The Top 100 Places to Eat Near L'Altitude
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Rank 2. Lombric
Natural Wine Bar
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Rank 3. La Stazione Alimentari
Italian
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Rank 4. Mangiavino
Italian
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Rank 6. 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 7. 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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Rank 8. Brood
Bakery
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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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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 13. 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 14. Hopla Geiss
Alsatian Bakery
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Rank 15. Perruche
French
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Rank 17. Amakara
Japanese
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Rank 19. MangiaSempre
Italian
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Rank 20. Horta
Portuguese
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Rank 21. Rascal's Café
British
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Rank 22. Belle Lurette
French
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Rank 23. Daily 3000
Pizza
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Rank 24. 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 25. Munch
Thai
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Rank 26. Pépite
Bakery
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Rank 27. Ptitbeur
Beer Bar
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Rank 28. La Bottega Della Pizza
Neapolitan Pizza
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Rank 29. Little Apo
Vietnamese
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Rank 30. Kami
Coffee
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Rank 33. Grabuge
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 36. Nikolas Koulepis
Greek-French Bakery
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Rank 38. Honest
Coffee
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Rank 39. Kookoo
Coffee Shop Persian
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Rank 40. Batch
Coffee
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Rank 41. Jackie Coffee
Coffee
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Rank 43. Le Petit Mercado
Peruvian
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Rank 44. 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 46. Julien Othomene Pâtisserie
French Bakery
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Rank 47. Khobz
Bakery
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Rank 48. Kaiju
Noodles
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Rank 49. Grain
Bakery
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Rank 50. Cipiace
Italian
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Rank 51. Giotto
Dessert
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Rank 52. Chana
Vegetarian Indian
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Rank 54. Fight Club
Pizza
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Rank 56. Mendo
Ramen Noodles
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Rank 57. Stone Dial
Contemporary Chinese
An old wood-burning stove anchors the dining room of this contemporary Chinese restaurant, which occupies what may be the oldest building in Uccle. The setting is a little theatrical, all dark wood and vintage quirk with chopsticks on the table, and the menu leans into the contrast: colorful, generous plates of traditional Chinese cooking. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks for a place that feels like a find without making you feel like you're being let in on a secret.
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Rank 58. Badi
Cider Wine Bar
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Rank 59. Bintje
American
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Rank 61. Jane
Natural Wine Bar
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The tiled walls and zinc bar still look exactly like the butcher's shop this Art Deco Saint-Gilles building once housed, which sets up an odd, charming contrast with what comes out of the kitchen. This neighborhood restaurant serves modern, organic-leaning food, the kind where carrots get a whole dramatic arc and a piece of fish arrives with quiet Asian inflections. The cooking is playful without being showy, and the prices stay sensible enough that coming back feels easy.
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Rank 64. Boulengier
Bakery
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Rank 65. 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.
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Rank 66. Brugmann
Modern French
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Rank 67. Kartouche
Bistro 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 71. Chez Luma
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 73. Bisous
Dessert
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Rank 74. Nyyó
New York Vietnamese
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Rank 76. Crunch
Coffee
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Rank 77. La Général
Mexican
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Rank 78. Stella
Specialty Coffee
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Rank 79. La Boule
Bakery
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Rank 80. Philema
Greek
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Rank 81. Mauvais Choix
Vegetarian
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Rank 82. 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 83. Frasca
Italian
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Rank 84. 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 85. 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 86. Frangines
Vietnamese
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Rank 87. Nuovo Rosso
Italian
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Rank 88. Fico
Sicilian
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Rank 90. 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 91. Mains
Bakery
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Rank 92. Entre-Nous
Neapolitan Italian
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Rank 94. 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 95. Fish Tank
Seafood
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Rank 96. 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 97. La Paix
French Fusion Japanese
A two-Michelin-star restaurant that has traded its old corner spot opposite the Anderlecht slaughterhouses for a grand Belle Époque hotel, La Paix is mid-move and temporarily closed. The kitchen's signature territory is French technique pulled toward Japanese restraint, with serious seafood running through most of it. A destination fine dining room, the kind where you dress up and clear your afternoon.
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Rank 98. Le Pigeon Noir
Classic French
Waiters in full garb, tables packed so close you'll learn your neighbor's order by accident, and a menu built around Burgundian comfort food that has no interest in impressing anyone. Le Pigeon Noir is an old-school Brussels bistro doing classic French country cooking with good produce and no fuss. The room feels like a village café that never got the memo about modernizing, which is precisely the point.
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Rank 99. 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 100. 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.