I have worked with a super gourmet manager. He knew all about food and wine in the world. He told me Belgium was one of the best places to eat great food as they have as good food as in France being located next to France but the prices are cheaper than France not being France.
以前一緒に働いた超グルメな上司がよく言っていたこと・・・うまいものを食べたかったらベルギーに行け。グルメの国フランスの隣に位置しているので料理の味はフランスと同じくらいおいしくて、でもフランスじゃないから値段は少し安め・・・というのが彼がそういう理由だった。
First time when I visited the county, I had the best-ever waffles in Brugge. It was light, tasty and even melting in my mouth. Though I thought the piece was huge at the first glance, I finished it easily and wanted to have more. After a while, I was still thinking about the waffles and decided to visit Brussels to have waffles and mussels. (I love mussels, too!) Unfortunately, I didn't know about two different kinds of waffles, i.e. Brussels and Liege waffles, and the one I had in Brugge was Brussels waffle. In Brussels I had Liege waffle and I was totally disappointed. I was almost convinced that I would have to go to Brugge for my dream waffles.
そんなベルギーで初めて訪れたのはブルージュという素敵な街。そこで世にもおいしいワッフルを食べた。それまで食べたことのあったワッフルとは全然違ってとても軽くてあっという間に口の中で溶けていく感じ。ワッフルが口の中で溶けるというのはなんだか変な表現かと思われるが、まさにそれがぴったりという感じだったのだ。そんなワッフルがまた食べたくなって、その後今度はブリュッセルにワッフルとムール貝を食べに行くことにした（出張のついで）。
But this time in Brussels, I was lucky to have a friend who came with a guidebook for girls published in Japan (We have all those different kind of guidebook in Japan ;-) It explained the difference of the waffles and told us where to eat them.
ベルギーのワッフルには2つの種類、ブリュッセルワッフルとリエージュワッフルがあってブルージュで食べたのはブリュッセルワッフルだったということなどまったく知らなかった私。そのとき食べたリエージュのワッフルはブルージュで食べたのは大違い・・・大いにがっかり・・・ちなみに日本で売ってるマネキンのワッフルとかベルギーでも道沿いのお店で一般的に売ってるワッフルはリエージュ風。
Out of several choices in the guidebook, we headed to the Dadoy at the Grand-Place, for Brussels waffles. They had a shop on the ground floor and a tea room on the first floor. The tea room was quite busy with only one waiter serving. Luckily we didn't have to wait much but more and more customers came in while we were eating waffles. Many of them were, not surprisingly, Japanese tourists ;-)
でも今回のブリュッセル訪問。日本から来た友達が持ってきた女子のためのガイドブック（名前なんだっけ？）にはそんな情報もばっちり。もちろんお薦めのお店も。そんな中から街の中心グランプラスにあるDadoy へ。１階はビスケットを中心としたお店、そして２階がティールーム。とても混んでいたけれどわたしたちはほとんど待たずにテーブルへ。でもその後もお客さんは続々と。日本人観光客もいっぱい。（そう、このお店はとても有名な老舗！）
This is the waffle I had 🙂 I ordered the simplest waffle in the menu but I will have the one with ice cream next time. I was too excited to think about what else I would have with the waffle, I guess… 😉 Apart from the forgotten ice cream, it was really lovely and melting in my mouth : ) It might be hard to imagine melting waffle if you have had only Liege waffles which are more commonly available on the street shops and in Japan (and many other places, I guess). But, believe me, it melts in the mouth and you could eat more and more. (I am sure you are imagining it now 😉
そしてこれが私の頼んだ超シンプルなワッフル。アイスクリームのトッピングを頼み忘れた・・・まあとにかく、ワッフルはブルージュで食べたのと同じくらい美味。でも次回はアイスクリームののったのを！
Every morning in Brussels, we had either (or both) pain au chocolat or (and) croissant with a cup (or two cups) of coffee. Among the ones we tried, I think the croissant at Charli was the best! I didn't eat pain au chocolat there but according to my friend, it was also great! I just had a look at their web page to put the link to this blog and the feeling I had in the Boulangerie came back. The web page shows how charming the boulangerie is and how passionate they are about what they produce. If you are also bread and pastries lover, check it out even if you don't have a plan to visit Brussels now! You will know what I mean 🙂
ブリュッセルにいる間は毎朝クロワッサンかパン・オー・ショコラの朝ごはん。毎日違うカフェで食べてみた。一番おいしかったのはCharli。リンクを張りたくて店のホームページを見てみると、あのお店の素敵な感じとパン作りにかける情熱と真剣さが伝わってくる感じ。ブリュッセルに行く予定がなくてもパン好きだったらぜひ見てみてください。
We also enjoyed yummy seafood in Brussels. We loved oyster and prawn feast at Toucan-sur-Mer in the very lively atmosphere.
ブリュッセルではシーフードも大満足。Toucan-sur-Mer で食べた牡蠣やえびの盛り合わせには大興奮。
And we had tasty mussels at La Boussole merely following my instinct which often works, especially for great food 😉 In addition to their great food, we loved the homey atmosphere and were happy to be at the restaurant in our last evening in Brussels (this time 😉
最後の夜は直感でホテルの近くのLa Boussoleへ。ここではおいしいムール貝。料理もお店の雰囲気も家族が工夫を凝らして手作りで作っている感じがとても素敵だった。
Oh, I shouldn't forget about lovely dessert we had at La Boussole .そしてこの店で食べたデザートもシンプルでおいしかった。ごちそうさま！