poor as any of the non-vegetarian options. Obviously, I feel that all public administration and international organisations should do what they preach on reducing carbon footprint: provide only vegetarian food, or at least adhere to the Meatless Monday movement.

Sorry for getting radical once again... But the point is (never mind saving the planet) that I don't know how I will succeed in visiting all the restaurants on my "Brussels 500 secrets" list. Many of the restaurants on the list are a bit old school and probably they find the very idea of vegetarianism against their beliefs. There are a couple of vegetarian places mentioned in the book, in the "Healthy food" section. I'm glad to eat healthy but labeling vegetarian food rather healthy than just good food that is able to compete with any carnivore meal is saddening and old-fashioned. At least in Helsinki, all the fine-dining restaurants are already offering great value for vegetarian money (vegetarians are no poor hippies any longer...).

                    

Until a few days ago, I believed that at least one traditional Belgian food is not only vegetarian but even vegan: the French fries, les frites. Well well, in a rush before a concert I had my fries and smelled like fried oil for the rest of the evening among the cool hipsters in Beursschouwburg. My friend educated me afterwards that the Belgian fries are fried in animal fat, most often beef fat - no wonder the smell sticked on a vegetarian skin so well. So that's it, even this safe option for vegetarian food is now gone. Although, I have to say that I'm not very sorry for losing the opportunity of eating fries, especially because luckily already years ago I have visited no. 76, Frit'Flagey, and no. 79, Maison Antoine, on the list of "The Best Places for Proper Belgian Frites" (later on I was told by a proper Belgian that actually you can find proper fries only outside of Brussels...).

This (and having gained a few extra kilos here) brings me to the issue of healthy eating in Brussels. Belgium is the biggest consumer of fat internationally with a consumption of 95 grams per day per capita. Germany (86,5 g) and Finland (80,8 g) follow a bit behind. When it comes to sugar, Belgium is number 6 with 95,0 grams after for example the USA (126,4 g) and Germany (102,9 g). Finland takes the eight positions with 91,5 grams of sugar per day per capita (see the article on Washington Post). However, at the same time, the share of obese people in Belgium is below the OECD average. I guess they do better in resisting the pains au chocolat etc. than I do. In any case, I have hard time avoiding sugary and greasy products, so missing out on fries is quite welcome... 

Image from the Washington Post article.

Art Nouveau at Square Ambiorix

Even though there are no visible traces here so far, I've been following my "500 hidden secrets of Brussels" new year resolution really well. Let me present you a few examples that can actually be found on my way to work.

No. 228: Maison Saint-Cyr, one of the 5 most striking art nouveau houses in Brussels.

It needs to be said that the Instagram square format doesn't do justice to this amazing art nouveau piece at Square Ambiorix as it is very tall building but only 4 metres wide. It was designed by Gustave Strauven in 1900. The light green iron decorations are beautiful and I can actually remember the building already from my first visit to Brussels in 2001. 

Unfortunately, the gate is locked with a big padlock and it seems that the building has been empty for a quite a long time already - what a pity. (Check out the blue sky, evidence that it's not always raining here...)

Villa Germaine, one of the cutest brick facades (outside the official 500 list).

Villa Germaine, also at Square Ambiorix (or more correctly at Avenue Palmerston) is actually not on my Brussels 500 -list. But it is a pretty building close to Maison Saint-Cyr. Indeed, while Brussels is not often regarded as a very charming city (and personally, I'd agree that it is not), it has some amazing pieces of architecture scattered around if you just have the patience to look up and around - don't get that umbrella on the way. Often a gorgeous art nouveau facade is squeezed between some awful buildings or the facade is covered with a lot of dirt, but it is worthwhile to look up!

Villa Germaine, built in 1897, is actually of an eclectic style and not so much of an art nouveau building. But if you do an art nouveau tour at the square, don't miss this one either.

A bit further down from Villa Germaine is this beauty by Victor Horta.

No. 235: Hotel van Eetvelde, one of the best UNESCO world heritage sites in Brussels.

It actually took me a while to notice this building at Avenue Palmerston and only later I happened to find it on my 500 list and read that it is designed by the most famous art nouveau architecte Victor Horta in 1895. Van Eetvelde who commissioned the house and lived there, was a secretary general of Congo, bringing in mind where the money for the construction of the late 19th century Brussels was coming from... 

In this website, where you can find descriptions of Brussels' architectural patrimony (even my home is mentioned on the website!!), you can also see what kind of treasures this facade hides. Luckily there are some places in Brussels, where you can also enter the buildings and have a closer look at the art nouveau design. Musée Horta, Horta's own home, is a good example. 

There are three other Unesco sites by Horta in Brussels (including the museum). They are all listed in my "hidden secrets" - if you can call a Unesco world heritage site a hidden secret, but still. Brussels is a great city for art nouveau fans, at the turn of the 19th century, the city was the heart of  art nouveau style and Horta its foremost guru. Around a thousand art nouveau town houses were built that time, while today half of them exist. Plenty to do for Sunday strolls...

So, when in Brussels, keep your eyes open - but be careful of dog shit as well!