Liège: fine food in the Cité Ardente!By Georges RouzeauGood news: the city of Liège is not short of cafés or restaurants! They are concentrated in Place du Marché and in the Carré. This is a city of popular cafés where you come across delightful characters, light years away from the stereotyped specimens of reality TV. You should also taste Massin’s waffles in his shop in the Outremeuse district, and the boulets at Café Lequet.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Café Lequet 4000 Liège Tel: +32 (0) 4 222 21 34 An institution! No trip to Liège would be complete without sitting down in this brasserie-style décor (curiously lit by three coloured Kartell lights) to sample the Café Lequet’s boulets à la Liégeoise! This speciality is served with big homemade, hand-cut chips. Add a glass of Jupiler beer and it’s almost heaven. You can also count on the boss to liven things up, with his inimitable Liège accent. Booking essential. What is a boulet?Speciality of Liège par excellence, this “meatball” consists of a minced mixture of various meats (pork, beef, lamb), onion, currants, breadcrumbs, and sometimes prunes. The boulet, which has a brotherhood in Liège, is served with a sauce made with sirop de Liège (a treacle made from cooking apple and pear juice), real chips and salad.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Bolas Bug 4000 Liège Tel: +32 (0) 04 222 42 60 There is a succession of cafés and restaurants on Place du Marché. The Bolas Bug stands out from the crowd thanks its décor designed by architect Pascal Noé. This modern, functional and refined setting is tempered by the mischievous figure and bright colours of the cartoon character created by José Parondo, Bolas Bug, who appears here and there. The bar-brasserie on the ground floor has a few individual tables and one shared table. At the back there is a children’s corner, with small benches and a library of children’s books; upstairs is a non-smoking restaurant. The short menu focuses on a few fresh and well-made specials, like the lamb kefta and potato purée with olive oil, or the duo of large prawns and tuna.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Le Paris-Brest 4000 Liège Tel: +32 (0) 4 223 47 11 Easy to fall in love with and offering excellent value for money, this restaurant is located in the Sainte-Marguerite district, near the Academy of Fine Arts, ten minutes from Place St-Lambert. So slightly out of the centre, but really worth a visit. Michel Dans’ cuisine is light and inspired: quails and guinea fowl flavoured with papaya, lime or soy sauce; fillet of scorpion fish stuffed with shellfish served with reduced mussel juice in curry; raw leek here, a herb salad there; maple syrup or liquorice juice. Raw and cooked, savoury and sweet – Michel Dans’ cuisine is tempered modernity, not at all flash. Moreover, he refuses to have his photo taken. This appetising menu costs €22. His boulets (€9.5) are also among the best in town. At lunchtime, the customers are a mix of fine arts students and their teachers; in the evening it’s strictly gourmet. Booking essential.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Chez Dju Dju 4000 Liège Tel: + 32 (0) 4 221 00 69 For several decades, a Sicilian Mama from rue Pierreuse ran this grocer’s shop: her name was Dju Dju. This bar cum grocer’s shop cum snack bar cum table d'hôte, set up in the form of a cooperative society with a social purpose, took her name as a tribute. It is a haven of conviviality and good Italian products (but not exclusively): Dju Dju offers a vast selection of transalpine cheeses and charcuterie (sampled in the form of sandwiches), but also a soup of the day, homemade bouletsà la sauce liégeoise served with parsley flavoured potato purée; you can also just have a coffee in the small private garden at the back. One Thursday every month, Dju Dju hosts a popular table d'hôte (salmon millefeuilles with asparagus on warm potato mousse, pork marengo and tagliatelle with butter, pear cooked in péket (gin) and citrus fruit). Booking essential.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin La Ferme de la Vache 4000 Liège Tel: +32 (0) 4 - 220 58 10 The Ferme de la Vache is a place of rehabilitation through collective market gardening. It occupies the verdant heights of the Montagne de Bueren, a great place for a walk (see article). As well as its social work, the Ferme de la Vache has a table d’hôte once a week. The cook has a budget of €85 to concoct a meal, partly using produce from the farm’s vegetable garden. Price of the meal: €4! The place also has a small shop selling organic and/or fair trade products where we found a delicious apple juice from the Herve region, the beautiful countryside stretching east of Liège. Booking essential.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Gaufres Massin How hard it is to find a Liège waffle in Liège! Fortunately there is Jean-Pierre Massin, based in a small laboratory-boutique in the Outremeuse district. Here, in front of his customers, he makes chocolate and fruit waffles and spéculoos biscuits, as well as organic bread. Each product is of impeccable freshness.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin La Taverne Saint-Paul 4000 Liège Right at the heart of the Carré, certain trendy bars hiding behind their smoked glass windows and the frightening level of decibels might deter visitors who are really after a good beer and a place to relax. With its London pub and Belgian estaminet looks, the Taverne Saint-Paul does its job perfectly. Its fine beer menu – beware of the delicious Orval Trappist beer that verges on 12 degrees – is sampled on benches in a peaceful atmosphere.  © G. Rouzeau/ViaMichelin Le Pot-au-lait 4000 Liège Located just behind the cathedral, this classic was one of the first Belgian cyber cafés. It is a maze of small rooms running into each other, each bearing witness to the evolution of tastes in matters of décor – Le Pot au Lait combines hippie, punk and goth styles! The clientele reflects this eclecticism, and thirty-somethings will not feel too much out of their element among the many students who form the hard core of this café. Theme evenings, DJ, and no official closing time. And also…Boulangerie pâtisserie Matteo Tél. +32 (0) 4 223 56 99 In rue du Palais, located just behind the palace of the prince bishops, this baker’s and confectioner’s shop serves attractive Viennese pastries, several appetising tarts and cakes, a wide variety of bread, and real breakfasts (€4.5). The setting is simple and warm, with its pine furniture. View of the bakehouse. |
Tourism and Gastronomy
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