5 best butchers of Brussels

Perhaps more than any other food item, the quality and care that goes into preparing meats is the biggest predictor of how healthy and delicious your meal will be. That's why having a good and reliable butcher is so important, especially in a country like Belgium that takes the quality of its food seriously. Here are five of the great butchers of Belgium.

1. Boucherie Frank / Maison Segers

With strings of sausages draped in the back and platters of carefully prepared meats crowding a display case, Boucherie Frank and its sister shop Maison Segers on the Parvis de Saint Gilles are Brussels butchers who give a nod to the charm of tradition. No secret to neighbourhood carnivores, Frank serves a loyal crowd of customers who are regularly queued up outside his door for his traditional cuts of beef, pork and lamb. A true family affair, two doors down, Maison Segers is a great mom-and-pop volaillerie run by the same family, serving up dozens of preparations of fresh and prepared poultry for over 30 years.

Boucherie Frank
187 Rue Jourdan
1060 Saint-Gilles

Maison Segers
181 Rue Jourdan
1060 Saint-Gilles

2. Jack O’Shea

With its original Brussels location near Schuman, Jack O’Shea’s has long been popular among the EU crowd. What keeps people coming back to O’Shea’s is the quality of its cuts. The fine, marbled beef, for example, comes from free-range, grass-fed Black Angus cattle from O’Shea’s family abattoir in Ireland. The lamb, pork and chicken are also raised free-range and largely organic. In the past, O’Shea’s UK operation has snagged a spot as meat supplier to Heston Blumenthal's restaurant Fat Duck. Today, he has opened a second shop in Sainte Catherine, with a third coming soon to Uccle.

30 Rue Le Titien
1000 Brussels

3. Coprosain

Not a butcher per se, but nevertheless a top source for meat. Coprosain is a cooperative of farmers who have been selling responsibly grown and raised products for over 35 years, including a wide range of local and organic meats, poultry and charcuterie. In Brussels, you can find them on Wednesday mornings at the organic market on Place Sainte Catherine from 7.00 until 14.00.

4. Maison Lanssens

Maison Lanssens has been serving Etterbeek meat-eaters for more than 30 years. The queue is often out the door, but it’s worth the wait. They specialise in small, homemade linked sausages based on family recipes that have been passed down for 60 years. They come in a variety of flavours, such as curry, provençal or cheese. You’ll also find sauerkraut and marinated shish kebabs.

67 Rue des Tongres
1040 Etterbeek

5. Le Petit Normand

The place to go for charcuterie, Le Petit Normand is an institution in the centre of Brussels. Focusing less on fresh meats, Normand draws crowds from tourists and locals alike for its German-style sausages, fine Ardennes ham and any number of prepared and cured meats, as well as their special and regional products, like Alsatian sauerkraut. Just don’t confuse it with its nearby fromagerie, Le P’tit Normand, which only sells cheese.

5 Rue de Tabora 
1000 Bruxelles

Photo: ING Image