Cosy Belgian fish restaurant in the buzzy Sainte-Catherine neighborhood.
Quai aux Briques 60, 1000 Brussels
What’s good? It’s a serious and unpretentious restaurant where you can eat good seafood away from the crowds. The chef offers a mix of Belgian classics and original recipes using Japanese ingredients like wakame and wasabi. It’s a good spot to take a friend who’s visiting Brussels for the weekend and wants to try out the local cuisine.
What’s not? The service was not impeccable as the waiter didn’t know the ingredients off the top of his head, and the bathroom was unclean. And don’t go if you’re a meat-eater.
Vibe: Wooden counters, tiled floor and vintage pictures hanging on the walls. The unambiguously rétro fisherman vibe is reflected in the menu, which goes big on traditional Belgian classics such as the legendary moules-frites (mussels and French fries) or the shrimp croquettes. The old souls out there will love it.
Who’s picking up the check? The á la carte menu is pricey, with most mains north of €30. But we opted for the fixed menu instead which offers good value for money (at least by Brussels standards). You can pick three courses and a soup for €39 — although you need to pay a surcharge for some dishes.
Spotted: Almost no one. We went on a Monday night where the usually buzzy Sainte-Catherine was as quiet as it gets.
Insider tip: You won’t regret the fixed menu option. And you might think twice before rehearsing your French because we’re in the beating heart of Brussels’ Flemish neighborhood.
Fun fact: The nearby fish restaurant La Marée, another staple of Belgian cuisine in Sainte-Catherine, closed recently after 40 years. Which narrows the choice a bit if you want to eat fish in the city center.
How to get there: Take the 1 or 5 metro line from Arts-Loi to Sainte-Catherine. Otherwise, it’s a 30-minute walk from Schuman.
Review published on February 7, 2025. Illustration by Natália Delgado/POLITICO.
