Belgium Breakfast at Hotel

At where we stayed in Brussels, the breakfast was prepared for us every morning ... It's a hotel but the owner tried to make it to be called or always called it as home since he made the service as 'Bed & Breakfast' (even though it received Michelin Stars in year 2007) !!!

Here are what they prepared for us (the owner himself) every morning ... very homey feeling indeed ... No wonder why he called it as Chambres d'hotes rather than hotel ...

A Basket of bread & waffle, a pot of coffee (or tea), a bowl of jam & spreads, a plate of cheese & salami, a cup of yoghurt, and also a jar of orange juice -- all in very Belgian Way of Breakfast













This place is called Downtown-BXL (Rue de Marche Au Charbon 118-120, 1000 Brussels) -- only 4-6 rooms capacity. So reservation needed since it's always been booked at Tel : +34.928.77.22.27 or researvation@downtownbxl.com. Location is in the centre of town (all in walking distance plus metro at the front) -- with big size of room which with design in theme (for our room, it was Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe) !!!

Another thing that it was made to be like home was that all furniture, kitchen utensil, dining set, toilet accessories, and so on are from IKEA brand (all of them I proved them all).

Food for eyes at Museum of Comic Strip Art

Belgium has many world-famous comic strip artists ... Along the street, you can find comic strip decorated on Building walls in Brussels (approximately 38 pieces). In addition, there is also one Museum of Comic Strip Arts (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee) on rue des Sables






If you know famous Tintin (by Herge) or The Smurfs, you must come to this museum for the next visit. There is a permanent exhibitions from a lot of artists including how to make, examples of initial ideas, pencil sketches, till final publication.

Besides the comic strips, the building of the museum was also beautiful since it was designed as Belgian Art-Nouveau style (with a use of curves on structural iron pillars) by Victor Horta.


I was so lucky since it was also the period of special exhibition '20 years of Manga in Europe' during 10 March - 7 June 2009 -- it's all about Japanese Cartoons (Manga) & Characters in Europe !!!



Besides foods, cartoon (especially Japanese Manga) is one of my favourite !!!

Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee (Museum of Comic Strip Art)
20 rue de Sabels, 1000 Brussels
Tel : 219 1980
Open : Tue-Sun (10 am-6pm) -- Closed on Monday !!!
More information : www.brusselscomics.com

Grab & Go with Panos

We did not go for foods in restaurants or cafes only in Belguim ... Sometimes, we needed to grab and go before we missed the train. One shop that we dropped in was 'Panos'.







Panos was a kind of fast food chain selling hot pastry, fresh sandwiches, hot sandwiches, pizza, cookies, and so on ... It helped me while I was waiting for train at Gare du Midi Zuidstation. It's a kind of express food (or budget food I can say so) since we could get it in very reasonable price, large portions ...





This was fresh chicken salad in Baguette ... It was freshly made since customers are able to select the filling to fit with each type of bread. After finishing preparing, it was packed in plastic sheet and put in paper back ...










This was also chicken BBQ in Panini Bread Type --- This one was the hot one since it was grilled immediately after you ordered ... a little waiting worth to get for hot bread ... Hot panini was laid on paper tray and put into paper bag -- See the big chunk of chicken ??? It's was great even it was a little too spicy for me !!!

Chinese Meal for a break in Brussels - Chao Chow City

After strong intention to taste key Brussels signature dishes (and food), we felt to have a break by having something lighter version meal from Eastern side of the world. I meant something with garlic - no cream or no cheese ...

Just walked out from and not far from our Hotel on Rue du Marche Au Charbon, we found this restaurant 'Chao Chow City' ... from outside, it was a bit dark and dull from outside except having yellow & red light box hanging but lots of people walked in and out. They were not only local Belgium but also Asian ones -- so there should have something good, then we went in.

Inside, it was more than I thought since immediately next to the entrance door, there was a portion separated clearly (walk way in the middle) as right-hand was kitchen preparing noodles and other BBQ thing while left-hand was an area for quick eating (one plate or one bowl dish). If walking deeper, it was an area as Chinese Restaurant could be !!! Great utilization indeed ...










