2 nights 2 days in Brussels, Belgium

I spend 2 days 2 nights in Brussels and 1 day in Bruges.

Pickpockets!! Beware of pickpockets or robbery when you are in Brussels, especially at night.

I witness an incident of robbery and spot a thief-like man on the first night in Brussels near Grand Place, all the tourists go there.  It is pretty scary - a girl gets robbed and she screams and runs after the thief, unfortunately, no one could help her.  Btw, according to wikitravel, it's not safe to walk around at night in Brussels,  so i just have dinners a bit early (around 7-8) and then head back to hostel.
Don't be too scared, its still safe to walk around during the day.

SIGHTSEEING
I arrive in Brussels at 5pm, so I only have dinner (don't walk around at night in Brussels, not safe enough). The next day, I spend around 7 hours walking in the city to all sightseeing places, and I am pretty much done everything in there.

I don't recommend you to spend more than 2 nights there as you won't walk too far away from the tourist places to keep yourself safe, so nothing randoms to explore.

There is a small beer museum near Grand Place, don't go there!

MUSSELS
Chez Leon, Grand Place, ~Euro$25-30/set, MUST TRY.

Try to avoid eating near Grand Place as they try to scam tourists with cheap food but very expensive drinks.  However, you can still try one there called Chez Leon.  They have the best musels in Brussels.  You can see locals also go there for dinners too.

The set I order includes 500gr + fries + beer

Cherry Beer

500 gr mussels + baked mussels with cheese

OTHER SEAFOOD
Mer Du Nord, Euro$30, CAN'T MISS

When you are strolling down to watch the church, St. Catherine, just keep walking down the road, you will see a semi-restaurant called "Mer Du Nord'.  They don't have any sitting places, you can only stand there.  The semi-restaurant gets crowded during lunch hour so be there a little bit early, say like 12pm to avoid lining up.  (btw, they close at night)

On the other side of the eating area, this shop also sells seafood, that's why the ingredients are so fresh.

I order 3 dishes:
-  The chief cooks it till medium-rare with herbs and olive oil !!! DON'T MISS

Fabulous Grilled Tuna!!

- 12 fresh mussels, Euro $6, come with lemon juice-like sauce.  Interesting and sweet!

Fresh Raw Mussels

- Raw Oysters (forgot to take picture), ~Euro$1.5-2 each, well, like oysters I normally have in different restaurants. ummm... If you have tried the oysters at Hog Island in San Francisco, they are pretty much the same.  I don't highly recommend you to order this if you have oysters once a while, these won't surprise you.

I also order a glass of white wine, the bill is ~Euro$30, GOOD VALUE !!!


ABC, near St Catherine, Good To Try
I also try a similar eating place right across the street called, ABC.  Part of the shop sells meat and seafood and the other side serves food.  As I have already eaten a bit at Mer Du Nord, I just order 1 dish - squid and octopus cooked in Spanish way.  It's also good !!!

They only have a menu written in Dutch, but the owner is nice enough to translate them for you.

The total costs Euro$30 as I have also ordered a glass of white wine and add some extra Spanish sausages in.

Octopus + Squid + Sausages cooked in Spanish Way

Le Paon Royal, very close to St Catherine, GOOD
We walked back to Mer Du Nord trying to have our last dinner in Brussel with them, unfortunately, they have closed.  So I just walk arounda little bit and find this restaurant.

You don't see too much tourists here, first criterion, not a touristy place, pass !

Here are the 3 dishes I order:

- This dish comes with french fries, Euro$24, the way it cooks is very interesting, however, the eel is a bit fishy.  I prefer the Chinese style more.

Eel cooked in herbs

- Horse fillet with shallots and red wine with french fries, Euro$23, surprisingly, it is delicious ! I couldn't tell it's a horse fillet from my first bite! It's like eating a beef steak but a very tender one.

Medium Rare Horse Meat, Delicious !!

- You can tell that the crepes are made with a lot of eggs that make them smell good and chewy.

Crepes with custard and mixed berries.

How can you miss fruit beer in Brussels??

WAFFLES
oh about this, I don't have any recommendations for you guys.  None of the waffles I bought are good, they are just too sweet or taste very artificial (like using a lot vanilla oil). I couldn't find a shop that makes it when you order.

ummm.... I probably wont go to Brussels !! Instead, I would travel to Bruges again !!

Brussels - Beer museum near Grote Market is utter crap, Belgium

This place charges €5 and it's basically five Euros too much. The place is small, with some vaguely brewery type decorations and some lame video which I didn't bother finishing. In fact, the video is like one of those internet sites that show useless shit to see how long dumb people stare at it for.

The beer at the end is lame and small, worth maybe €1.

As it turns out, we were lame too, because we didn't read some reviews ( http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188644-d245729-Reviews-Cantillon_Brewery-Brussels.html ) to check beforehand.

Score: -10 out of 10

DessertTruck Works, New York

A friend of mine suggested that I should have desserts here, so I come and try before I leave the City tomorrow!

