Yi Chan

It’s impossible to spend an evening in the center of Brussels without stopping by Yi Chan.

Tucked away amidst the Thai restaurants on the bustling street between the Bourse and Saint-Géry district, this place has everything to surprise you. Unlike most eateries around here, everything is homemade.

Among the must-tries is the Pho (15€ – 18€), a typical Vietnamese noodle soup featuring an incredibly flavorful beef broth with thinly sliced raw beef that cooks in the broth.

Then there are the famous xiao long bao (10€). A Shanghai specialty, these steamed dumplings are filled with broth, delicately bitten into, and slowly sipped over a spoon to savor every drop.

All of this is accompanied by crispy chili oil cucumbers (6€), steamed rolls with shrimp (11€) or glazed pork (10€), spring rolls that are everything you’d want them to be, and incredible cocktails. Yen, the owner, also known as Dragon Yen on social media, is rightly celebrated for his creations.

Finish off with a sesame-fried bun (8€) and fior di latte ice cream from Gelatteria Giotto, a renowned gelato shop in Ixelles, where Yen regularly cycles to between appointments to source his ingredients.