Of course, we sat in left-hand area where there were a lot of small table (in a little dim light environment). On the table, there was bottles of salt, pepper, soy sauce, venigar ready. Chinese Food here would be eaten with chopsticks, fork, and knife ...















The food we ordered was 'Yang-Chow Fried Rice' a mixed of egg fried rice with chinese sausages, BBQ pork, shrimp, and cabbage. Together with this dish, we had Shrimp Wanton Soup and Stir-Fried Vegetable (which came up as beansprout mixed with carrot and mushroom) ... The wanton soup was made with strong vegetable soup rather than pork bone ...

The overall taste was good -- it was more intense than the look. In addition, I did not feel the MSG in (or if it had, it would be in little amount) since my throat was not dry out at all ... Happy !!!


Chaochow City
Restaurant Typiquement Chinois
(250 persons)

Boulevard Anspachlaan89,B-1000 Brussels
Tel : (+32) 2-512.37.56

Coffee Company - Modern Cafe of Belgium

Besides the normal cafe that we can find along the street of Belgium, there is also a modern style - like fast & franchise chain cafe called 'Coffee Company'.








Imagine the famous Starbucks shop of USA chain combined with Pret-a-Manger shop of UK since there was a counter for ordering coffee/tea, big fridge with sandwiches, 2 hot bowls of soup, merchandising selling coffee related, shelf selling tea & coffee, plus free wi-fi (so a lot of people sat with laptop on)


What I like was the cup (space for staff to write on -- type of coffee or tea but has one space for name on) and also tissue paper since a lot of printing on 1st folding with coffee company brand while 2nd folding with reminding of lunch catering, website, shop location.

Coffee Company now has only 3 branches in Brussels -- New branch is coming up soon ...

Gaufres or Belgian Waffles

Gaufres (waffles) are another great sweet treat in Belgium ... Gaufres are sold at specialist shops and street stalls. Therefore, it is normally nationwide in Belgium.





From what we ordered, Gaufres was made freshly (or at least few minutes earlier but still hot) for us. It could be topped with knobs of butter and a spinkling of sugar including spoonfuls of jam, fruit, and fresh cream. However, there is also a pre-cooked and individual packed version which we had for breakfast.





















The taste was excellent since it was crispy outside but inside was tender (a bit with elasticity) ... which was totally different from what we had earlier in Thailand (normally we found it dry out from inside to outside).

In addition, we found that there were two type of waffles here in Belgium as the rectangular (which was light texture) vs. round one (which was thicker and heavier).

Belgium Cafe / Bar

In Belgium, we easily found cafe & bar in every street (and almost corner of the street). When the weather is good (sunny - no sun), we also found that most of people sat outside (grilling themselves with sun) with a cup of coffee, a pot of tea, or a glass of Belgian Beer. Remember ... Belgium makies more beers, in a greater mix of styles and flavours, than any other country in the world.










Most cafes serve selection of alcoholic drinks as well as soft drinks, while most bars offer coffee in addition to alcohol together with the light snack or meals (petite restauration).


Here is one of the look that we went for in Bruges ... Bruges is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Belgium -- being one of UNESCO Heritage City. It's north of Brussels (around 45 minutes by train from Brussels). It located in the north of Brussels with the River Dijver (where most of tourist like to take a cruise on -- even it rain).

Yes, for us, we went for tea & coffee instead during raining. This is because we walked along the way It was one theon Wollestraat to Dijver which was near the canel -- The shop name was 'La Paaisone Cafe' -- From outside it looked woody green and classic while inside was in modern look managed by one young guy ... a coffee was served in tray same as tea ... as Belgium Tradition, chocolate must be accompanied with !!! One thing I noticed was that in Belgium Cafe, hot milk was not served with hot coffee or hot tea -- most milk or cream was in room temperature (which was cool or was stored in fridge before) ...












At this cafe, there was special since the owner also gave us biscuits together with one small glass of yellow dessert pudding ... after we tasted it, it contained with strong alcohol ... but it was so yummy !!!