Mussels in Brussels

The advantage of Chris’ wonky schedule is this: we found ourselves on a rainy Tuesday morning metroing merrily along toward the city center. Thunder boomed, creating a cozy moment of shared surprise among everyone in the metro car. Then we exited out into the cold and were cozy no more.

Weeks ago, when we were still camped out in a hotel and Chris was working the night shift, the kids and I came ice skating at the Christmas market, which was almost one of those “oh lucky stars, I live in Europe!” moments but was marred when Eloise and I massively wiped out and she couldn’t stop crying the rest of the night, and then the buses mysteriously stopped running so we waited in the cold rain for two hours trying to get home… wait no, I’m getting my solo jaunts to the market mixed up. Anyway, one time we were running for the bus stop and ducked out of the rain into a bookstore. I found a small book I wanted, but didn’t have time to buy it, so I left it behind and we caught the (only 15 min late this time) bus back to the hotel.

I didn’t remember the name of the book or the name of the bookshop, but that was my and Chris’ first stop of the day. WE FOUND IT. I successfully purchased the Xenophope’s Guide to Belgium for quirky insight on Belgians, how they see themselves, and how they view others. It’s very entertaining. I forgot to get the name of the bookstore, but it’s right down the street from the opera house.

Chris wanted to go to the Brussels City Museum in the Grand Place, and we got in free with our Belgium Museums Pass. My mom got these for us for Christmas and they are fantastic. We like museums, and have already used them about five times since activating them a few weeks ago.

This museum has a 600+ year old enormous weather vane topper depicting Michael the Archangel pushing a demon back to hell. It survived centuries of crummy Belgian weather, a French bombing that sent most of the rest of the place down in flames in 1695, and now hangs out in the vaulted ceilings of the museum while a copy perches outside. The models of the city throughout different time periods were also cool, and I especially enjoyed seeing some massive old tapestries. I did not know that tapestries fell out of fashion around the time oil painting came into fashion. A tapestry was done in panels to tell one story all around a room, woven with fine silks, gems, wool, even metal sometimes. Amazing.

After the museum, it was time for lunch. Getting mussels in Brussels while the kids are at school is one of those little dreams we mention now and then, like dressing up and going to the opera, or…well really, just doing literally anything beyond the ENDLESS MOVING PAPERWORK AND APPOINTMENTS. Oh my gosh, this move has been a nightmare of “make an appointments.” Chris works in the balance of like four different bureaucratic entities so we have to do all the paperwork and IDs and approvals for ALL OF THEM HELP US ALL, IT IS A NIGHTMARE.

But here we are, having a long, leisurely lunch while the children go to school for free, so there’s that!

We were at another restaurant one time and some people sat down next to us and wanted to get one pot of mussels for the table. They were refused unless they wanted to get a pot each. So we went in prepared to eat a lot of mussels. It was quite cold and raining, and our goals were to find: 1. mussels, 2. a cozy fire, 3. somewhere charming. This was easy to find, and a few streets from the museum, we found ourselves set up by a fire, a glass of white wine on the table, baskets of frites, and a pile of moules steamed in a white wine sauce in front of each of us. I ate my entire pot and helped Chris finish his. Mussels in Brussels exceeded my expectations!

We have a family joke about a time Chris complained I made too much chicken, so, since he looooooves scallops and we were on the East Coast, I bought clams and served them in noodles. Chris looked down at his plate and whined, “I mean, why would you make me clams?” So “why would you make me clams” is now something we and the kids say when someone is being overly picky.

Even though obviously somewhat squeamish, Chris ate (and even enjoyed?) most of his mussels without a single complaint or mention of clams. And the wine and excellent coffee was free.

A Coin Gourmand, Rue du Marché aux Herbes 50, Bruxelles 1000, Belgique