Ribs 'N Beer

Sometimes, that's all you want in a meal. No need for extensive wine lists or square plates with delicate smears of jus, just a hearty rack of tender ribs, washed down with cool blonde beer. On our second night in Bruges, Manbacon and I headed to Ribs 'n Beer in search of some of the good stuff.

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived, with only a party of three middle-aged couples, and two other giggly girls occupying the other tables. We decided to go for the all-you-can-eat ribs and a glass each of Maes beer. Our waiter kindly gave us a plate of savoury starfish shapes to kick things off. Manbacon was excited by the prospect of 'all-you-can-eat', boasting that he would have at least four refills, and possibly even have the kitchen begging him to leave by the end of the night.

Tin for bones.

I went for the beer and chocolate sauce, over tender, falling apart slowcooked ribs, so soft that it all fell off the bone with hardly any persuasion from my fork. I still dream about the sauce sometimes - a slight hint of darkness from the chocolate, tempered by some sweetness from the beer. 

House sauce - Beer and chocolate

Manbacon went for the Chef's Special Rub, which was served with barbecued ribs. Although tasty, it didn't leave much of an impression on me, unlike the awesome beer and chocolate sauce. The barbecued ribs were juicy, but tougher than the succulent slowcooked ones.

Chef's Special Rub

The tin provided for bones soon filled up. I was ready to give up by the end of my first rack, but Manbacon wanted more. MORE! More came in the form of slowcooked ribs smothered in spicy barbecue sauce - another winner. The meat was just as tender as mine had been, with a memorably spicy dressing garnished with teeny-tiny little dried chillies. Despite his earlier boasts, this was the one the defeated my Manbacon. Only one half rack refill, and he was more than ready to throw the towel in. 

Spicy Barbecue Sauce

We didn't even have dessert.

According to our cute waiter, the most any customer had ever eaten at Ribs 'n Beer were four full racks of ribs - that's six portions of refills, readers! We'd need a lot more training to achieve anything near that record.

Ribs 'n Beer
Ezelstraat 50
Brugge 8000
Belgium

Marche aux Puces de Bruxelles

I was not joking when I said in an earlier post that we managed to cram a lot into a mere day and a half in Brussels. Not only did we squeeze in visits to the Atomium and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, we also managed to have some mussels at Chez Leon, and perhaps most importantly, visit the Marche aux Puces not once, but twice! 

Having arrived in Brussels too early to check in to our hotel, we decided to make our way to the Marolles district to visit the flea market. If you're the sort of person whose heart beats faster at the thought of a new market or boot sale to explore, and who daydreams about trawling through boxes to uncover that one perfect item, then welcome to your dream. 

She came home with me!

Look at that - boxes and boxes of stuff, from travel kettles to antique dolls, vintage dresses to dead birds.  Neon pink ballroom dancing dresses. Antique French laces. Rainbow sets of Victorinox kitchen knives (plenty of those there - everyone in Brussels must get given a set as a wedding present). Absolute heaven. I had to rein in my desire to purchase huge framed wedding portraits and antique chandeliers. Some stalls were fairly nicely organised, with items displayed on rails and tables, and neat little aisles carved between  rows of boxes. Other stallholders resisted the temptation to make their stalls look presentable, and simply laid their goods on the ground. I find that I tend to gravitate towards the messier looking stalls - more chance of finding a treasure among that mess, perhaps? 

Treasure-hunting made us very hungry, so we headed across the road to Charlotte, lured by the wonderous smell of cooked onions and burnt meat, and shared a very massive hotdog. 

Your Sugardaddy Needs You!

From top: raspberry brownie, tomato soup cake (aka raisin cake), pear and walnut cake, Guinness and ginger loaf, and lemon and poppyseed slice. Find these cakes and more at the Sugardaddy Bakes stall at the Tea Rooms, just off Brick Lane, every weekend until the end of June. 

Animal Expressions

 

A lot of stuffed animals are waiting to look at you at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The museum was strangely quiet the day we went - we walked through vast, empty rooms with nothing but taxidermied animals and interactive exhibits. Eerie but fascinating. 

