Belgian cuisine

There are so many delicious foods in Belgian cuisine  !

Tomo & Chouchou strongly recommend "Carbonade flamande"!
This dish is a beef stew made with Belgian beer.
Beef is so tender and it's like melting in the mouth.
You can taste Belgian beer at the same time.

"Moules-frites".
We can often see Moules-frites in France, 

but the origin of Moules-frites is Belgium.
There are full of mussels in the pot.
You can feel luxury.
 

The origin of French fries /chips is also Belgium or France.

Good French fries are not so oily.

We can taste real potate's taste if they're cooked well. 

"croquettes aux crevettes (grises)"
It is a croquette made with shrimps.
You can enjoy thick shrimp taste. 

Waffle [gaufre] as dessert.
There are so many toppings of waffles such as fruits, chocolates or whipped cream. 

 

Please look for your favorite waffle!

Relating articles

* Belgian chocolates

* Brussels in Belgium

Belgian Comic Strip Center [Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée]

"La bande dessinée" is Franco-Belgian comic which is known as BD.
Comics (BDs) are very popular in Belgium.
Belgium is like a paradise for the people who love comics (Manga or BD).

Belgian Comic Strip Center [French: Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée]

Entrance

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Go up the stairs & pay the admission.
 

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We found Tintin and Snowy (Milou in French) !

 

 

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Go up the stairs

 

 

We found the fantastic comic/manga world.

We found Porco Rosso [Kurenai no buta: 紅の豚 in Japanese] 

written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki: 宮崎駿.
We can find some Japanese mangas in Belgian Comic Strip Center.

↓

While walking in the town of Brussels,
we found the painture of comic hero "Le Scorpion" 

on the wall of the building.
 

Episode of Belgian Comic Strip Center 

Chouchou likes Franco-Belgian comics [=BD : La Bande dessinée], so we decided to go to Belgian Comic Strip Center [Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée].

At the entrance, there were some statues of heros and a rocket which appeared in the story of Tintin.
We went up the stairs and paid the admission. Then we found Tintin and Snowy(Milou in French) soon !
We went up the stairs more and we were suprisingly happy to see the fantastic comic/manga world there.
Tintin is created by Belgian cartoonist, so we could find many collections of Tintin there. Tomo&Chouchou like Tintin, so we could enjoy Tintin a lot.
We can find lots of work by Belgian cartoonists there, but we can also find some Japanese mangas there. We found Porco Rosso (Kurenai no buta in Japanese) written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. We were delighted to know Japanese animation was popular in Belgium.

On the ground floor, there is a souvenir shop. We can buy comics (BDs) there.
We can also buy many goods of comic heros such as posters, postcards, soft toys, stationeries, bags etc. We bought some posters at souvenir shop.

Even if we don't go to Belgian Comic Strip Center, we can understand how much comics (BDs) are loved by Belgian people. While walking in the town of Brussels, we can find the street of comic hero's name, the statue of famous comic hero in the city, and the painture of comic hero on the wall of the building. We could enjoy the country of comics !

Tomo & Chouchou's advice for Franco-Belgian comics: BD

There is a Tintin shop near the Grand Place; the downtown in Brussels.
If you like Tintin, please have a look !



Relating articles

* Brussels in Belgium

* The symbols in Brussels

* Belgian chocolates

The symbols in Brussels

- Downtown in Brussels -

This is the famous Manneken Pis.
  It's located at the junction of Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat & Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat.
 

 

another big Manneken Pis in front of the waffle shop nearby.

- Suburb of Brussels -

 The Atomium is in the Heysel Exhibition Park.
It was constructed for Expo 58 / Brussels World's Fair in 1958.

