Vegan in Brussels: A whistlestop tour of what I ate in the Belgian capital

This is going to be a short blog, because I spent pretty much an afternoon and evening in Brussels before hopping on the Eurostar back home first thing the next morning. 

Luckily, my hotel was just around the corner from Kitsune Burgers in central Brussels. Despite bowling in at peak dinner time on a Saturday night, we managed to get a table easily - which means that the people of Brussels are missing out, because Kitsune is banging.

Kitsune Burgers' instagram says that the restaurant serves "homemade, vegan and Asian-inspired fast good". I don't know if that's a typo, but Kitsune's food definitely is both fast and good. 

As you'd guess from the name, Kitsune Burgers sells a range of burgers: tofu, beans, mushroom. Basically, they've got all the heavy hitters of vegan burgerism, right here, minus any faux-meat. I like faux-meat a lot, but looking at that line up there - tofu, beans, mushrooms - I can't say I was missing it at all. 

Behold what we enjoyed: a b*con smash burger, fries, kimchi and a Korean corn dog.

Firstly, the most important part: the burger. I'll be honest, I can take or leave a burger. But full marks to Kitsune on this one - this was a great example of burgerdom. Every last piece of the burger was really well done - the rich, umami burger itself, the smoky b*con, and the bun. Oh man, that bun. I would go as far as to say it was one of the best buns I've ever had. Yep, it was that good. 

I also got to try a Korean corn dog. I've never found a vegan one before, so I was seized on it when I saw Kitsune had one. It's a slab of smoky tofu wrapped in batter. Was it authentic? I've no idea. Was it delicious? Absolutely it was. 

Kitsune Burgers
instagram.com/kitsune.burgers
Pt Rue des Bouchers 25, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
+32 472 48 07 93

With less than 24 hours in Brussels, we knew we had to be judicious in our eating choices. We visited Brussels at the end of our trip to Belgium, and by the time we arrived in the capital, it occurred to us we hadn't had a Belgian waffle. Luckily, Brussels has its own vegan waffle place to help us remedy this glaring oversight of ours. 

We made our way down to Veganwaf'. As you've probably guessed from the name, it's an all vegan waffle shop 😍! It's a bit hard to find - buried in a mini-mall type place off Brussels' Grotenmarkt, but it's well worth digging out.

Once you've found it, you've done most of the hard work. Now, the most difficult decision that awaits you is what toppings you need on your freshly-made, gluten-free, plant-based (and most importantly amazingly delicious) Belgian waffle. 

I asked for sirop de Liege, on the grounds I'd never seen it before and I love trying something new. The shop owner, very kindly, asked if I had tried it before. I had not. He offered me a taste before slathering my waffle with it, on the grounds it was something on an acquired taste. It was (sorry residents of Liege) not nice. Thank you, shop owner, for stopping me making a terrible decision.

My better decision: a huge, pillowy, inviting Belgian waffle of my dreams,amply topped with salted caramel and chantilly cream. Very much recommended.

Veganwaf'

instagram.com/veganwaf/

facebook.com/veganwaf/

Galerie Agora 48, 1000 Brussels, Belgium

+32 2 880 59 49

My next stop is a bit of a sad one. We were due to get an early morning Eurostar on a Sunday, and were foraging for breakfast before we hopped on the train. 

The best we could manage was some baked goods from Pain Quotidien. Here's the hibiscus croissant I ate in my hotel room while packing my bags:

Pain Quotidien is a chain of bakery and lunch type places that I've seen in France, Belgium and the UK (and doubtless other places too), which has clearly marked vegan options, including various patisserie, cakes, stuff-on-toast, as well as full meals. None of it is going to rock your world, but if you need a vegan cinnamon roll at 9am in Brussels, at least you have options.

Pain Quotidien

lepainquotidien.com/be/en/menu/

Branches across Belgium