Pho Pho

Hello?

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!

Learn Marols with Coke!

Let me start by saying, that Coke is bad. It is horrible for your health, it is addictive, it is bad for the environment, it is one of the most evil corporations out there, abusive and focused on profit, no matter the human factor. And it does have a great marketing campaign.

The whole "Share a Coke with" is a brilliant idea. They only have to come up with many different names, and the people do the rest. What does it have to do with blog about Brussels?

Well, I have found this (thanks to Eddy from my work!:)

You probably already know that Belgium is pretty messed up when it comes to languages.

There is Wallonia speaking French. Though they made few differences to make life easier so it is not REAL French (like introducing an actual word nonante for 90, instead of original "four-times-twenty-ten").

There is Flanders speaking Flemish, which is not really a language but a set of dialects of Dutch. Dialects so divergent that they subtitle their own Dutch television in Dutch.  And the subtitles differ from what they are saying.

And *TADA* there is Marols. Brusseleir. Brusseleer. Etc. It has many names, one of which I chose as the name of this blog. And yes, it is dialect spoken in Brussels, originally in the Marolles district. It mostly consists of French words and Dutch grammar, but generally it is just a complete mix of both. You can still come across people who can actually speak it, but all real Brusselers can say at least few words.


Now the fun begins.

Sjoeke is a Dutch spelling of Chouke (as the can was produced for Flemish market). Term is used all over Belgium now, though originally it is Marols version of French Chou or Chouchou, which is close enough to Darling. It is one of the most common affectionate names in French I believe. Chou, Mon Chou, Petit Chou.



Chou means cabbage.

Mystery many people face when learning French. Why are French speaking people calling each other cabbage?

It is rather simple. It originally comes from Chou à la crème, which is a sweet dessert, profiterole (for my polish fellow - ptyś!).

Makes more sense to call your loved one a sweet cake with cream than a green vegetable growing on the ground.

Far East museums - Chinese Pavilion - Japanese Tower

Quite a while since my last post and you know what? I don't even feel guilty! Our family got +1 again and even when we do get out of our place - which happens not as often, but we do our best - photo camera is not even making it to top 10 things to pack with us. Visiting any place with a baby and a toddler is also something close of extreme sport.

I do have some "stories" waiting in my virtual drawer though, and I guess it's time to dig them up. I am not even thinking of writing regularly - not until spring at least - but doesn't mean I can't drop a topic every now and then to feed the crowd hungry of my words ;)

As cold days settled for good and we can enjoy the typical Belgium weather a lot these days, I prefer to skip the outdoor places that look gorgeous in the sun - why would I want to torture myself? We go indoors then. We go to Far East museums.

Now, despite my platonic love with Japanese culture, adding to it very real love for Asian cuisine, I don't think I would stumble upon this museum if not the "very hard to miss" landmark - Japanese tower emerging from within the trees. If you ever drove around Laeken, possibly going for a movie to Kinepolis, or looking for Atomium - you probably past by the tower. If you drove just next to it, you must have seen the Chinese pavilion just across the street as well. I did, I even stopped by to take some pictures outside and I was completely set on visiting both one day.

One day has come and we packed up our little one (our little two was still firmly attached to my body making travel easy) and set of to see our friend and have a good time.

It didn't take much investigation to find the story of the place, so I will just send you to the official website for details and myself I'll focus on the impressions.

Museum consists of three buildings - the pavilion, the tower, and small building behind the pavilion that was originally meant to be a garage. We started with the latter, being now Museum of Japanese art.

Big part of Japanese art seems to be martial arts, as the collection consists mostly of old weaponry and armours. Besides that, you will also find beautiful kimonos, screens and other pieces. Quite a treat if you're into those things.

Chinese pavilion is an exhibit on its own. Even though it contains collection of Chinese porcelain, what's most fascinating is the building itself. Ground floor is covered in gold, with stunning ornaments and wall paintings.

Beautiful stairs lead to upper floor with bunch of amazing rooms in different styles, and some kind of a play room with games available for kids.

On that matter - the museum might not be super-kids-friendly - but it's definitely kids safe. We didn't have to shout out "don't touch it" too much, and there's even mentioned play room and outdoor playground for the little ones, so don't fear taking them along. Our toddler loved the trip.

