The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Kookoo
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Rank 1. Kookoo
Coffee Shop Persian
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Rank 2. Jackie Coffee
Coffee
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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 4. Kaiju
Noodles
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Rank 5. 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 6. 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 7. La Bottega Della Pizza
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 8. Kami
Coffee
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Rank 9. Mendo
Ramen Noodles
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Rank 11. Kartouche
Bistro French
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Rank 12. La Charcuterie
Mediterranean
The vintage tiles and butcher's wainscoting are still intact, which tells you this was once a charcuterie and is now a snug sharing bistro in Saint-Gilles. Walk past the deli counter and wine bottles on your way to a table, then order things meant to be passed around: rustic country cooking with a Mediterranean turn that nobody saw coming. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the price point matches the unpretentious mood.
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The wall tiles and mosaic floors date back to when this was a butcher's shop, and the chef kept them, which tells you something about his instincts. Quartz is a modern dining room in Ixelles where classical French technique gets a personal, locally sourced spin. Sauces are the quiet obsession here, and the cooking has the kind of confidence that doesn't need to announce itself. A neighborhood restaurant in the good sense: serious food, no performance.
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Rank 14. Daily 3000
Pizza
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Rank 15. Bintje
American
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Rank 17. Grain
Bakery
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Rank 19. Nikolas Koulepis
Greek-French Bakery
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Rank 20. 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 21. Maru
Korean
The pajeon, a crisp pancake paired with sweet vinaigrette and chili sauce, gives you a quick read on what this Korean restaurant near the Châtelain district is doing. The chef plays the sweet-sour-spicy balance with a light hand, and the varied textures keep things interesting. Locals fill the room at lunch for a quick plate or a slower meal with wine, which tells you the room works for both.
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Rank 22. 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.
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Rank 25. 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 26. Munch
Thai
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Rank 28. Bisous
Dessert
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Rank 29. Stella
Specialty Coffee
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Rank 30. 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 31. Nyyó
New York Vietnamese
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Rank 32. Frasca
Italian
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Rank 33. Little Apo
Vietnamese
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Rank 36. 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 37. Le Petit Mercado
Peruvian
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Rank 38. Rascal's Café
British
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Rank 39. Pépite
Bakery
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Rank 40. Grabuge
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 41. Jane
Natural Wine Bar
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Rank 42. 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 43. Badi
Cider Wine Bar
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Rank 44. Belle Lurette
French
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The elevator takes you to the 23rd floor, then you walk up two more flights of stairs, which feels like a prank until you see the view across Brussels from a glass-walled fine dining room perched above the city. The open kitchen puts the chef's precision on full display, and the cooking pairs delicate French technique with genuinely playful combinations. La Villa holds a Michelin star, and the à la carte option at lunch keeps it from feeling like a commitment.
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Rank 48. Ptitbeur
Beer Bar
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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 50. Cipiace
Italian
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Rank 52. Chana
Vegetarian Indian
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Rank 53. Giotto
Dessert
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Rank 54. Hopla Geiss
Alsatian Bakery
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Rank 55. Nuovo Rosso
Italian
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Rank 57. Batch
Coffee
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Rank 58. Fight Club
Pizza
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Rank 60. Mauvais Choix
Vegetarian
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Rank 61. Khobz
Bakery
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Rank 63. Fish Tank
Seafood
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Rank 64. Rebel
Wine Bar
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Rank 65. Julien Othomene Pâtisserie
French Bakery
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Rank 67. Boulengier
Bakery
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Rank 68. Grain
Bakery
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Rank 69. Atelier Acqua e Sale
Italian
A casual Italian neighborhood spot in Saint-Gilles that fills quickly with locals who seem to know the menu by heart but let the front-of-house talk them through it anyway. The cooking leans into the kind of unfussy, full-flavored Italian food that doesn't need a concept to justify itself: burrata ravioli, bright tomatoes, nothing trying too hard. Portions are generous and prices are honest, which explains the faithful crowd.
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Rank 73. Flipper's
American
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Rank 74. Renard Bakery
Bakery
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Rank 75. Buddy Buddy
Coffee
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Rank 76. Bombay BBQ
Indian
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Rank 77. 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 79. Brood
Bakery
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Rank 80. Goods
Bakery
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Rank 81. Moutarde
Bistrot French
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Rank 82. Dolce Amaro
Italian
A mural of Siena's Piazza del Campo covers the wall, and the patio out back makes the Louise district feel briefly optional. Dolce Amaro is a bustling Italian trattoria where the kitchen cooks like it has something to prove, and the wine list runs deep into Italian bottles most Brussels restaurants don't bother stocking. The crowd fills the room early and orders with the confidence of regulars.
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Rank 83. La Général
Mexican
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Rank 84. Comptoir Florian
Coffee
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Rank 85. Elbow Lunch Counter
American
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Rank 86. Certo
Italian
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Rank 87. Iyagi
Korean
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Rank 89. La Sardine du Marseillais
Provençal French
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The scent of lime leaves and curry hits you before you've even found a seat at this warm, softly lit Thai restaurant on a street corner in Ixelles. The kitchen leans on fresh herbs and spices crushed to order, so the food arrives with a brightness that fades fast, which is the whole point. The Michelin Guide recognized it with a Bib Gourmand, and the room fills early with people who clearly know this already.
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Rank 91. Ricciocapriccio
Italian
An Italian bistro on the Rue Américaine where the tables fill early with people ordering in Italian, which tells you most of what you need to know. The chef has a thing for sea urchin and squid, and takes enough liberties with the menu to keep things interesting without losing the plot. The à la carte runs long, Mediterranean in spirit, and the crowd tends to linger.
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Rank 92. Horta
Portuguese
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Rank 94. La Boule
Bakery
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Rank 97. Entre-Nous
Neapolitan Italian
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Rank 98. Eight
Bakery
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Rank 99. Kamoun
Syrian Middle Eastern
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Rank 100. Car Bon
Sichuan
A Sichuan restaurant on the Chaussée de Waterloo that holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, Car Bon is exactly the kind of small, packed neighborhood spot where the menu goes on forever and the tables turn fast. The kitchen leans into the numbing heat and deep aromatics of Sichuan cooking, and the regulars filing in early know the drill. Book ahead; the room is small and the word is out.