is probably Brussels’ most sustainable restaurant and one of my favorites. It’s not pretentious at all and it’s unintendedly but utterly cool. In a zero-food-waste effort, the restaurant mixes seasonal veggies from their 1500m2 organic backyard garden (called Bel Akker) together with unsold supermarket items and transforms the lot into scrumptious affordable dishes. The whole thing is a part of a bigger endeavour called Atelier Groot Eiland which fosters job creation and social insertion through diverse projects (food, wood works, farming…).
The joint is staffed by super friendly long-term unemployed people who’ve been trained and rehabilitated while the furniture is made of recycled pallets, crafted in the attaining carpentry workshop (Klimop). Bel Mundo is flooded with light and has an industrial vibe, what with the apparent technical rails, massive columns and concrete floors. Yet, it has a very warm feeling, partly because of the wooden furniture, partly thanks to the staff’s own warmth.
I really recommend this place for many reasons.
- It’s in a super vibrant part of town, right on the canal across the Dansaert street and close to the , the and cool shops like , Bel’O and fabrics.
- It’s good homey food; it’s not pretentious and you feel a lot of effort and heart were put into making it.
- There are always soups and veggie dishes.
- The prices are super democratic: 1,50€ for a soup, 7,50€ for a salad and 2€ for a cup of ice cream!
- The staff is great.
Another great thing is you can rent the place on Saturdays for your events, with or without catering.
Bel Mundo, Quai du Hainaut 39, 1080 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Open Mon-Fri 12am-2.30pm and Thu-Fri also 6-9 pm.
