www.brusselssucks.be

Bio Shop Shanti

Avenue Adolphe Buyl 70. 1050 Brussels. Mon-Thursday: 9am-7pm. Friday: 9am-7.30pm. Saturday: 09.30am-6.30pm

Shanti.. this biological shop is the one with the largest variety of products. Rice, pasta, quinoa, grains, lentils, seeds, nuts in bulk. Condiments and spices, jams and different honeys, beauty products, essential oils and Bach remedies, soaps, shampoos, tampons, cleaning products, etc…

Basically offering the same as the other shops, but in more varieties, by more brands, and the store has the size of a mini-supermarket, which is a pleasant change. There is also Shanti restaurant, right next door, which has the reputation of being one of the best and most pleasant vegetarian restaurants in Brussels. We have been there ages ago and have the recollection of mouthwatering food and an intimate dining room filled with exotic plants. Since this out-of-date info hardly suffices to write an article, we shall return to Shanti restaurant soon and promise to tell you all about our visit!

Bio Shop Tan

Rue de l'aqueduc 95. 1050 Brussels. Tues-Sat from 11am-10pm. Resto open Tues-Sat for lunch and dinner. Closed on Saturday for lunch.

This shop/restaurant has been a success from the moment it opened its doors. It is all about being at the right time at the right place. “ Cross Cultural Living Food” states the door sign.  Entering the shop we immediately notice the effects of Feng Shui, the elegance and warmth of the wood, the high cupboards storing amazing books, cooking utensils, oils and vinegars, herbs and spices, grains and nuts and seeds and an impressive selection of beautifully presented biological wines from around the globe!

Going upstairs we arrive in the restaurant. Tan tries to preserve the living content of food and they do so by following the principle of low temperature cooking or serving raw food as much as possible. Cooking at high temperatures changes the molecular structure of the food and destroys the vitamins it contains. Therefore it is harder to digest.

As a result, while you eat here you feel good because you are in a Zen space, with adorable friends, eating healthy food on a terrace in the sun, and afterwards you feel even better and totally invigorated because your body registered the input!

Two lunch possibilities are proposed: for 14.50Euros you get a vegan first, a vegetarian main and a glass of wine or tea.

For 17.50 you get a vegan first and main with fish or meat and a glass of wine or tea.

Cooking courses organised for those who wish to learn more

about these amazing cooking techniques.

 Bio Shop La Tsampa

Rue de Livourne 109. 1050 Brussels. Shop open Mon-Sat from 10am-9.30pm. Resto open Mon-Sat from 12am-2pm&7pm-9.30pm. Vegetarian cooking courses.

What a lovely shop/restaurant. Tsampa is Tibetan roasted barley ground into flour. Beside the usual (herbs, grains, veggies & fruit, bread and all sorts of bio label products) they also offer Bach flowers, essential oils, and beauty products. An altar of His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be found in the centre of the shop.   In the food department they differentiate themselves from the other shops by proposing a very healthy and tasty selection of cakes, tarts, quiches and cheeses and take away meals prepared in their restaurant. A cosy and well hidden garden terrace welcomes us. There is different lunch proposal every day.  The cook knows her ingredients and presents the food beautifully and flavours it subtly. Rice cooking is considered an art and it is an art perfectly mastered by her. The steamed vegetables were still a bit crispy, just how we like them and the curry triangles were perfect. Love food for body and mind.

Sitting underneath all those Tibetan prayer flags fills me with nostalgia. The only thing missing are the Himalayas.

Bio Shop Dolma

Chaussée d'Ixelles 331, 1050 Brussels. Mon-Sat 10.00am-08.30pm. Tel: 02/ 648 85 73. Shop and Restaurant.

This restaurant has a reputation of being a haven for vegetarians, and after our visit, we understand why. Don’t be confused by the Tibetan name and interior decoration, although the original owners are Tibetan lama’s, the cuisine is vegetarian with influences from all around the world.Being famous for their buffet, we didn’t even look at the menu, we went straight from our seat to the buffet table, and really, the variety of vegetable preparations is one of the largest we have come across. During the week it is €12 for the “all you can eat formula” (1 dessert included), and on Saturdays that price goes up €3. We counted 13 different dishes, and 2 different desserts!

We had whole rice, spiced up fennel, steamed zucchini for the first round and grilled tofu, leak tart, alfalfa grains, carrot mash for the second round. We finished with a lovely apple/fig tart prepared with maple syrup. The food was very fresh, discretely flavoured, well cooked (with the heart of the vegetable still a bit crispy) and the different spices combined extremely well. Our bodies were definitely happy to be fed “just healthy stuff”. There are always several gluten free options, which is rare. What we really appreciated was the selection of teas, some Tibetan, most Ayurvedic, which means that you choose a tea which goes with how you feel. In our case it was a special digestion tea, for when one has eaten too much! (But if can also be relaxing, purifying, nerve calming, brain stimulating ...)  The restaurant was full, they were playing down tempo jazz music, the people were friendly, and the whole place seems to bathe in some kind of calm and joyful atmosphere. So if that’s what you’re in the mood for, success guaranteed!

Bio Shop Den Teepot

Kartuizerstraat 66, 1000 Brussels.Mon-Sat 8.30am-7pm
Tel.: 02/511 94 02. Macrobiotic cooking courses.

Very popular mini-supermarket where a lot of ingredients     and products the bio-world has to offer are sold. Flemish owner. From eco tampons to Japanese seaweed. From oatmeal cookies to grains and seeds in bulk. Vegetarian/macrobiotic restaurant on the first floor only  open for lunch every day from Mon-Sat between 12am-2pm.

 Biomarket Brussels   

Muntplein, 1000 Brussel
Every Wednesday from 9am til 2p.    

Very small (about 5stalls) but all one needs to refill the yoghurt and milk and purchase vegetables for the week. 

Biomarket Châtelain 

Place du Châtelain. 1050 Ixelles. Every Wednesday from 1am til 7.30pm.

Not all stalls offer biological produce. Our favourite. This market gives you a senses of holiday! Strolling around with your wicker basket, participating in a wine tasting, smelling the funghi porcini out of a wide selection of mushrooms, trying a few oysters  and thinking of what you would have for dinner while returning smiles from salespeople who greet you as if you have been their  neighbour for years! You could have a vegetarian quiche with a fresh loaf of olive/ tomato bread, take out a portion of homemade Thai curry with steamed coconut rice, taste the small baked potatoes with chicken breast and salad, or buesh nut-and raisin bread to be savoured with a selection of international cheeses. In our book, Wednesday has become the perfect day to break with the “Gosh, and what are we having for dinner tonight?" and a perfect day to spoil ourselves and our Loved ones. Because we are worth it!

  Bio Subscription

A vegetable subscription will get you a two weekly order of organic vegetables and/or fruit. This package is delivered in a depot near you, mostly the house of a fellow organic food lover. The distributor in this case is an organic farmer who will put together your parcel with his own products. On the rare occasion that regional and seasonal produce is not available the farmer will add organic produce from foreign origin.

Practically spoken: we would like to order a small vegetable package. (36,50Euro)

We surf to www.biodichtbijhuis.be , choose the closest distributor which is “Den Diepen Boomgaard” in Grimbergen, we place our order online or by telephone or online, we pay and we select a pick up anywhere near from where we live. If you're not fluent in Flemish/French you might want to ask a friend to help out with the first order.