BRUSSELS Aux Armes de Bruxelles

Trip: Europe 2023

We stopped at Aux Armes de Bruxelles, just across from Chez Leon, but they were completely booked for the night, so we went online and made reservations for our last night in Brussels.

This was an indoor restaurant, with chic interior, and an offer of many traditional Brussels specialties. We thought it would be a nice place to eat on our last night in Brussels.

While waiting for the restaurant to open, we made friends with a group of local women out for a good time. They spoke French, looked to have a good time together, and very willing to strike up a conversation (in French) with Thanh. They did not have a reservation, and were turned away even though empty tables were available. As a matter of fact, the manager seemed to make it a rule to turn away every customer without a reservation, unless our server stepped in and pointed him to available tables in the restaurant. It was very odd.

At any rate, we chose the 3-course menu fix: appetizer, entree, and dessert. For appetizers, we ordered 1/2 brown shrimp salad with one shrimp croquette, and a salmon tartare. The brown shrimp is a common European shrimp that is tiny in size and dark brown in color. For entrees, we ordered the vol-au-vent, which seems to be the European version of the chicken pot pie, served with a small hollow case of puff pastry on top of creamy chicken, and a waterzooi, a seafood stew from Belgium and originating in Flanders. We ended the meal with a delicious creme brulee, flamed at the table, and a very crispy hot Belgian waffle.

Everything we had was excellent, even the butter for our warm baguettes was fancy.

Upscale restaurant

Appetizers

Entrees and desserts

Recommendations: Highly recommended for high quality Belgium specialty dishes. Make a reservation before you go, preferably for a rainy evening, as many small restaurants in the heart of Brussels do not have indoors seatings like this one.