The Best Cafés In Brussels, Belgium

Hankering for a coffee while you prowl the streets of the Belgian capital? Here's our pick of the coffee shops and cafés that will keep you caffeinated on city strolls. Cafés might – traditionally – have been spots at which to stop for a beer and some hearty carbonnade in Belgium, but third-wave coffee culture has made its mark: you'll find serious coffee buffs measuring beans in Dansaert, working nomads setting up shop in the airy interiors of Sablon cafés, and even entrepreneurs switching a dash of milk for some nut butter in upscale Ixelles/Elsene. Here are our favourite Brussels cafés.

The coolest cafés in Brussels

MOK Speciality Coffee serves filter, espresso and pour-over coffees, as well as quirky teas

MOK Speciality Coffee Roastery & Bar

Founded by a two-time Belgian Cup Tasters Champion, Jens Crabbé, and now picking up awards for its own roasts, MOK is open seven days a week, serving filter, espresso and pour-over coffees made using seasonal roasts, alongside a sustainably sourced vegetarian menu of breakfast and lunch dishes (a highlight is the butter-baked kohlrabi). There are also quirky teas and infusions if you're not into the black stuff, from milky Taiwanese oolong to a spiced apple brew. Located in the Dansaert area – a hop and a skip from the brilliant trilingual bookshop Passa Porta – it's a popular morning spot, so get here early to bag a seat; the counter stools, window cushions and even the bench outside the window are rarely empty.

Rue Antoine Dansaertstraat 196, 1000; mokcoffee.be

Léopold Café Presse - Montgomery

Part of a chain of cafés slowly popping up across Brussels, this Avenue de Tervueren branch is the original – and the best (although we're also a fan of the wood-lined Place de Londres iteration, too). Expect coffee, cake and comics on offer in the warm, inviting space that's packed with mismatched armchairs and a collage of playful artwork. Shelves throughout the café act like diminutive stages for a cast of Tintin figurines. Alongside a standard coffee menu and some excellent cake options (try the cannelés), all-day dishes of smoked salmon and eggs over toast, pancakes, salad bowls and takeaway sandwiches are also available.

Av de Tervueren 107, Tervuerenlaan, 1040; leopoldcafepresse.com

Small-batch coffee at Café du Sablon near the city's Magritte Museum

Café du Sablon, Brussels

Café du Sablon's large windows and airy, industrial interiors offer a typically contemporary coffee shop feel – but it's the views overlooking the gothic arches of the nearby church that make it worth a stop if you're en route to the nearby Magritte Museum. The space – funkily dressed up with mismatched furniture – is popular with those on the hunt for a café to work in, too, thanks to the free WiFi and generous tolerance of staff. Coffee is made using small-batch roasts, a food menu encompasses toasties, salads, over-stuffed bagels and avocado on toast, and when the weather is good, the outdoor tables become hot property.

Rue de la Régence 26, 1000; instagram.com/cafedusablonbxl

Bouche

The team behind Bouche's two Brussels outposts want you to take coffee less seriously. Stuff po-faced baristas and straight-laced menus: at Bouche, the filter comes in a mug splashed with a smiley face, shelves are filled with vibrantly illustrated cold brew cans and regular pop-up events – such as public cupping (to try new roasts) and ceramics sales – are posted on its don't-take-it-too-seriously Instagram account to give anyone who's not a regular serious FOMO. The tagline might be speciality coffee, with care, but that's as much about ensuring its coffee-loving community is having a good time as it is about serving first-class cups of the good stuff (which it does well, too).

Rue de Manur 4, 1000; instagram.com/bouche.coffee

Buddy Buddy's split-tone interiors | Photo credit: Michael Cerrone

Buddy Buddy

Seeking a nut butter atelier? We weren't, until we visited Buddy Buddy. Established in 2020, this coffee shop (and its sister site in Paris) puts the company's all-natural creamy creations front and centre. From behind a blush-pink, curved counter, using a sexy red coffee machine, barristers whip up coffees swirled with peanut butter, oat milk and raw cacao, bulletproof, coconut oil-spiked espressos, hazelnut butter hot chocolates, and almond butter chais. You'll also find iced coffees, teas and an intriguing hazelnut butter kombucha. The quirky café uses Brussels-roasted MOK beans. Seating includes traditional tables and a duo of high-stool perch spots, and laptops aren't allowed on weekends. Note that only plant-based milks are available.


Rue des Drapiers 10, 1050; buddybuddy.co

Belga & Co

This bohemian coffee spot does away with whitewashed minimalism: at Belga & Co's Bailli branch, on Rue du Bailli (there's also a second spot on Rue E. Solvay in Boniface), the walls are a soft, chocolatey brown, woodwork is well-shined and mahogany-hued, and kilim rugs lie underfoot. Grab a newspaper from the wall rack, find a table and pick from a menu of espresso-based coffees and pastries.

Rue du Bailli 7A, 1000; belgacoffee.com

Pared-back interiors at Uccle's Seven

Seven Brussels

Calling all wellness witches: you'll want to head to Uccle/Ukkel. This leafy, well-heeled southern district of the city draws in the city's most health-conscious residents thanks to the opening of all-day cafés and bakery Seven. Here, in a pared-back, poured-concrete cavern, expect homemade, seasonal plates alongside coffees made from small-batch bean roasts. Open seven days a week, with no reservations, (and laptops banned between 12pm and 3pm, as well as on weekends), the café is a Brussels resident's go-to for sunshine-filled plates: think acai bowls, avocado toasts, creamy pear and almond porridge pots, and veg-packed burritos. Alongside coffee, drinks include homemade sodas, superfood shakes and freshly pressed juices, with the option to add additional natural supplements such as collagen, ashwagandha and moringa for an added wellness boost. Dishes are available for takeaway, too.

Rue Edith Cavell 10, 1180 Uccle; seven-brussels.com

Jackie Coffee

It's a simple concept at this Saint-Gilles spot: a carefully curated selection of coffees and magazines. Within elegant interiors, the team of whip-smart coffee-heads serves up everything from cold brews to classic lattes, alongside cakes made by the in-house baker, Colette, and will be more than happy to suggest a title to accompany your coffee break. Independent magazines including Apartamento, Kinfolk and Openhouse line the walls. Upstairs, a co-working space welcomes laptop wielders: for around – a day, you'll get two drinks, access to WiFi and plug points.

Chau de Charleroi 203, 1060 Saint-Gilles; instagram.com/jackiecoffee_bxl

Main photo credit: Buddy Buddy / Michael Cerrone