First of all, it is impossible to visit every single cafe, restaurant and brasserie in Liège. The whole city is simply dotted with dining options that offer continuous service (for us who live in France, it is inconceivable that restaurants do not close between lunch and dinner service). It is doubly impossible (can you multiply zero by anything for added emphasis? – we digress…) to visit them all in the three short days we were there, so instead, bear in mind these are not the best dining places, but rather, simply ones we have visited and rather enjoyed.
First off, in Liège, everything comes served with fries. OK, not the pizzas, but I’m sure if you asked, they would throw some in.
GodzillaPin and the Ninja Turtle do this little trick of finding two dishes on the menu they want to try, and then swapping plates mid-meal.
Turkey with baked apples in cream sauce? Or rabbit and prunes in Liégeoise sauce? Why choose?
While walking around the city, GodzillaPin mentioned that Liège was famous for meatballs. The Ninja Turtle was confused – wasn’t that Sweden? Well, she was wrong – or rather, she was enlightened to the difference. It all lies in the sauce. The sauce Liégeoise is made with what they call sirop de Liège, which makes it very very sweet. Also, it’s known as sauce lapin, which made us raise some eyebrows as to the type of meat that went in… (most recipes state pork and beef, but ours had a suspiciously gamey smell to it.
Eating minced meat in Europe at the moment is really pushing one’s luck, but we’ll take our chances for a regional specialty.
The same sauce goes into various dishes, such as the Liège burger ordered by the Ninja Turtle.
The quintessential meal.
Waffles aside, they are also known for a couple of good desserts in Liège, such as…
To our Australian friends: you know what you call iced coffee in South Australia? Well, here it’s a Café Liégeoise.
And of course, who can forget what Belgium is famous for?
Who says dessert can’t be healthy?
That fruit skewer contained grapes, strawberry, melon, apple, starfruit, banana, pineapple and kiwi. It was the best 4,50 euros we ever spent.
For visitors who are interested in a couple of good places to eat:
Wine Note: Place des carmes, 4, Liège
Les Princes Evêques: 43 Place de la République française, Liège
We were not paid to write this review. We just wanted to share good experiences.
The 道 of our L’Art de Vivre 