What to Eat in Belgium in 2026: The Best Food and Drink

Belgian food punches well above its country's size and gets less credit than it deserves because France is next door. The Belgian frite — double-fried in beef tallow, served in a paper cone with frietsaus (mayonnaise-based sauce) from a fritkot street stand — is not a side dish but a destination. Moules-frites (mussels in white wine, celery, and cream with fries) is the classic brasserie order along the coast and in Brussels. The Belgian chocolate tradition, from Godiva (founded 1926) and Neuhaus (founded 1857) to the current craft chocolate makers, produces a specific product — praline-filled, rich, using couverture of distinct character — that the Swiss and Belgian debate about the world's best chocolate has never fully resolved. Belgian beer culture, UNESCO-listed as Intangible Heritage, covers Trappist ales from abbey breweries, lambic and gueuze from the Senne valley, and over 1,500 registered beer styles from a country of 11 million people. No rush.