Someone wrote: : : Ice isn't gold, it is just not a common drink additive. (If you think : Belgium is bad, try to get ice in hte UK!) In part this is due to the : fact that very few people drink the tap water. As an American : transplant living in Belgium, I have become used to the lack of ice : and cool drinks. : : What restaurants did you visit? : I quickly learned to keep a supply of bottled water in my room. The tap water in the hotels was OK, but in the customer site, the office of the Belgian French-speaking government, their pipes were in horrible shape, and I only tried to drink from a drinking fountain once. As for restaurants, most of my breakfast and dinners were taken at the hotels where I stayed, though I had the opportunity to dine at a few places in town. My favorite was Jaques, near the old fish market. I ate at a few of the tourist joints north of the Grande Place, which were usually adequate. The first Hotel I was at was the Confort Inn Erasme in Anderlecht. It was all I could get on short notice, due to a conference that week. The rooms were small, and the bed was actually two twins pushed together, but the restaurant was very good. The staff was friendly, and the price of 2650 BEF per night was pretty good. It was also right across from one of the TRAM lines, and public transportation in Brussels is very usable. After the first day, I used the TRAM to get to our client site, which was just across from the Botanique. I enjoyed a lot of the cafes and snack shops for lunch. One particular snack shop, A little place on Rue Du Congress, about half a block up the south side of the street from the unknown soldier monument, was great. The young lady who runs it, Giovanna, is Italian, and spoke Italian and French, While I spoke English with a smattering of German, and Spanish. seemed to grasp immediately, my every request, and even made coffee in the fashion I prefer (big mug of strong coffee, that I can sip on for an entire meal). Onward Through the Fog --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It is a great mistake to try to cure a man of paranoia, for it gives him just as clear an understanding of the innards of the universe as Psychology or religion." - Peter S. Beagle, I See by my Outfit. =========================================================================== From [email removed] Wed Jul 16 08:23:28 EDT 1997 Article: 34876 of rec.food.restaurants
Belgium