DK Travel : Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent : Editor's choice

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A la Mort Subite, Brussels

A famous café-bar in central Brussels, with a gueuze named after it (see A La Mort Subite).
Abbey Beer

Other abbeys also produced beer, but unlike the Trappist monasteries, many have licensed them to commercial breweries. Leffe, for example, is now closely connected with Interbrew. That said, many of the abbey beers are excellent. In addition, there are good “abbey-style” beers, such as Ename, Floreffe and St Feuillien.
Anguilles au Vert/Paling in ’t Groen

Eels cooked in a sauce of fresh green herbs.
Antiques and Bric-à-brac

For lovers of everything from old comics and Art Nouveau door handles to exquisite Louis XVI desks and ormolu clocks, Belgium is a happy hunting ground. In Brussels, the full range is on view between the Place du Jeu de Balle and the Place du Grand Sablon.
Basilique Nationale du Sacré-Coeur

The largest Art Deco building ever built? Remarkable view from its copper-green dome.
Beer

In 1900 there were over 3,200 breweries in Belgium; now there are just over 100, but they still generate an astonishing variety of beers (see Types of Belgian Beer). The most famous are produced by the Trappist monasteries, but even the lighter, lager-style beers such as Stella Artois and Jupiler are made to a high standard.
Béguinage d’Anderlecht

Tiny béguinage (see Bruges) – now a museum showing how the béguines lived.
Belgian Endive

A great Belgian invention. When trying to overwinter chicorée lettuce in around 1840, a Brussels gardener found it produced succulent, salad-like shoots. They can be eaten raw, but their sweet, slightly bitter flavour really emerges when they are cooked, either as a vegetable accompaniment or in dishes such as chicons au gratin . Chicon is the French word, witloof the Dutch; in English, it’s endive or chicory (but it’s confusing, as these terms can also refer to lettuce).
Biscuiterie Dandoy

Supreme biscuit manufacturer, in a class of its own (see Biscuiterie Dandoy).
Biscuits and Pâtisserie

It is hard not to drool in front of the ravishing shop windows of Belgian pâtisseries – and the mouth-watering offerings taste as good as they look. An alternative is to buy some of the equally famed biscuits (cookies) – from a specialist like Dandoy (see Biscuiterie Dandoy).