Square Dancing at the Atomium

Despite spending only a day and a half in Brussels, Manbacon and I managed to cram in a whole host of activities, including a trip to the Atomium, as well as - wait for it - a square dancing session! A trip to the shiny Atomium was part of our plans, but stumbling into an international square dancing meet-up most definitely wasn't.

And stumble, we did. Coming up to the Atomium, all we saw was this rather unassuming 'Welcome' sign, and a few tourists scattered around, waiting for their tickets or taking photos of the giant silver balls. We walked around the the back, and were greeted with this sight...

About 50 middle-aged couples dressed in big skirts and loud shirts, waving to each other and twirling around. WHAT! YES! AWESOME! We had no idea what was going on, so sat down and watched as they danced to commands like 'Scoop the ocean...' and 'Reeee-cyCle!' Yeah...I have no idea either. Maybe they're keen on dancing as well as keeping Mother Nature happy?

This Dutch couple - the Stans - were happy to pose for a photo for me during one of their breaks. They also very kindly explained what was going on, and told me a little about square dancing. 

This, readers, is the reason I prefer spontaneity to a carefully planned itinerary while on holiday - if we had planned ahead, I would never have encountered this glorious sight, since the Atomium wasn't even on our 'to-see' list in the first place. RECYCLE!

Handmade Holiday

I've just returned from a short but intense week-long holiday to Belgium and France, during which I set myself a challenge to wear at least one handmade or refashioned item everyday. 

Day 1 - London to Brussels (by Eurostar, so glamourous)

Sunglasses - op-shop

Faux leather jacket - Primark

Vintage silk scarf - Wimbledon car boot

Refashioned grey dress - op-shop (originally handmade by someone else too!)

Vintage canvas bag - op-shop

Vintage Coca Cola duffel bag - op-shop

Tights - 60 denier Pretty Polly black tights from Sainsburys

Shoes - Black school plimsolls from Bata, Singapore

Day 2 - Brussels to Bruges (taken at the Atomium)

Sunglasses - op-shop

Red silk blouse - op-shop

Rust brown corduroy shorts - Handmade (finished the day before I left, and yet to be blogged, but pretty much the same pattern as these shorts, except with slanted pockets)

Canvas bag - op-shop

Day 3 - Bruges (excuse the fluffy post-wash no hairdryer/comb hair)

Sunglasses - op-shop (same again...)

Refashioned gingham dress - op-shop (also finished just before I left so as yet unblogged)

Pasty white legs and bruised knees - all mine, baby, all mine. They have seen no sun for about 5 years. Nice

Canvas bag - op-shop (it converts into a backpack too!)

Black trainers - 10 euro purchase from a random shop in Brussels because my plimsolls were hurting me. 

Day 4 - Bruges to Lille (sweating it out in front of the Frietmuseum, which we did not visit)

Sunglasses - op-shop

Blue cotton shirt - stall in Bangkok night market

Yellow shorts - handmade

Canvas bag - op-shop

Day 5 - Lille (much cooler weather so the legs went back into hiding)

Sunglasses - just kidding, didn't bring them along today!

Faux leather jacket - Primark 

Blue cotton shirt - Bangkok night market stall

Green rayon blouse - handmade 

Rust-brown corduroy shorts - handmade and as yet unblogged

Black tights - Sainsbury's Pretty Polly

Pink socks - Bangkok night market 2nd hand stall

Black trainers - 10 euro purchase from a random shop in Brussels (these were my first purchase in Belgium)

Day 6 - Lille to Calais (with special guest star Peter Falk aka Columbo)

Sunglasses - same old, same old

Faux leather jacket - Primark

Red gingham dress - Refashioned vintage dress, found in op-shop

Canvas bag - op-shop

Red belt - vintage, MVE

Black tights - Sainsburys

Shoes - random shop in Brussels

Day 7 - Calais then back to Blighty

Sunglasses - same as above

Blue cotton shirt - 2nd hand stall at Bangkok night market

Red silk blouse - op-shop

Yellow cotton shorts - handmade

Black tights - Sainsburys

Pink socks - Bangkok night market stall

Black trainers - random Brussels shoe shop

Whew! A whole week of mostly handmade, remade, vintage and secondhand! I try to pack as lightly as possible for trips, hence the constant repetition of several pieces, but I'm happy to report that my handmade items held up brilliantly throughout a very active week. 

More photos of the trip to come soon...