Episode of Manneken Pis & Atomium in Belgium

Talking of Belgium, Manneken Pis is famous. So Tomo & Chouchou went to see it at first.
Manneken Pis was located at the junction of Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat & Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat. We went there on foot.
There are three disappointing sightseeing spots in the world for Japanese tourists and Manneken Pis is one of them. When we arrived at the place and see the real Manneken Pis,,,,, we said, "How small it is !"
Manneken Pis was also standing on the high place and it was protected by the fence. So unfortunately it was difficult for us to take a photo with Manneken Pis.
But we found another big Manneken Pis in front of the waffle shop nearby. We liked that big Manneken Pis. We could take a photo shoulder to shoulder. Manneken Pis eating Belgian waffle was cute.
Actually, there were so many kinds of Manneken Pis in the shops in Brussels.
Some shops have Manneken Pis made of chocolate. It was more interesting to find many kind of Manneken Pis than the real Manneken Pis.  

We went to Atomium which is another famous spot in Brussels. The Atomium is not located in the downtown in Brussels. It's located in suburb of Brussels, so we went there by car. Atomium is located in the Heysel Exhibition Park. The Heysel Exhibition Park is so large. We got lost inside the Heysel Exhibition Park. It was difficult for us to find the right way to arrive at Atomium. Indication was not well written and it was a bit complicated to go there by car. 

The Atomium is a monument constructed for Expo 58 known as the Brussels World's Fair. The Atomium is very big and unique monument. The unique design of Atomium let us think how it was built. Nine balls were very shining. We were so impressed to see such a unique design of monument. We also hoped Belgium would keep this monument forever!

Advices for Atomium

1) It was a bit complicated to reach the Atomium inside the Heysel Exhibition Park. We recommend you to take a sightseeing bus from Brussels if you are tourists.

2) We can go up the Atomium. There is a restaurant in the highest ball of Atomium.  We can also enjoy the view from there. If you have time, you can try to go up and eat there.

Relating articles 

* Brussels in Belgium

* Belgian chocolates

* Belgian Comic Strip Center [Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée]

Belgian chocolates

 

- Discovery of Belgian chocolates -

a chocolate fountain (French: une fontaine à chocolat) in the shop.

We went to workshop of Planete Chocolat in Brussels.

Episode of Belgian chocolates

Belgium is famous for good chocolates ! So Tomo & Chouchou decided to enjoy Belgian chocolates a lot.
In Brussels in Belgium, there are full of chocolaterie (=chocolate shops). For the chocolate lovers, Bruxelles can be the paradise. Chouchou loves chocolates, so Chouchou was happy to find a chocolate fountain (une fontaine à chocolat in French) in the chocolate shop.
We found the famous pastry chef shop. All the cakes looked delicious. It was difficult to choose. We bought some and tasted them at hotel.

Tomo&Chouchou went to workshop of Planete Chocolat in Brussels. Planete Chocolat explained about chocolates. They also taught and showed how to make chocolates. Above all, we could taste some chocolates for free ! We could also buy chocolates in Planete Chocolat. We could taste before buying. So we could buy only our favorite chocolates and we didn't need to make a mistake for the gift either. It was good experience to know the chocolate deeply. :-)

Tomo & Chouchou's advice for Chocolate

Everything looks delicious, so you feel you want to buy in each shop. If you want to buy or taste many chocolates, you can buy small quantities of chocolates in many chocolateries.
 


Relating articles

* The symbols in Brussels

* Brussels in Belgium

* Belgian Comic Strip Center [Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée]

* Belgian cuisine

Brussels/Bruxelles in Belgium

Brussels/Bruxelles: Capital of Belgium

Tomo & Chouchou visited in February

- Main place in Bruxelles -

 Grand-Place [French: La Grand-Place de Bruxelles]
The Grand-Place is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 The Maison du Roi [La Maison du Roi]

There's the City Hall of Brussels in front of the Maison du Roi. 

There is a tourist information office in the city hall of Bruxelles.

We found a train made of chocolates in the tourist information office.
We can understand Belgium is famous for chocolates.

Episode of Brussels/Bruxelles

Tomo & Chouchou went to Belgium in February for Valentine's day.

First, we went to the capital city: Brussels/Bruxelles. In Brussels, there are buses, trams and subways to go to downtown, so it's very convenient. 

