A FOODIE FEAST AT EAT! BRUSSELS

While there are many food festivals to choose from in Brussels, eat! Brussels is one of my favourites. I have actually been to all editions so far and it’s been nice to see it evolve and improve every year. Last year I attended with Brussels Food Friends while this time round I was invited by Visit Brussels.

Just like last year, the festival takes place in Parc Royal instead of the Bois de la Cambre. My friends and I agreed that the idea is brilliant as the location is more central – just off the Royal Palace, in the heart of Brussels – and grants easy access to visitors. The concept has slightly changed but the idea remains the same: a number of local restaurants prepare a special dish (rather than a whole menu as the previous years) for the occasion, the wines on offer are from Bordeaux and cooking workshops organized by Mmmmh. Entrance is free but to order your preferred dishes you need to purchase tokens in one of the various kiosks and exchange your wine pass with a little coupon book. We were offered a duo pass (65€) which comprises 4 food tokens, 2 coffees, 2 bottles of water, 2 Campari tonic and 2 Wine Passes which means you can try all wines on offer.

Now one of the reasons I really enjoy eat! Brussels is that I get to try many new restaurants and flavours in a matter of hours. The portions are fairly small, so you can really nosh to your heart’s content. As you can imagine, my partner in crime and I had our fair share – and perhaps a bit more! My favourites this year were Notos, Le Tournant, Les Filles, Racines and last but not least, the sweet creations of Eclairs & Gourmandises. Apart from the restaurants, there are also booths offering local specialties from cities Brussels has close ties with, such as Quebec, Kinshasa and Beijing. I told you, there was loads of food! A proper foodie fiesta always involves good wine and eat! Brussels didn’t disappoint. There were over 50 winemakers from the Bordeaux region in France and having completed my WSET exam a few months ago, the timing was perfect to sample some interesting wine from this region! 

If you went to eat! Brussels, I’d love to know how you liked it and of course, what you tried, so send me a picture on Twitter or Instagram with the #seemybrussels hashtag!