The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Café Circus
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Rank 2. Cosmos
Seafood
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The Matongé district's energy seeps right into this small neighborhood restaurant, where the cooking leans on old-school French comfort food with quiet creative detours. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, Le Tournant pairs unfussy, grandmother-style dishes with natural wines chosen by a sommelier who takes that job seriously. The room fills with locals who clearly have a regular table, and the food tastes like someone actually cooked it rather than assembled it.
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Rank 4. Ondo
Korean Coffee
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Rank 5. Savage
Vegetarian
A grocery-bakery at the door sets the tone before you've sat down. Savage is a plant-forward set-menu restaurant in the Saint-Boniface neighbourhood, where the single nightly lineup leans on herbs and vegetables, with meat or fish available to add from the refrigerated counter by the restrooms, which is a very Savage way to handle the choice. The terrace catches the neighbourhood's easy energy, and the cooking is precise enough that the radish cream and the marinated carrot get their own moment.
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Rank 6. Iyagi
Korean
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Rank 7. Certo
Italian
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Rank 8. Elbow Lunch Counter
American
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Rank 10. Bozar Restaurant
Modern French
Karen Torosyan's pâté en croûte, made by reservation only and shown to you unbaked before it goes into the oven, is the kind of production that makes you sit very still. This two-Michelin-star modern French restaurant occupies a Victor Horta Art Nouveau building, so the room is already doing a lot. The kitchen revives ancestral French and Belgian technique with a precision that borders on meditative, puff pastry very much included.
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Rank 11. Goods
Bakery
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Rank 12. Moutarde
Bistrot French
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Rank 13. Comptoir Florian
Coffee
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Rank 15. L'épicerie Nomad
Mediterranean
The slate menu here draws no line between starters and mains, which sets the tone for a casual, tightly packed eatery where the cooking roams freely between mezze, couscous, and grilled beef. The Mediterranean and French instincts sit comfortably together, and the wine list is short but considered. It's the kind of neighborhood spot where no one's trying to impress you, yet the kitchen clearly has ideas.
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Rank 16. Chou
Mediterranean
The name is a French term of endearment, which tells you something about how the regulars feel about this place. It's a gastronomic bistro in Ixelles that leans into Mediterranean warmth, drawing a faithful mix of neighbourhood locals and the nearby EU crowd who've quietly claimed it as their canteen. The chef's cooking moves between the rustic and the considered, with dishes that tend to involve good French technique and produce that earns its billing.
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Rank 17. humus x hortense
Vegetarian
Gilded ceilings and frescoes of angels overhead, and a plant-based tasting menu below, which is either a contradiction or a perfect match. This Michelin-starred restaurant in Ixelles has been doing zero-waste, micro-seasonal vegetable cooking since well before it was a dinner-party talking point. The sommelière runs a beverage program serious enough to match the kitchen, and the whole operation publishes a sustainability report, because of course it does.
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Rank 18. Racines
Italian
You walk past a small grocery counter before landing in a warm, book-and-bottle-lined Italian restaurant where the menu changes whenever the delivery does. The chef builds the whole thing around short supply chains and hand-made pasta, keeping plates clean and unfussy so the ingredients carry the weight. A natural wine list and a summer terrace make it easy to stay longer than planned.
- 50 Top Italy #49 · The Best Italian Restaurants In The World
- Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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Rank 19. Osteria Bolognese
Bolognese Italian
An Italian osteria in Ixelles with a narrow focus: the cooking of Emilia Romagna, ingredients sourced directly from the region, no shortcuts. The menu reads like a love letter to Bologna, tagliatelle with ragù included, made the way it's supposed to be made rather than the way everyone else makes it. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. Small, warm, and loud in the best sense, with regulars who clearly know the drill.
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Rank 20. Nénu
Contemporary Vietnamese
The organizing idea at this contemporary Vietnamese restaurant in Saint-Gilles is anh nhau, a tradition of sharing food and drink with people you like, which turns out to be a fine excuse to order three dishes minimum. The kitchen takes classical Vietnamese flavors somewhere quieter and stranger, lamb wontons and duck's tongues landing alongside smart cocktails. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the kind of place that makes a Tuesday feel considered.