Taking the underground passage you cross the street to see the little zen garden and the tower placed in it. The garden looks beautiful, but is not accessible except for the peek view from the outside.

Unfortunately you can't climb the tower - huge disappointment. The inside though is absolutely wonderful and worthy seeing if only for the amazing glass works all over. For that one I recommend visiting on a day with at least a bit of sunshine.

 
Altogether it's fairly small museum, even counting all the buildings together. Most people visit it only from the outside - which is free. We even saw couple of buses of tourists that came in like a hurricane to take some photos and as quickly disappeared to hit the next "must-see" object on their express tour around Brussels.

I do recommend taking a bit more "Zen" approach to the visit - take your time, enjoy the visit, cherish the artworks. If you're looking for filling in some time - try to find the Tai-Chi group that exercises at the premises. We saw some people just as we were visiting and frankly, what could possibly be a better place for that in Brussels?

Pain Quotidien @Galerie de la Reine - Best breakfast in town!

In today's episode we mix a bit of culture with a bit of cuisine.

As parents of a toddler the idea of staying long in bed during weekends doesn't exist for us any more, therefore we can often be caught as first visitors in random places of the city. On July 21st, the day of coronation of the new king of Belgium, we promised ourselves to stay as far away from the down town as possible. After all, it's going to be crowded, lots of streets blocked, traffic... We planned a calm breakfast at some small cafeteria on the border of the city.

After driving around empty streets for some time, not being able to find ONE place that would be open, we finally ended up in front of the church that hosted the big ceremony. The streets were absolutely empty, we could park just next by, in front of the church there was small crowd gathering, but not very overwhelming yet. I guess fact that it was 8 am in the morning on Sunday explains a lot.

After a bit of walking around, Chris offered to go to famous 'painquot' to have the breakfast. And the closest one was at Galerie de la Reine.

Le Pain Quotidien is a famous bakery chain in Brussels. Set up in 1990 by Belgian, who couldn't find proper bread for his restaurant and decided to make some of his own. It not only grew into chain of bistros offering way more than just baked goods, but also spread all over the globe (see Wiki). By many people it's known as "the place that sells bread for 10eur a loaf".

It's very nice and cosy place, offering number of tasty and organic food. Of course, there's big selection of bread, but also salads, drinks, pies and so on. Lots of the products you can actually buy to enjoy at your own home. Yes, it is expensive. But what you get for the price is very tasty, healthy and organic food, great atmosphere, charming staff and, in this case, beautiful surrounding. We were even lucky enough to be accompanied by a street opera singer, which made the experience that much better.

The first "painquot" opened at Rue Dansaert, but, without seeing many others, I think the one at the gallery is just about the best.

A little bit about the gallery then. Trying not to repeat too much of the Wikipedia page, it's basically shopping mall designed for higher classes. Having quite striking resemblance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, though smaller, was actually created 30 years earlier. So if their Wikipedia page says that Milan's gallery was the oldest shopping mall... well, seems like Brussels wins that one!

The whole complex, called Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, consists actually of three galleries - Galerie de la Reine (Queen's gallery) - is the one with Le Pain Quotidien, Galerie de la Roi - King's gallery, and small Galerie des Princes. Altogether though, they just create one common space.

You will find number of fancy shops inside, starting from hat-makers to chocolateries (of course). It's not a surprise either that the whole gallery is a registered monument. Between the stores you will also find Théâtre des Galeries Saint-Hubert, which is registered monument on its own, but we'll leave that one for the next time.

Le Pain Quotidien hides quite a number of places inside (check the upper floor), but I enjoy sitting "outside" (which is still inside the gallery). Points for being child-friendly - staff is very nice and helpful and the area is closed, meaning our little one can run around fairly freely without disappearing from our eyes (passing tourists seem to be enchanted though, by a "lone" toddler running around in between them).

If you entered the galleries from the Grand Place side (starting by Galerie de la Reine), and you pass till the end of Galerie de la Roi, outside, on the corner, you will find a small brasserie, A La Mort Subite. I will try to post few words about the place some other time, but I can already mention that you should definitely stop by and try the famous Belgian Kriek - traditionally Brussels cherry beer (not only for girls).

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!).