Brussels Day Two Con't- Cantillon & Chez Leon
After our tea we trekked across Brussels to Cantillon. I won't get into the details about this amazing brewery again but here's a little recap from the last trip. When the doors opened that familiar funky barnyard smell greeted us as we wedged into a small seat by the heater with a bottle of Cantillon Carignan; a lambic brewed with Carignan grapes.
This was simply lovely; a bright ruby body with the subtle aroma of fruit and oak and a soft, juicy grape flavor that was tart but tannic like a red wine. We were quietly enjoying this beautiful lambic when we heard our names being called and turned to see some old beer friends from NYC enjoying their own bottles! We ended up grabbing a table together and started to work our way through the bottle list in the short hour that was left. Of course we didn't get too far but we all planned to return later in the week to finish what we had begun.
We bought some beer to take with us on the way home- two huge magnums actually that I had the quirky red bulldog in our apartment watch guard over for the next few days.
I decided not to push things with any more beer that day but I was definitely feeling better because once we got back to the Grand Place area I was suddenly starving so we stopped into Chez Leon for dinner.
We had actually been to this restaurant twice before but never really eaten together as I was sick the first visit and he was sick the last. It only seemed fitting to finally enjoy this meal together. This place is big, noisy and filled with tourists but its so worth it for the wonderful mussels.
Plump and juicy with a crisp white wine sauce studded with garlic and celery and a small bowl of frites. I really couldn't ask for anything more at this point it was perfect.
We made a quick stop at Poechenellekelder on the way home and then called it a night, exhausted from the full day and excited about what tomorrow had to bring.
Rue Gheude 56
Anderlecht, Belgium
Rue des Bouchers 18
Brussels, Belgium
Comments