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Rank 21. Renard Bakery
Bakery
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Kobe Desramaults, who made his name at In De Wulf and Chambre Séparée, runs this Michelin-starred creative dining room in central Brussels with a lounge soundtrack and an open kitchen counter at its heart. The set menu changes daily, which keeps the chef honest and the regulars guessing. Expect bold, ingredient-focused cooking where the produce does most of the talking, and service polished enough to feel made-to-measure without being stiff about it.
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Rank 23. senzanome
Italian, Sicilian
Tucked into the Sablon, one of Brussels' more self-satisfied corners, Senzanome is a fine dining room where the chef has spent years building a loyal following on Sicilian instincts run through a serious technical filter. The interior is cool and spare, pale tones and clean lines that step aside for the plate. Tasting menus carry the room's ambitions; the wine list leans deep Italian. It holds a spot on the 50 Top Italy ranking of the world's best Italian restaurants.
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Rank 24. Piola Pizza
Pizza
A Neapolitan pizza spot in the Saint-Josse neighborhood where the dough gets treated like a serious project, soft inside with a caramelized edge that holds up without fuss. The menu mixes Italian classics with seasonal combinations, ingredients imported from Italy, and a rotating selection that keeps things from going stale. Cocktails, including a mandarin one worth ordering, round out the picture. It holds a spot on 50 Top Pizza Europe and 50 Top Pizza World.
- 50 Top Pizza #70 · 50 Top Pizza World
- 50 Top Pizza #15 · 50 Top Pizza Europe
- Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide
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Rank 25. Eight
Bakery
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Rank 27. ANJU
Contemporary Korean
Sang Hoon Degeimbre, the chef behind L'Air du Temps, strips things back here to explore his Korean roots. In a minimalist room in Saint-Gilles, the kitchen puts out sharing plates built around hotpots, kimchi, and slow-cooked meats, the kind of food that reads as generous rather than studied. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the sort of contemporary Korean spot where the bill won't send you outside to quietly recalibrate.
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Rank 29. Buddy Buddy
Coffee
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Rank 30. Bouche
Coffee
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Rank 31. Alley Mian
Lanzhou Noodles
A cook pulls and folds noodles to order in full view of the dining room, which sets the tone for everything at this small, no-reservations noodle shop near the Théâtre de la Monnaie. The broth is Lanzhou-style, built deep and left unadorned. Michelin gave it a Bib Gourmand, and the lunch queue most days makes the argument more plainly. Go early, go hungry, and don't expect to linger.
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Rank 32. Mine Madeh
Syrian Middle Eastern
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Rank 33. Le Petit bon bon
Belgian French
The open kitchen takes center stage in this grand brasserie inside the Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria, where Christophe Hardiquest is doing something quietly ambitious with the classics. The menu runs Belgian and French brasserie through a more considered kitchen, so the vol-au-vent and shrimp fritters arrive with a little more intention than you'd expect. Traditional tableware, plush room, the kind of lunch that turns into afternoon.
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The Art Nouveau interior by Horta, all stained glass and sinuous ironwork, sets the scene before anyone's opened a menu. This is classic fine dining in the old Brussels sense, the kind of room where sauces are taken seriously and the fourth generation of the same family is still running the pass. A Michelin star. The wine cellar doubles as a private dining room for those who want something a shade more contemporary.
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Rank 35. Bombay BBQ
Indian
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A short walk from the European institutions, this contemporary restaurant makes a point of sourcing from Wallonia's larder, cycling through asparagus in spring and wild game come autumn. The room fills with regulars who never need the menu and international arrivals who do, and the sommelier is the kind who actually steers you somewhere interesting. Classic regional cooking, lightly recalibrated for a city crowd without losing the plot.
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Rank 41. Grain
Bakery
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Rank 42. Flipper's
American
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Rank 43. Frasca
Italian
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Rank 44. Rebel
Wine Bar
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Rank 46. Kamoun
Syrian Middle Eastern
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Rank 47. Fish Tank
Seafood
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Rank 48. Barkboy
Coffee
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Rank 49. Gazzosa
Italian
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Rank 50. Stella
Specialty Coffee
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Rank 51. Nuovo Rosso
Italian
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Rank 52. Lil Bao
Taiwanese
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Rank 53. Le Saint Boniface
Southwest French Basque
Red-and-white checked tablecloths, vintage photos, biscuit tins on shelves, and jazz drifting through a room where the tables are close enough to follow your neighbor's argument. This Ixelles bistro runs on country cooking from Lyon, the Basque Country, and Southwest France, the kind of food built around things like foie gras terrine and calf's head with gribiche. Hearty, unfussy, and priced like it means it.
