Update 1: There has been a change of management and name (now Ramdam).
Update 2: There has been another name change—Clair Obscur now—and a change of concept as well, so the bar as described here, does no longer exist…
A bit hidden behind the Trinity church, at the border of Ixelles and Saint-Gilles, you can find a quaint, cosy bar, named L’auBIÈREgiste. The name of this bar is a play-on-words, putting bière in the middle of the word l’aubergiste – innkeeper – thereby shortening the popular phrase “A beer, innkeeper!” to just one word. However, in a bar with an offer like they have here, asking for just “a beer” will not suffice!
Food places keep popping up in Brussels all the time, introducing cuisines from all over the world. We’ve seen Mexican or Tex-Mex on some restaurants before, but so far, they haven’t been able to impress us. Cali-Mex, or Californian Mexican however, was new to us, and I believe to Brussels.
Viva M’Boma is not your typical restaurant, since it is specialised in offal dishes: livers, kidneys, tongues, intestines, cheeks, udders… For the less adventurous eaters, there are more familiar Belgian dishes on the menu as well, like stoemp saucisses and carbonnades Flamandes with chips.
When you pass by Fin de Siècle in the evening, there are usually a couple of people standing at the bar. They’re not there just to have a drink, but they’re waiting to be seated. It’s a logical result of their no reservations policy, but it’s always a good sign if you see people are willing to put up with the wait, isn’t it?
“Eat more fish” is the motto of Bia Mara. “Good luck with that”, was my first thought, when in 2013, I first walked past the now famous chippie. And foreigners from a soggy chip country selling chips to Belgians?