I’m going to be holed up in Brussels for much of next week.
Accommodation and most meals are sorted, but any recommendations for bars and restaurants?
Any specific beers to hunt down?

Ta

I can ask a few locals.. what type of food ?

which part of Brussels?

Whereabouts in Brussels?

Ricks on Avenue Louise is nice for an ex-pat hangout.

The Ixelles area has some nice restaurants.

Pub wise…

http://alamortsubite.com/

http://www.moederlambic.com/bars/fr/bars/

+1 for http://www.moederlambic.com/bars/fr/bars/ especially the ‘original’ but it’s a bar you go to more for the quality of the beer than the decor or ambiance

I was there at new year and didn’t visit one bar 😳

As far as restaurants go I tried como como near sainte catherines square – tapas, and la scoglio on the square

both were good

I’m staying at the *coughs* airport for a residential school
But I’m planning a couple of excursions at least!

For beer La Mort Subite and La Lunette.

If you like a drop of the harder stuff there’s an absinthe bar called Floris Bar. I seem to remember another bar attached which served many different varieties of rum (though my memory is somewhat hazy!).

No specific recommendations, but I remember a few places offered a “degustation de biere” which allows you to try a few different styles. A word of warning – most of it is about twice as strong as our ale!

What a lovely location to have a residential school. My office is close by in Zaventem but I wouldn’t have anything to recommend other than leaving the area 🙂

What a lovely location to have a residential school.

I’m hoping that the hotel is OK (The Hilton)!
There were a few choices including Crewe and Basildon, but TBH, it was the easiest to get to from Edinburgh – and I’m hoping the links to the city will be good enough to be somewhere nice quickly.

Cafe Delerium is ok – mostly the places there are a bit odd and full of Brusolians though!

I’m staying at the *coughs* airport for a residential school
But I’m planning a couple of excursions at least!

There Is a great Italian restaurant in Vilvoorde just round the R0 from the airport.
http://www.testarossi.be/
The Bloke who runs it Alain has a few restaurants and seems to flit between them, the Vilvoorde one has funny opening hours and is shut on some midweek nights plus you have to book, if you are in the area it’s worth seeking out.
I worked in Brussels for 3 months and we ate there whenever we could.
For a posh meal in Brussels I rate vert de Gris
There is a nice restaurant called Greenwich on the rue Des Chartreux and another just opposite and up a bit where the 2 roads meet, I ate at both a few times and noticed the owners would pop in to each others for a drink, it’s much better looking around areas like this than those hideous restaurants that line the roads near the main station with hawkers trying to get the tourists in. I would rather eat where the locals go than tourists.