Lion Belge - Brugge — Restaurant in Bruges

We had dinner at Lion Belge during our trip to Bruge, and it turned out to be one of our luckiest finds! Lion Belge is a favorite by the locals, tucked away from the touristy Grote Markt, and it's packed full with the locals at dinner time. We were lucky to find a table. ​ Small grissinis and an olive tappenade are served on the house when you arrive. We had the soles, which was the catch of the day, and eel from their mains. Both fish were pan-fried in butter, and really well made, the seasoning was just right. Soles were especially some of the best I've had this year! The fish were served with house-made tartar sauce, fries and a small salad. The tartar sauce was so delicious that I actually saved it for the end of my meal, and ate it by the spoonful. On its own. Luckily, their fries were quite tasty that they didn't need any sauce anyway! We skipped the starters to have some room for the apple tart, but alas, they were out of it by the time we were ready to order dessert. They have a good selection of beers on their menu, but there's only limited options for wine by the glass. Otherwise, it'd be a solid 5 from me. ​ The service was also great. Our waiter, who I think was actually Sam, son of the family who runs the restaurant, was kind enough to explain each dish in detail to us. We were sitting outside since the weather was lovely that day, but the atmosphere inside was really cozy and homey. I think the food is pretty good value by Bruges standards, the portions are rather big. Overall, we really enjoyed our dinner at Lion Belge, we had a great evening. We'll definitely visit again to try out the rest of their menu, especially...

Lion Belge was recommended to us by a Local and it was a really nice find. It's away from the tourists in the city center in a quiet area of town, so it was really nice to escape the chaos.

Lion Belge doesn't take reservations and fills up very quickly so be prepared to have to grab a drink next door and pop in randomly to see when a table is available. We waited 45 minutes text door and enjoyed a beer, highly recommend.

Once seated, the service was pretty decent. The waiters spoke English, French and Dutch and had menus in all languages, which was appreciated. The food was decent, not the best I've ever had, but the portion sizes are ENORMOUS (and this is coming from an American, lol). Unless you're really hungry, the entree's can certainly be shared between two people. We ordered the Mussels (4.5/5) and the Meatloaf (3.5/5 - pretty bland). We each ordered a beer and spent around 55 euro.

All in all, this was a great restaurant to get away from the tourist traps, warm up with a cozy meal and get to live like the locals do! I'm not sure that we'd return, but we're...

Make a booking - this is Michelin quality without the price tag. We've eaten in several restaurants in our 2 week stay, actually extenting our stay to be able to eat here and very happy we did. By far the best food we've had in Brugge and the bill was shockingly low, in comparison to usual restaurant prices here. Staff were great, very helpful even though they were so busy and had to turn some people without reservations away. First they brought us some very nice free ham, maybe serento that was lovely. We had an enormous ham hock in a mustard sauce with perfectly cooked fresh veg & mash potatoes and a ham & chicory dish in a lovely rich creamy cheese sauce with an enormous bowl of real chips (though we were frited out here but these were so good! We ate the lot) Everything was top knotch, one not to be missed but do make sure you book so as not to be disappointed.

We had been told tips are already included In the bill's in Brugge but this is the first time we've left a 20% well deserved tip Great Food & Great Value. Thanks to all the staff - especially Chef -...