9 Best Restaurants in Liège, The Meuse and the Ardennes

Playful like the puppet Tchantchès, the bar La Maison du Pèkèt concocts cocktails using pèkèt—Liège’s local liquor—in every way imaginable. When you’ve had your fill of pèkèts with passion fruit, head next door to the attached restaurant, Amon Nanesse. Named after Tchantchès’s girlfriend, this friendly joint serves hearty Belgian fare made with, of course, pèkèt. Ten rooms in two 17th-century town houses comprise the restaurant and bar.

This stylish spot and long-standing local favorite on the place du Marché serves up large portions of Walloon specialties, such as rabbit stewed in beer, and succulent boulets (traditional Liège pork-and-beef meatballs flavored with a fruit syrup) served with mounds of frites. Its original name, As Ohès ("To the Bones" in local dialect), was a nod to the fact that the building sits on the site of an old cemetery—the addition of a "u" transformed it into the more customer-friendly "To the Birds."

This regal restaurant, discreetly tucked in a handsome courtyard, has a chic dining room with high ceilings, a mezzanine above, and striking arty photographs adorning the walls. The menu offers French-inspired contemporary cuisine, including modern takes on magret de canard and foie gras, but the main specialties are meal-size salads—try the warm chicken salad or the surf 'n' turf salad with chicken and scampi.

Known as a favorite hangout of Georges Simenon and his family, this wood-paneled neighborhood standby serves unbeatable boulets (meatballs) smothered in Liège’s special date-and-apple syrup and classic moules piled high with the inevitable frites. Also known as Chez Stockis, the timeworn place—with its peeling paint and battered wooden furniture—is often filled with regulars, young and old.

A block from the train station, this dinerlike Liège institution has been here and run by the same family since 1943. Its long and varied menu has various fish, pastas, and salads, but does tend to favor lovers of beef and veal. If you order the filet américain—the house specialty, similar to steak tartare—one of the chefs will prepare it right in front of your eyes.

Just steps from the opera house, this stylish joint is the place in Liège to come for Italian fine dining. Choose from the two-, three- or four-course fixed-price menu (five-course tasting menu only on Friday evening and Saturday). Everything is prepared in the open kitchen at the back, so you can watch the chefs at work as you salivate over the enticing smells.

You’ll always be surprised and seldom disappointed at this whimsical, colorful den, which changes its interior styling to a new theme every two years—past examples have ranged from farmyard barn to Alice in Wonderland. The fixed-price menu (with or without wine) changes on a monthly basis; duck usually appears in hunting season. Hidden on a residential impasse, it’s very much a part of the vibrant neighborhood.

This basic canteen adjoins a central deli with a simple philosophy: seasonal fare sourced from around 100 small-scale suppliers, all located within a 50-km (31-mile) radius. Dishes prepared using ingredients from the store range from an all-day breakfast of fruit muesli and yogurt, via omelets, to burgers. A buffet brunch is served, but only on the first Sunday of each month (9 am--4 pm).

This popular bakery is the place to pick up a hot gaufre (Belgian waffle), topped with powdered sugar—or, for a little extra, stuffed with chunks of chocolate that will melt as you eat. For those with less sweet teeth, they also offer an extensive range of filled sandwiches and rolls for a light lunch.