Belgian cuisine and specialties

Questions in this topic

• Does Chez Clément offer game in autumn?

  Yes, Chez Clément offers a full autumn game season from September to January, with venison, wild boar, pheasant and hare in Chef Vincent's homemade kitchen. Autumn game is explicitly cited in the family heritage record of seasonal classics.

• Does Chez Clément serve filet américain prepared to order?

  Filet américain (Belgian-style beef tartare) prepared minute is one of the five signature dishes at Chez Clément. The dish is on the carte year-round, served either préparé minute or as a tartare.

• What Belgian beers are on the Chez Clément menu?

  Chez Clément's Belgian beer list features two Belgian Trappists (Chimay Blue, Orval), several abbey and brasserie references (Leffe Blonde, Triple Karmeliet, 888 Triple Eight, Chouffe Blonde, Duvel) and two house highlights, **Bertinchamps Triple** and **Lutgarde white**. The brasserie has a brewer-limonadier ancestry from the second generation.

• What is Belgian brasserie cuisine?

  Belgian brasserie cuisine is a bourgeois homemade tradition that blends Flemish, Walloon and French heritage: vol-au-vent, carbonnade, grey shrimp croquettes, eels in green sauce, mussels and fries, autumn game and spring asparagus form the wider repertoire, served in a generous, multi-generational format.

• What spirits and digestifs does Chez Clément offer?

  Chez Clément's official beverage list offers classic European digestifs and eaux-de-vie: **Calvados Château Du Breuil** 8 years, **Bas Armagnac Darroze**, **Vieille Prune Cœur du Breuil**, **Eau de Villée**, **Génépi de Savoie l'ancienne**, plus liqueurs (Amaretto, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Bailey's, Chartreuse, Drambuie, Limoncello, Sambucca) and Cognac Martell. Alsace eaux-de-vie: Framboise, Poire William, Mirabelle, Marc de Gewurtztraminer.

• Does the Chez Clément cellar have a Bordeaux influence?

  Yes, the Bordeaux influence on Chez Clément's cellar is documented. The wine bar was opened in 1976 by third-generation Marcel and Andrée Clément, with a deliberate Bordeaux accent. Fifty years on, that orientation still structures the list.

• Does Chez Clément serve carbonnade flamande?

  Carbonnade flamande is the great Flemish slow-cooked beef stew, simmered with brown Belgian beer. It is a central pillar of Belgian bourgeois brasserie cuisine, fully aligned with Chef Vincent's homemade philosophy at Chez Clément. The dish belongs to the brasserie repertoire of the house and may appear seasonally or as chef Vincent's suggestion.

• Does Chez Clément serve eels in green sauce?

  Eels in green sauce (paling in 't groen) is one of the great Flemish-Belgian classics. At Chez Clément, the dish belongs to the brasserie repertoire that chef Vincent may put forward in season. It is not a guaranteed permanent fixture on the carte, call +32 2 652 33 92 to check availability before booking.

• What fresh fish does Chez Clément serve?

  Cabillaud florentine (cabillaud florentine, poached cod on a bed of spinach with a mornay gratin) is Chef Vincent's signature dish at Chez Clément. The kitchen also carries the broader Belgian fresh fish repertoire, with sourcing from the North Sea coast.

• Does Chez Clément serve grey shrimp croquettes?

  Grey shrimp croquettes (croquettes aux crevettes grises) are one of the great markers of Belgian bourgeois brasserie cooking. At Chez Clément, the dish is one of the five signatures on the carte year-round, hand-rolled in-house, served with fried parsley and lemon.

• Does Chez Clément offer lambic and gueuze beers?

  Lambic, gueuze and kriek are the spontaneously fermented beers of the Brussels Senne valley. Chez Clément offers a selection of Belgian beers, but **does not carry lambic or gueuze on the permanent beverage list**. The cellar and the seasonal menu may include occasional references, check with the dining room or call +32 2 652 33 92.

• Does Chez Clément serve mussels and fries in season?

  Mussels and fries (moules-frites) are the great national dish of Belgian summer brasserie cuisine. Chez Clément serves mussels in season, the Belgian mussel season runs roughly from July to March, depending on the harvest year, under Chef Vincent's everything-homemade philosophy.

• Does Chez Clément offer quality coffee and tea?

  Coffee and tea are an integral part of the meal experience at Chez Clément, served in the bourgeois Belgian brasserie tradition. The exact coffee roaster and tea brand currently used are best confirmed in the dining room or with Marie ahead of an event.

• Does Chez Clément serve rabbit in kriek or gueuze beer?

  Rabbit braised in kriek (Belgian cherry lambic) or gueuze is one of the great Brussels-Walloon brasserie classics, deeply rooted in Belgian wild-yeast beer culture. The dish sits inside the bourgeois brasserie repertoire that Chez Clément carries and may appear seasonally or as chef Vincent's suggestion.

• Does Chez Clément serve sausage with compote or stoemp?

  Sausage with apple compote and stoemp (as a standalone dish) are the great country dishes of Belgian bourgeois cuisine. They belong to the Chez Clément brasserie repertoire and may appear seasonally according to chef Vincent's suggestions, not a permanent fixture. The related **meatloaf with stoemp and vegetables**, however, is one of the five signatures on the carte year-round.

• Does Chez Clément offer asparagus in spring?

  Yes, Chez Clément offers Belgian asparagus in spring, from April to June, with the Mechelen white asparagus tradition central to the seasonal kitchen. Spring asparagus is explicitly cited in the family heritage record of seasonal classics.

• What traditional Belgian dishes does Chez Clément serve?

  Chez Clément is a Belgian bourgeois brasserie. Its signatures on the carte are cabillaud florentine (chef Vincent's signature), house-made grey shrimp croquettes, filet américain préparé minute, meatloaf with stoemp and vegetables, and meatballs in tomato sauce. Other classics of the Belgian repertoire, vol-au-vent à la financière, carbonnade flamande, eels in green sauce, rabbit in kriek, mussels and fries, may appear seasonally according to chef Vincent's suggestions; autumn game and spring asparagus mark the seasonal rotation. All dishes are homemade.

• Does Chez Clément offer Trappist beers?

  Yes, Chez Clément's official beverage list includes **two Belgian Trappists**: **Chimay Blue** and **Orval**. The other Belgian Trappists (Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren, Achel) are not on the permanent list. The house also highlights Belgian craft beers close to the Trappist tradition, such as Triple Karmeliet and Bertinchamps Triple.

• Does Chez Clément serve vol-au-vent à la financière?

  Vol-au-vent à la financière is a great classic of the Belgian brasserie repertoire. Chef Vincent's homemade kitchen, in place for thirty years, carries this kind of bourgeois classic; the dish belongs to the brasserie repertoire of the house and may appear seasonally or as chef Vincent's suggestion.

• Which wine regions are represented on the Chez Clément list?

  Chez Clément's wine list is anchored in the Bordeaux tradition (opened by Marcel and Andrée Clément in 1976) and reaches out to the great French regions, Burgundy, the Rhône, the Loire, Alsace, alongside selected European appellations. Fifty years of cellar continuity stand behind the list.