Belgium much more than just Beer, Waffles & Chocolate

You knew it had to be coming! Here is the food post from my visit to Belgium.

Waffles

I had never really had waffles before going to Belgium. I once tried American style waffles and they were super sweet and not to my taste and I imagined that Belgian Ones were similar. They did look similar but that was where the resemblance ended. I was in for a treat.

First Sightings

As soon as we got off the plane we found waffles everywhere; there were vending machines and even a stand at the airport after we passed security.

Waffline

I am not sure if this is a traditional style on or just a creation of the Waffle Factory but when we got to Brussels city center the first place we spotted had a queue outside, we were peckish after the trip so we thought we would give it a try.

A waffline was a type of sandwich, a sweet dough filled with anything from bacon and cheese to chocolate. I went for the chocolate option.

Belgian Waffles

At every turn in Belgium there were waffles for sale; vending machines, in shops, in waffle carts on the street, in restaurants. The ones in this picture are kind of what I was expecting. But the real deal is something special.

There are two traditional styles of Waffles in Belgium, the Brussels Waffle and the Liege Waffle. I would describe the Brussels Waffle as a finer dining experience and the Liege Waffle as more everyday food.

Brussels Waffle

This looks like the American style waffles I had in the past, but instead of being sweet and heavy the ones we had in Belgium were really light, more similar to Churos but not greasy at all. These can be enjoyed with just a dusting of icing sugar or covered with any toping under the Sun. We googled the best waffles in Brussels and found a Restaurant Maison Dandoy, just off the main square. I would highly recommend this place if you want to sit down and enjoy some great treats in Brussels.

Liege Waffle

This different style of waffle is typically known as street food, the best ones can be found for sale on carts in the streets. Bite into a light dough covered in crunchy caramelised sugar.

This was my favourite.

For 1.50 or 2 Euro you get a delicious tasty treat.

You can also get these covered in toppings

Even rich Belgian chocolate

Frites

Belgium is famous for Beer, Waffles and Chocolate, but I also discovered for Chips or Frites. What is the difference between French and Belgian Frites? I am not sure, but I have a feeling that the French popularised the French Fries but they are really a Belgian Import.

What separates these from other varieties? The chip museum in Bruges gave me the history, we saw Chip Art, Chip Music and lots of chip paraphernalia.

Belgian Chips are fried twice, this gives them the lovely crunch texture and golden colour.

The best frites we had were in Bruge but we also queued for an hour in Ghent to eat in a place that had just won the a prize for thebest frites in Belgium.

They were pretty good too.

Sweets and Chocolates

There is no doubt the Belgians seem to have a sweet tooth. From chocolate to sweets, they take their sweet treats seriously. In Brussels we stopped in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert where the displays were mouthwatering. The French influence on the sweets was clearly visible with fine Macaroons on display but there was also mountains of chocolate to choose from.

Belgian Beer

I am writing a blog series on Pubs in Ireland and I mentioned I did not like craft Beers. Well it turns out I hadn't tried Belgian Craft Beer. I have changed my mind about craft beer on this trip.