Pho Pho

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Is anyone there?


Have you not yet abandoned all hope? Oh goodie then, because here were are, with new portion of Brussels speciality!

Long time ago, in a galaxy far away... We visited one of our favourite lunch places - Pho Pho!

It is not much of a restaurant, more like a hip snack bar for a quick dish on the run. They have two localisations currently, first one opened in Ixelles' Boniface area, and the second one, one we get to visit more frequently, opened down-town at Rogier.

Pho is basically kind of Vietnamese broth, after wikipedia, and mr Van Nguyen took it on his shoulders to popularize the dish in Brussels. And I am really thankful!

As per his statement on their official website, he wanted to provide lighter and healthier alternative for fast-food. If you ask me, I think he nailed it. Pho is filling and tasty, yet does not make you despise yourself as it happens after visiting one of the popular burger chains.

The menu is humble - you get to choose from small selections of soups and starters. I personally can never get enough of chicken pho and deep fried shrimps. Part of the ritual is also adding combination of special sauces, available on each table, to your dish.

If you have never tried it before, I recommend you skip the soda this time, and reach for coconut juice in a can. It's very refreshing and goes really well with the dishes.

While eating, you will be entertained by music videos of (I assume) Vietnamese pop singers and bands, but unfortunately music is not synchronized. Don't miss the weird commercials of Pho Pho itself, as per image below. I cannot make myself to give the translation. You have to go through an effort of typing into Google translator and see for yourself.

Quick post with a quick summary - whether you're looking for a lunch break during work, or a snack on the way to having social life after work - Pho might be just for you, so go ahead and explore.

moof - Museum Of Original Figurines

Brussels, having lots of advantages, is unfortunately not the most sunny place in the world. Fortunately, it offers a lot to its inhabitants, even on the rainy days.

On one of those days we were googling around and came across moof. After a quick look we have made a decision and half an hour later four of us was sitting in the car. Yes, I wish to say "5 minutes later" but only a parent will understand why half an hour of packing for a small ride is a blast with two small kids. Anyway.

The address provided on visitbrussels.be was "Rue Marche aux Herbes" and we have strolled through the whole street only to arrive at Galerie Horta. And the museum happens to be just there! You are, of course, welcomed by the big Schtroumpf statue just in the front.

I was not sure if visiting museum of figurines is going to be fun or completely boring. What can you really do with figurines right?

Wrong. It was absolutely great. There is lots of items, from both worldwide known characters and obscure Brussels comics. The place itself is really well decorated creating cool, a bit mysterious ambiance.

There is a lovely gift shop, of course, a whole area filled with comic books you can read at comfortable sofas, and arcade games zone.

I am definitely saving this address for the upcoming cold days.

PS. Upcoming cold days remind me - don't miss the Nocturnes! This year they start at 5pm so we can even drag the kids with us!

Coudenberg - Underground city

I didn't lie when I said we keep on visiting places. This one is still from May - time flies so fast these days!

We were inspired to this visit by our "big project" I mentioned earlier. The work is still in progress, so I am not going to reveal its connection to this post... I am just going to tease you a bit by mentioning it every now and then. Trying to create a bit of suspense! :)

This time, as the title states, we go underground. If you know Brussels a bit, you've probably seen Place Royale - the one with great view on down-town, with the monument of a guy on a horse, just next to the Brussels Park. You got it?

Well then, this square was not always there. The ground was not always there either!

Square was build on top of a former Palace of Brussels, which burnt down in 1731. Yes, you got it right - they just covered up the remains with new buildings. But thanks to some renovation works and curious archaeologists, the site is being restored and is available for visits.

The palace was placed on a hill - Coudenberg (which in Dutch actually means "cold hill"), therefore the name. It's also often referred to as Palace of Charles V (curious why?).

Usually when you enter, you visit the museum and the archaeological site. Unfortunately, the museum was closed at the time, so we will have to go back one day to see it. The site itself though is interesting enough.

It consists of remainings of the palace itself, but also the whole street, rue Isabelle, with a Hoogstraeten House that stood by it.

 

Even recently, when we found ourselves again on Place Royale, I felt a bit of magic, seeing all the people walking around and most of them not being aware of what's hidden just under their feet.

 

I must admit, it was a bit tricky to handle a toddler, camera, read the guide and try to see what's around, so in the end - many photos are blurry, and I didn't exactly catch all the info... but what the heck, it was still nice, and little one enjoyed it as well.

Unfortunately I have lost the brochures we received, which give general info on the history, but also describe each building and show it's placement against the Place Royale on top. I would definitely want to go back there and have closer look this time, maybe even go for the audio guide that's available.

 

On the pragmatic side - the reception staff was super-nice and helpful. Then again, in Brussels most people are super-nice and helpful (I stand by it!). We had to leave the pushchair by their desk, though after we had our walk, I must say only few places were really unavailable to pushchair. It's supposed to be wheelchair accessible, so then - what's the difference, really?

Anyway, another nice place to visit, that's for sure. If you have more time (we didn't) you can get a combo-ticket to visit BELvue museum as well, which is apparently museum of Belgian history and culture (definitely on my list). You can even include lunch in the museum cafe that offers really good looking snacks (whether they're good-tasting we still need to check).

For more info, look at their site (check out "for kids" section - you can organize a treasure hunting event! forget the kids, I want to do it!).

Ferme Nos Pilifs

Would you expect to find a full-sized operating farm in Brussels? And I mean not only the City of Brussels, but actually the Bruxelles-Ville commune. Surprise!

First of all, if you look at the map of Brussels districts, you will see that Bruxelles-Ville stretches up to north city borders, so we're not talking about the strict city center here. The area we're in used to be separate municipality called Neder-Over-Heembeek (lower-upper-heem-spring), and the name is still used to refer to it. Just next to big military hospital, we arrive at Nos Pilifs.

There's so many great things about that place, I find it hard to decide where should I start!

So first of all, it's a place you want to take your kids along with you. The access to the premises is absolutely free for everyone. There's a small playground available and then you can go for a long walk around the farm to see all the animals. And they have a lot of them!

Lots of different kinds of poultry, but also horses, goats, sheep, donkeys, and the biggest pigs I have seen in my life (just think of all the bacon!).

All animals are behind a fence (and some of them are behind an electric fence too). This is not a pet-zoo, children can't touch the animals, it is also strictly forbidden to feed them (except the pigs, no surprise).

When you're done with the tour, it's time to rest and maybe have a bite. Just in front of the playground (how convenient!) there's a small bistro with choice of beers, soft drinks and some food. The choice is not big, but I'm pretty sure the pancakes I had were fried on wood-kitchen - it gave them taste so amazing it didn't matter they were burnt a tiny bit - I ate them quicker than I could take a photo.

Now that you ate, you can do some shopping (never shop with an empty stomach!). In place you will find a small bio-shop which sells local produce and other bio-food. Wide selection of vegetables, fruits, cheese, and bread baked on wood.

On the other side you'll find a plant shop. The interior plants looked absolutely amazing.

The exterior ones were only slowly emerging after long winter, so they didn't yet look as impressive, but you can see the choice is great, and plants seem to be well taken care of.

That's a well spent day!

As a word of background, the farm is run by society that hires handicapped people. They have capacity of around 140 workers (as seen on their website). I find it a great initiative, that only adds to the splendor of the place.

And kept for the end, the thing I will absolutely have to try. Online store! In the country where 99% of commerce doesn't even exist in the internet (Chris read some statistics lately), here you can actually order all the best food with delivery to your nearest point of pickup (initially I thought they deliver straight home, but we didn't find a way to do that, still good enough).

I highly recommend that place. We'll be back! :)