We went to the main place of Brussels "Grand-Place"(La Grand-Place de Bruxelles in French). The Grand-Place is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The buildings in Grand Place were so impressive. Especially "the Maison du Roi" had power. In front of La Maison du Roi, there's the City Hall of Brussels.
There's a tourist information office in the City Hall of Brussels.
We found a train made of chocolates in the tourist information office.
We can understand Belgium is famous for chocolates. 

 

We also visited other famous spots in Brussels. We wanted to see Manekken Pis. Of course, we checked it and took a photo. We also wanted to go to Tintin shop. We enjoyed Tintin world a lot in Bruxelles. At last, we wanted to taste Belgian chocolates, so we visited chocolate shops and famous pastry chef/pâtissier stores. We enjoyed tasting delicious chocolates and cakes in Brussels.

Relating articles

* Belgian chocolates

* The symbols in Brussels

* Belgian Comic Strip Center (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée)

Recommended foods & drinks in West Europe

Foods & Drinks recommended by TOMO&CHOUCHOU

< in West Europe >

 <Germany>

German Wine
Talking of wine, people tend to imagine France.
But German wines are mostly sweet and tasty.
So if you like sweet wine, Tomo&Chouchou recommend German wine.


Non-alcohol Black beer
Germany is famous for beer.
You may think that beer without alcohol is not good.
But even without alcohol, non-alcohol German beer has rich taste.
Non-alcohol beer is a bit sweet but anyway has strong beer taste.



 <Andorra>

Arròs de muntanya (riz de montagne)
Arròs de muntanya (Riz de montagne) is a dish like a paella or a risotto
cooked with the ingredients from mountains.
Riz de montagne had big quantity.
It was delicious because all the taste of mountain ingredients was together in it.


Amanida de favas (Salade de fèves/ bload beans salad)
Amanida de favas (Salade de fèves) is a salad with small fava beans.
Salade de fèves had real rich vegetable taste.


Wine of Andorra
Andorra has no tax for the alcohols,
so many people come from Spain or France to buy alcohols a lot.
Tomo&Chouchou drank pink wine (wine rosé). It was very tasty.
The color of pink was thicker.



 <Belgium>

Carbonnade (Belgian beef and beer stew)
Carbonnade is a Belgian speciality.
Belgium is famous for beer.
Carbonnade is a beef stew boiled with beer for a long time.
So beer taste penetrate to the beef well.
Beef is very tender. It's like melting in the mouth.
We strongly recommend to eat Carbonnade when you go to Belgium !


Croquette de Crevettes
Croquette de crevettes is a croquette made with small gray shrimps.
This croquette has strong shrimp taste.


Belgian beer
Belgium has so many varieties of beer.
There are fruit beer such as raspberry beer, peach beer or apple beer.
Tomo&Chouchou liked "chimay" which is brune (dark brown colour) beer.
Brune beer has rich and sweet flavour. It was very good.


 <France>

Moules-frites (Mussel & French fries)
We cannot easily find such a big quantity of Mussel in the restaurant in Japan.
Mussels are full of the pot !
Please try Mussel & French fries while you are in France !
There are many flavours such as simple standard sauce: white wine and salt,
tomato sauce, or cream sauce.


crevettes à la crème
The dish looked like steamed shrimps in fresh cream.
It was so tasty.
Tomo&Chouchou ate this meal at the restaurant in Hotel de Paris in Moulins.
Moulins is located in Auvergne.
All dishes of that restaurant in Hotel de Paris were delicious.

soupe de melon et de pastèque (Melon & watermelon soup)
It is popular to eat cold soup like Gazpacho in Summer in France.
Tomo&Chouchou were suprised at the soup made with melon and watermelon.
So we tried it. Melon & watermelon soup refreshed us a lot. It was very good.
Tomo&Chouchou ate that soup at the restaurant which is called "La couronne".
Restaurant "La couronne" is the oldest restaurant in France.
This restaurant is located in Rouen in Normandy.
They have high service, beautiful decoration.
Many celebrities have visited this restaurant.



Relating articles

* Recommended foods & drinks in North & South America

* Recommended foods & drinks in England & Iceland