UPDATE: Opened a second location in Brussels centre.
With the addition of Patatak to the food scene in Saint-Gilles—already a year ago—there are really no excuses left to have a bad beer with your chips. This chip shop even has three beers—by Dupont and De la Senne—on draught! The chips themselves are freshly cut, and fried in beef fat, which has become a rarity in Brussels.
Located at the popular Parvis de Saint-Gilles, Patatak certainly isn’t the only food outlet in the area. With Broebbeleir as their direct neighbours, you might think they face some stiff competition in the chips arena. However, by concentrating on proper chips, and just a couple of side dishes, they do manage to set themselves apart. Frying their chips in beef fat is quite a bold move—but one certainly appreciated by traditionalists and gourmets—but the sweet potato chips are fried in vegetable oil, so those are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.
The homemade chicken ‘nuggets’, as Patatak calls them, are more like breaded chicken strips, but very tasty. The Belgian staple carbonnade flamande is served in a separate little bucket, so your chips won’t get soggy, but you can still easily dip them in the sauce.
Having the choice of three beers on draught—Zinnebir, Redor Pils, and Avec Les Bons Voeux—in a chip shop is quite the luxury, and if you fancy something else, there are also some other, mostly local beers available in bottle. The glassware used was clean as well—no bubbles clinging to the inside of the glass—which is a remarkable accomplishment with a deep fryer nearby!
When eating in, you can use real cutlery, and the dishes are served in cardboard. Be careful with the giant salt shakers! The fifteen (!) homemade sauces are currently served in little plastic containers, which is a pity in an establishment that seems to be largely plastic-free. It would be great if these could at some point be replaced with little glass bowls for at least the people eating in, and cardboard for the to-go orders.
With L’Ermitage Saint-Gilles just around the corner, we can certainly see ourselves returning here for some pre- or post-drinking chips, maybe with a frikandel, or cheese croquettes next time!
tl;dr
Beers
- 3 beers on draught
- A nice little selection of bottled beers
Bites
- Chips, freshly cut and fried!
- Homemade chicken nuggets, carbonnade flamande, frikandel, cheese and shrimp croquettes…
Sint-Gillisvoorplein 31 Parvis de Saint-Gilles
1060 Sint-Gillis
+32 476 56 19 66
https://patatak.be
What have people been drinking here recently?
- Joschka mag Bier is drinking a Zinnebir at Patatak
- Joschka mag Bier is drinking a Blanche du Hainaut Biologique at Patatak
- Amadis is drinking a Classic Gueuze (2022) at Patatak
- Sabrina Guimaraes is drinking a Kriek at Patatak
- Kirill Belskiy is drinking a Saison Dupont at Patatak
- Kirill Belskiy is drinking a Zinnebir at Patatak
- Guillaume Egginton is drinking a Zinnebir at Patatak
- Martijn K is drinking a Zinnebir at Patatak
- Clément Larue is drinking a BMX IPA at Patatak
- Micke Karlsson is drinking a Zinnebir at Patatak