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Rank 54. Chaga
Contemporary French
The dining room sits on the top floor of a boutique hotel overlooking Brussels Park, and the room has the quiet confidence of somewhere designed by people who actually care about rooms. The contemporary French menu follows suit, with a chef whose cooking finds its edge in unexpected pairings rather than classical restraint. Dinner here runs formal without feeling stiff, and the service aims to leave nothing unasked for.
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Rank 56. Lucifer Lives
Coffee
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Rank 57. Pois Chiche
Lebanese
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Rank 59. Kartouche
Bistro French
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Rank 60. Lil’ Bouche
Coffee
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Rank 61. Bisous
Dessert
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Rank 62. Nyyó
New York Vietnamese
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Rank 64. Amore, Pasta e Gioia
Italian
A family-run Italian osteria in Ixelles where the name, which translates loosely to love, pasta, and joy, doubles as an accurate menu preview. The team makes their pasta in-house, the antipasti lean generous, and the cooking runs on familiarity rather than flourish. It's the kind of neighborhood place where you already know what you want before you've sat down, which is usually exactly the point.
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Rank 65. L'Express
Lebanese
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The open kitchen runs entirely on fire, so you watch everything get smoked, roasted, or grilled from your seat. Flamme is a buzzy gourmet bistro in Saint-Gilles where vegetables take the lead, treated with the kind of seriousness usually reserved for meat. The menu is short, which sounds easy until you're actually choosing. Let the front-of-house guide your wine; regulars say she's never steered anyone wrong.
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Rank 67. Ornina Syrian Sweets
Syrian Bakery
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Rank 68. Maison Dandoy
Bakery
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Rank 70. Bintje
American
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Rank 71. Kaiju
Noodles
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Rank 73. Mendo
Ramen Noodles
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Rank 74. Le Petit Mercado
Peruvian
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Rank 75. La Sardine du Marseillais
Provençal French
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Rank 77. Kitsune Burger
Vegetarian
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Rank 79. Kamo
Japanese
A wood-lined counter in Ixelles where chef Kamo runs a quietly rigorous Japanese restaurant, Michelin-starred, with evenings given over to surprise tasting menus and lunches anchored by made-to-order sushi. The cooking is deceptively spare, built on the quality of raw fish rather than trophy ingredients. Minimal presentation, maximal attention to what's actually on the plate, which is the kind of restraint that takes years to pull off convincingly.
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Rank 82. Nüetnigenough
French
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Rank 83. Lafeh
Lebanese
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Rank 84. Badi
Cider Wine Bar
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Rank 85. ÔNGBÀ
Vietnamese
A Vietnamese sharing spot in the Flagey neighborhood that makes you forget the neighborhood the moment you walk in. The menu reads like a street food tour: spring rolls, snacks, slow-braised casseroles, all meant to be passed around. Portions are sized for grazing and priced accordingly, which is probably why the room fills fast. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand. Book ahead.
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Rank 87. Era
Middle Eastern
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Rank 88. Umā
Japanese
A whitewashed brick facade on a quiet side street near Porte de Namur, Umā is a relaxed bistro where the kitchen fuses Japanese technique with South American heat. Tuna sashimi comes in a shiso-and-dashi broth, duck arrives medium rare with curry and vadouvan, and a thread of gentle spice runs through the whole menu. The à la carte and set menus both cover the same territory, so the choice is really just how hungry you are.
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Rank 89. Jackie Coffee
Coffee
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Rank 90. Grain
Bakery
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Rank 91. Jane
Natural Wine Bar
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Rank 92. Kookoo
Coffee Shop Persian
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Rank 94. Frank
Coffee
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Rank 96. Old Boy
Fusion Thai
The open fire does most of the talking at this fusion Thai restaurant in Ixelles, where Belgian produce meets Bangkok street-food instincts and the spicing is careful enough to make you pay attention. Duck breast in green curry with coconut and Thai basil is the kind of dish that sounds like a trend and eats like a conviction. The room is cool and loud, the natural wine list is on point, and getting a table without a reservation is optimistic thinking.
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Rank 97. Corica
Coffee
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Rank 99. Auntie Café
Cantonese
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Rank 100. Mauvais Choix
Vegetarian