I ordered 2 chocolate desserts: a bread pudding (on the left) which they renown for and a chocolate macaroon (on the right).


Chocolate pudding, US$5.97+tax, (recommended)
It is delicious and you can choose either bacon sauce or vanilla sauce. I picked bacon one as it's not very common.


Macaroon, US$4.97+tax, Not Recommended
Well, after eating the chocolate pudding, this one is a bit disappointing.
I love macaroons so much that I try whenever I see them. I don't rate this one caz the vanilla flavor is tooo strong which is a bit weird.

One good thing is that the macaroon is crispy though.

Overall, it's a nice place.

Maude's Liquor and Bar @ Chicago, Illinois

It was my second last night here in Chicago and I had reserved Moto for dinner.  I was accidently 2 hours late due to different time zone confusion, so I stumpled upon and had my dinner at Maude.

84W Randolph
Chicago, IIllinois
(312)243 9712
The area is full of different types of restaurants, bars and galleries, if you have spare time, it's a nice place to chill out. 

So I ordered a few dishes below (without main courses) for our dinner:

Shrimp cocktail, US$18, GOOD
7 medium size shrimps, pretty fresh with 3 sauces - ketchup, grounded pepper and a french sauce mixed with mayonnaise.

Tataie, US$17, RECOMMENDED
The tataie + pieces of crispy toast with butter, the best thing is that they're not hard that don't hurt your mouth. The aroma of butter mix with fresh beef and crisy toast are prefect match.  I am motuwatering now ;)

Lyonaisse, US$12, GOOD

A salad and 2 pieces + of smoked pork belly + an egg. The pork belly is pretty thick (unlike bacon) and it's excellent to eat with salad. It tastes a bit like Japaness black pig.

Escargot, US$9, FAIR
7 pieces, the sauce is mixed with herbs and lemon juice. The bread flavor tastes cool after dipping the sauce.

Chocolate Mousse, US$10, NOT RECOMMENDED
They have very limtied choices of desserts, only 2, and I pick chocolate mousse.  If you are a fan of dark chocolate, this might not be your cup of tea. This mousse is made with heavy milk chocolate and the chocolate flavor isn't very strong. I personally don't recommend ordering it.

Overall, it's a nice restaurant with good services and food. If you have time, you can explore other restaurants nearby!!

Deep dish in Chicago, The Loop

This restaurant is located at the CBD of Chicago so you can drop by and have a quick lunch before you go on your trip.

This is the only deep dish I have in Chicago, so its kinda my personal judgement. Deep dish here is good, the crust is crispy and you can pick your own size, 4/6/8 slices. I decided to have the smallest one so I can try some more different food in the rest of the day.

Staff here is nice and helpful and this pizza cost around US$10.

Overall, it's a nice place to have a break during a day.

After eating a deep dish, I don't really like it that much as it feels like I am eating a stuffed bread.  It's still a nice experience afterall.   

Breakfast in Chicago, Loop

My first stop this trip is in Chicago, will stay here for 1 more night then fly to
New York on this coming weekend.

Just want to do a quick blog to share my trip with you.

Woke up early at 7 this morning and had a nice breakfast at Toni Patisserie and Cafe. 
65 E. Washington St. Chicago IL 60602
312‑726‑2020
7am to 7pm (M-F); Saturday 8am to 8pm; Sunday 8am to 5pm

Its a nice small cafe where work people drop by and grab a quick breakfast.  It locataed near most of the tourist destinations

I rate the double chocolate cookie and the quiche. If you have to choose between them, go for the quiche ;).  Everything below costs US$16.

Will keep you guys posted.

Tea at Ritz Carlton, Toroto

It's just a friends gathering, so we pick a comfortable place to have our high tea and we randomly pick Ritz Carlton in downtown, Toronto.

I swear that I would never go there again!!!!!!! SUCKS!!!!!!

Summary
Cost -$50/person; it's totally not worth it at all!!!!
Food - bad!!!! We left more
than half of the food there
Service - it's fine.
Environment - comfortable, not too noisy.

Food

Oh my god!! I don't know where to start, the whole set is crap.
I will start from drinks first, they only offer tea, coffee is not available at all. This is the first time that I couldn't get a coffee for my high tea.  Next, the sandwiches taste bad, they taste like homemade ones, the bread is actually a bit hard.

Cakes, I would say the Opera is the best and others are just normal. The macaroon is just horrible, instead of crispy, it's sticky. I gotta take a sip of water after eating it to get rid of the stickness in my mouth.

Scones are horrible. They are the worst in the set. They are not soft nor buttery.
It's just soggy.

Last, croissants are relatively better among them all. I am not saying that it's flaky or crispy, just that they taste a bit better with a piece of smoke salmon in each. 

Environment

It's good to have a chill with you friends, a confortable and quite place to spend an afternoon there. Other than that, I believe the Ritz Carlton in Asia is better than this one, including services.


Afterall, I am just enjoying an afternoon there with friends.