[CLOSED] Benelux

BELGIUM 🇧🇪
NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱
LUXEMBOURG 🇱🇺

[UPDATE: CLOSED]

When I first came across the word "Benelux" while surfing online for other inquiries, I was perked up immediately. That "-lux" at the end of the word stands for Luxembourg, a country so small it could be argued they do not even have their own cuisine, and certainly it's never seen in New York City. As for the Netherlands, it is grossly underrepresented as well (many might laugh and ask if they have a cuisine either and make jokes about potatoes). Belgium is the only nation of the three that actually has a substantial footprint here, with beers, mussels and beyond.

Benelux is a term used first near the end of World War II for the three nations that formed a political and economic union. Now that we have the European Union, the term is basically only used when talking about geography. This hip place definitely has the atmosphere of Bushwick rather than Western Europe, but nonetheless the menu has some excitement on it and a few unique items.

A quick sidenote, in case you were wondering, the place on East 70th called Cafe Luxembourg is a French-American bistro and has absolutely nothing to do with the country of Luxembourg.

This tiny nation does have its own cuisine, which takes many of its cues from France but a few from neighboring Germany as well. This manifests itself in the mussels Luxembourg ($19, above and below), cooked in a Belgian-style white broth but supplemented with potatoes and sausage, as well as fennel and dill. The combination is executed very well.

Dishes of mussels are all served necessarily with above average fries, although I did have to ask for mayonnaise, which surprisingly required a trip back to the kitchen. A bottle of Heinz shows up a few seconds after the order is placed. While I like a good ketchup-mayo mixture, somehow I feel like a European would be appalled by this sequence of events.

They have three options for mussels, one from each country. The Belgian version is cooked with beer, endive, and smoked butter, while the Dutch version prefers white wine, celery, and lemon.

My knowledge of Belgian New York City is by no means exhaustive, but this was the first mitraillette ($16, below) I have ever come across. This Belgian classic is a sandwich practically screaming to be eaten late into a night of drinking, a baguette piled high with greasy meats, pickles and fries.

While the meat options can be different when eaten at friteries, they use a simple but delicious roasted ham here. A spicy mornay is served on the side, a type of béchamel that reads more like an aioli but which seems like a match made in heaven with the other ingredients. Recommended.

You could spend a lot of time at the relaxed bar here, enjoying East Coast craft beers as well as stronger Belgian varieties. As far as I could tell there were no Dutch or Luxembourgish options, but that is probably ok.

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BUSHWICK Brooklyn

25 Bogart Street

Map of Eat the World NYC:

BXL Zoute

BELGIUM 🇧🇪

First off, "Belgian Waffles" are an invention of North America, dumbed down versions of the beauties actually made in Belgium. These are gaufres, Brussels-style waffles as light as air. Almost as if air had been surrounded by batter and cooked. With melted chocolate underneath and topped with homemade whipped cream, life does not get much better.

After breakfast, BXL Zoute also has plenty of Belgian beers, including a Belgian-style amber that is brewed exclusively for them by Ommegang. Don't miss the mussels here either, as if you needed reminding.

$9 house brew, full of spice

A plate of paté, terrine de la maison with fresh breads

BXL Zoute is also a great place to have a tiny slice of Dutch cuisine, whatever that may be. On the appetizer menu is bitterballen ($11, below), a plate of deep-fried balls. These are made of a thickened roux of butter, beef stock, minced beef, flour and probably a few spices. When you bite in, the creaminess falls out as seen below. It is a very enjoyable snack, and maybe the only food in Holland that does not involve potatoes. These should always be served with a side of mustard.

Back in 2016, this was a great spot for the Euro Cup

Euro Cup scenes from 2016

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FLATIRON DISTRICT Manhattan

50 West 22nd Street

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Waterzooi Belgian Bistro & Oyster Bar

BELGIUM 🇧🇪

Right on the main commercial strip of Garden City, Long Island, Waterzooi exists firmly in between two worlds. It ticks off all the right boxes to confirm itself as a Belgian establishment: mussels, frites, beer, and waffles. At the same time, the clientele is distinctly Nassau County, and all of those boxes are ticked as well.

Its absolute greatest strength might be the beer list, for those people that enjoy strong Belgian brews. Plenty of bros with their baseball caps backwards were trying to order Heineken and Bud Light, while their dates stuck to the standard wines, but a few people in the bar area were intrigued by the extensive list if not the majority.

Moules-frites are now very popular in France and around the world, but their origin is from the Flemish coast of Belgium where the molluscs are common. Waterzooi claims to have sold over 2.5 million pounds of mussels since opening, and a look around does not nothing to suggest otherwise. Pots of mussels are on most tables and even ordered at the bar.

There are 12 different styles of pots to order from, with different levels of tradition or craziness involved, all the way to a Thai version. The pot shown above is the Provençal moules pot ($29), a white wine base with fresh herbs and tomatoes. All the pots come standard with a portion of fries (frites) and "mayo" (frite sauce).

Back home, it was later noticed that the menu had a namesake dish on it, and this oversight made it necessary to return for it. The waterzooi ($39, below) is a dish that originated in Ghent and traditionally is a stewed fish cooked in a soup base of egg yolk, cream, and thickened vegetable broth.

The version here is all about seafood using plenty more mussels as well as littleneck clams, a couple pieces of jumbo shrimp, and a good portion of lobster. The creamy soup broth is full of sweet corn, potatoes, tarragon, and fennel. It is an experience.

The menu is full of other not-so-Belgian items and some pan-European plates. They seem to have an affinity for mac n' cheese and offer it alone or on top of burgers. During brunch service on weekends, enjoy a Brussels-style waffle with your choice of toppings.

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GARDEN CITY New York

850 Franklin Avenue

Pommes Frites

BELGIUM 🇧🇪

[UPDATE #2: Now open again in West Village!]

[UPDATE: Location was the unfortunate casualty of a large fire in the East Village in March 2015 and is no longer open]

Many of the sauces go a little far, but this is great food for eating after a happy hour or late night in the East Village. The lines can sometimes get ridiculous, but the purveyors are friendly and will keep you entertained. A small ($4.50 plus $1 for specialty sauces, regular mayo is free) is plenty for one person. Open late!

They also do their best to replicate poutine ($5, small), a Canadian specialty with dark, salty gravy and cheese curds over fries. It's not like Montréal, but the closest in this town.

Awning at old location.

WEST VILLAGE Manhattan

128 MacDougal Street

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