Brussels. One bakery at a time.
A highly subjective and non-definitive guide to Brussels bakeries
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Today I want to talk about Brussels’ bakeries. When I first moved to Brussels (10 years ago this year!), I was dismayed that good bread, especially good sourdough bread, was hard to come by. So I had no other option but to learn how to bake sourdough bread myself. A course with Biggie Lemke at De Superette in Ghent taught me the basics, following which I baked many many more practice loaves at home by myself. A flour-dusted copy of Tartine never far from my side. I wasn’t a fast learner and unpredictable and long days in the office as a lawyer in a big international law firm were not conducive to good starter maintenance. So I was thrilled to see more and more bakeries open their doors in Brussels over the past few years. So much so that we are now practically spoiled for choice. So it was about time for my definitive (read: highly subjective, definitely not definitive and yet hopefully still useful) guide to Brussels’ bakeries!
Now - what matters to me when it comes to where I spend my hard earned cash on bread and pastries might not matter to you. So as the below is a highly subjective selection the least I could do is explain my reasoning.
Let’s start with the bread itself. Crumb structure matters to me. For me the holy grail is the sourdough bread at Tartine in San Francisco. What I am looking for is a loosely chewy/elastic, custardy and open crumb - but not so open that you risk peanut butter and jam dripping through the holes. The amount of acidity also matters to me. As much as I like sourdough bread, I don’t actually like it when the bread is too sour. I find it overpowering and it stops you from tasting the bread itself (and how using Kamut flour for example adds a buttery flavour or how porridge loaves have a particular sweetness). And this is why while I practically lived above a Saint Aulaye bakery for 6 months, I very quickly stopped buying their sourdough bread - it was simply too sour for my tastebuds.
The pastry selection is key. Because we all know we cannot live off bread alone and some mornings (or afternoons) you just want a really nice pastry. And in my case, ideally something that gets my tastebuds excited with new-to-me (or rarely seen) ingredients or flavour combinations.
Beyond that, whether a bakery also sells good coffee matters. Because while I might seek out a bakery for their good bread initially, what will make me return time and time again is a bakery where I can also pick up a good coffee for a walk in a nearby park or to enjoy while pushing the little one in the swings at the nearest playground.
Location matters - with a short person at home, it matters more so than ever before whether a bakery is located right next to or on the way to a park or playground.
Lastly, price matters less to me - there does not seem to be a huge variation in bread prices in Brussels (which, as a competition lawyer I can’t help but notice) and those prices are, at first glance, seemingly high. A loaf of sourdough bread will typically set you back €6 - for a loaf that lasts max 2-3 days in our household. But knowing what I know about what goes into baking sourdough bread and the fact that good quality organic flour isn’t cheap and that the money you spend helps support a small independent business, I am happy to pay this.
So below is my highly subjective list of recommended Brussels bakeries depending on what you are after. Where I mention more than one bakery, the bakery mentioned first is my preferred choice.
If you are after a Tartine style loaf of sourdough: Mains, Khobz, Brood
Khobz - has a slight edge for me in terms of texture but I find the holes in their sourdough loaves borderline too big - better for a sandwich jambon beurre than pb jelly (a first world problem if there ever was one!)! Also, it feels like their loaves are slightly on the smaller side so tend not to even last 3 days in my home.
If you are after intriguing sweet pastries with new-to-you ingredients or flavour combinations: Khobz, Goods, Brood
Khobz has the edge over Goods simply because they often have several intriguing pastries on offer. Recent offerings include a Hojicha and Fleur d’Oranger Croissant Cube, a Fig Leaf Frangipane Galette des Rois, a Mahleb Brioche, a Baklava Geranium Snail, a Fig Leaf and Almond Milk Bostock, Safran Buns, Elderflower Croissant Cubes etc.. That being said, Goods’ Fig Leaf Almond Croissant and their Topinambour Chocolate Croissant were two of the best pastries I ate in 2023! Brood gets a mention too for their Pistachio and Rose Croissants, their Salted Caramel and Toasted Peanut Snails and their Brioche Feuilletée Chocolate and Hazelnut Babkas to name just a few.
If you are after vegan pastries: Mains
Mains often have at least 2 different types of vegan pastries on offer (their vegan chocolate pastries (see above) were a godsend when I was breastfeeding and had to cut out all dairy since the little one had a dairy intolerance at first) so are the winner here hands-down!
If you are after savoury pastries and baked goods: Mains, Goods
Mains has the edge over Goods in terms of variety and their loaded focaccia slices are a great (and generous) lunch option but Goods’ Kimchi and Cheese Croissant (see above) is delicious and always worth a detour.
If you are looking for a place to sit down and hide from the (sometimes incessant) rain in Brussels: Mains
While Mains is not particularly spacious, the fact that it has 3 or 4 tables to sit while you enjoy a coffee and a pastry has been a lifesaver on many occasions when a planned walk in Bois was cut short yet again by Brussels unpredictable weather.
If you have a caffeine addiction and cannot even contemplate eating a pastry without having a coffee in your other hand: Mains, Khobz
Mains has the slight edge over Khobz in that they also have delicious decaf, still a rarity I find.
If, as much as you like sourdough bread, your Instagram feed is more about dreamy interiors than last week’s brunch: Khobz, Mon Boulengier
If you don’t actually care about all these new flavour combinations but are after the good old classics, but executed well, and also have a weak spot for Bolus - a Belgian pastry that is a cross between a Pain aux Raisins and a Kouign Amann: Renard (their delicious Bolus is pictured above).
If location matters:
Best to fuel a walk around Bois de la Cambre: Mains
Best to carbload in anticipation of pushing your little one on the swings in Park Tenbosch for the foreseeable future: Khobz
Best for picking up goodies for a brunch with friends in Saint Gilles: Brood
Best to pick up breakfast to go after dealing with the Kafkaesque Commune d’Ixelles for any kind of paperwork: Goods, Renard
Best to restore your blood sugar levels after early morning blood tests at CHU Saint Pierre: Mon Boulengier, Ginkgo.
First choice all things considered: Khobz.
Khobz (‘bread’ in Arabic), opened by Zied Mokaddem just 2 years ago, is one of the most intriguing bakeries I know, not just in Belgium but anywhere really. I had been following Zied on instagram for many years before he opened Khobz in January 2022 and was intrigued not just by his impressive looking sourdough loaves but also all of his experiments with wild yeast (i.e. not a traditional sourdough starter but a starter cultivated from the yeasts all around us - on the skins of different types of fruits and flowers for example). With the opening of Khobz we now get the chance to not just enjoy his fantastic sourdough bread but also all of his delicious pastries with all their intriguing flavour combination. I mean, can you think of another bakery that in the same year offered pastries flavoured with the likes of hojicha, orange blossom water, mahleb, fig leaf, anise seed, nigella seeds etc. to name just a few? And don’t just take my word for it. At a recent lunch with colleagues there were several of us practically swooning over just how good Khobz’ bread and pastries are and how you need to make sure you stop by early on weekends if you want to have any hope of getting some of their delicious sourdough bread and pastries. (Also, their decision to offer a mahleb flavoured simple syrup to sweeten iced coffee during the summer was genius! So delicious and an idea I will most definitely copy!)
Also, full disclosure, since the list of bakeries in Brussels keeps on getting longer, there are a few places I have yet to try such as Aube in Forêt and Toga Patisserie downtown, but that will probably make their way onto my list of recommended bakeries.
Are there any other bakeries that I missed and should know about (and add to my list)? And what is your preferred bakery in Brussels or your preferred pastry in Brussels? Leave comment below!