Les Brassins: Belgian brasserie

On a narrow and poorly lit side street, 5 minutes away from Porte de Namur and parallel to the Chaussee d’Ixelles, just a dark, sketchy alley away is Les Brassins, a charming, traditional and casual Belgian brasserie with excellent homey Belgian food, unusually large portions and a good, vibrant and young atmosphere.

Most dishes are around EUR 12-15 and many of them come with endless French (Belgian) fries, that is: free refills. The place, located on 36 rue Keyenveld in Ixelles (1050 Brussels) is open every day for lunch and dinner (except Sundays – only dinner).

As for what to order: take your pick (they have weekly specials), but if undecisive, go for the carbonnades a la flamande – a very safe and savory bet!

Valentine’s Thalys, Eurostar sales

Both Thalys and Eurostar are having special Valentine’s sales these days. Eurostar is offering special deals for train tickets + hotel targeting travelers who want to travel in this season, but the deals are not that interesting (you are always much better off booking early, so you can get the cheapest EUR 80 roundtrip Brussels-London leisure fare).

Thalys’ offer is somewhat different: Tickets are on sale from today until February 20, but for travel between March 10 and April 27. The offer is as usual: EUR 25 for a one-way ticket to Paris in 2nd class (EUR 55 in first class) and EUR 15 for a one-way to Germany in 2nd class (EUR 29 in first class). This is a pretty good offer, since it is slightly cheaper than the Smilys rate and unlike it, does not require you to buy a roundtrip if you don’t need to.

Brazilian food in Brussels: La Cantina

La Cantina does not serve churrasco, but it’s still good. This small, quaint Brazilian restaurant serves good homemade-style, traditional Brazilian dishes, such as the famous bean and meat soup feijoada. You’ll find a selection of about a dozen dishes, including salads, seafood and chicken (the muqueca – a seafood stew – is quite good). Be hungry when you go there as portions are very big: 2 main courses for 3 people should be more than enough.

The only downside: The location, which although just a five minute walk from the Bourse, quickly takes you to a somewhat sketchy part of town.