Friture René

One of the oldest restaurants in Brussels serving up the famous moules. Unfortunately, the night we went, we were informed they had run out. Lesson: call them ahead of time to confirm it is still on the menu. Nonetheless, it’s a place full of charm and bonhomie.

A local, cozy restaurant in Brussels. We had chef's mussels and beef tenderloin and both of them were perfect but the beef tenderloin is highly recommended 👌

Super spot for a classic Belgian meal. Cheese croquettes, Steaks, mussels, moules à l'escargot (delicious!!!), filet américain... Never disappointing!

I really recommend the beef tenderloins here! With the mushroom sauce it was wonderful.

Best place for a tasty milk. The environment is very traditional and both food and drinks are excellent. We received the best service ever, very attentive and always checking if we needed anything. Thank you!!

Good food and service. I had the mussels cooked in butter and garlic and they were excellent!

The place is amazing with great personnel that will help you choose the best to your taste and great food that makes you feel good!!

Authentic setting with a local taste. Friendly service. Unfortunately on Sunday evening not all dishes were available because they are closed on Monday. Nevertheless a great experience!

As i made my way through Belgium, i asked many folks what they thought the best frituur/friture/frites place was. Surprisingly a fee of the same names came up in each city. For Brussels, the guys from Veranda recommended this. Driving through an open market and all types of traffic. I finally got to the neighborhood and walked across the square to the place. Anderlecht is an interesting suburb outside of Brussels. It's a bit gritty and bustling, somewhat like the Mission is in San Francisco. The space is divided into two rooms, one with a bar and one where the kitchen is. I sat near the kitchen to see all the action. Looking at the menu, it's full of classics. Got the steak au poivre with the recommended fries. Holy cow the food is good. Perfectly cooked steak, beautifully silky/peppery sauce and outstanding fries. I cleaned the plate and wished i had the appetite of another. I wish i could import the place to SF. The crew that work here are super friendly, and with my poor French we were able to still chat and have a good mix of conversations. Even though i was eating late, a slew of large parties came in after and the place got really bustling. Even though the rooms are classic bistro, i was surprised by a very modern upstairs. Certainly a very cool place all around. If youre in Brussels and want some classic bistro fare, make your way to Anderlecht and hit this place up.

Update, they no longer serve mussels here. However the steaks and fries are good! There is only only Chef so the food take a while but it's worth the wait. The entire menu is in French and the staff here don't speak much English so it's a bit tough to order. We just went with steak and mushroom sauce. The horse-steak which was their specialty so we had to order one. Horse tastes a lot like beef, slightly more gamey but just as good.

Having the word "friture" in the restaurant's name made me think that their fries were going to be amazing, but they were probably my least favorite fries that I had in Brussels. They didn't seem particularly fresh, crispy, or flavorful to me. This place specialized in steaks, so if you want to eat red meat, this is your place. The entrecote was excellent. Most of the entrees come with fries, so you'll get your fix of Belgian fries, although I had better fries elsewhere. I got steamed mussels in white wine sauce and it was huge - I could barely eat half of it. To be honest, I didn't love the white wine sauce and felt it was a little bit bland & dry. The mussels were fresh and the texture was good, but I'd probably pick a different sauce. My fiance got the entrecote and we both loved this - the quality and texture of the meat was great, and the sauces were great too. I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to eat here, but if you're in the area and want a steak, this is a good place. I was disappointed in the fries, but can't wait them all!

Calling this place a "friture" is like calling Morton's a "baked potato bar". Yes, these guys serve fresh, top-notch frites, but it's really a steak-focused bistro. The whole family got steaks, and we loved them - entrecote, and strips. Perfectly grilled, medium rare, well-seasoned, with maitre d'hotel butter. Shrimp croquette to start was great, as were the dame blanche's for dessert. Very popular, we needed a reservation on a rainy Thursday night (and they put it down to the wrong night, but still seated us). There are seats overlooking Place de la Resistance, which is probably the nicest in Anderlecht, but we ate inside since it was raining. Vedett Extra was the beer of the month on draft. The service was very hard-working. Around 130 EUR for dinner for 4.

I have recently moved to Anderlecht and I have to say this is one of the best restaurants in the area. I have been there twice already. First time I tried the mussels and chips and second time I had an Entrecôte. I was really not disappointed by the quality of the food. The service was also very friendly. As the piece of meet was a 400g one, we asked if we could share it and it was done without any complaints and presented very nicely in 2 plates with two portions of fries and no additional costs. The last time I went, I have to say the service was maybe a bit slow. Was never asked if we wanted desert or coffee. All in all, very nice Brasserie, nice atmosphere and typical quality belgian food.

Yes, this is Belgian food as good as it gets. I have to admit, I don't go to Anderlecht very often, as a matter of fact, never. So, almost by mistake (ok ok, a bit thanks to Yelp mobile app too!) - we ended up having lunch here on our way to Erasmushuis, which is just around the corner. I was looking for a friterie... What a surprise! The decor is perfect: Belgian original style, red and white tablecloths, wooden furniture, a gorgeous bar, tiles and all. You feel like you're back in time. We had the best moules ever and the best fries ever. I also had the best tartare ever, which was a special on the menu (handwritten on the board). We were a bit scared at first: the fries came in a very very tiny portion, and for the price we were paying, that was NOT enough. But the waitress was very kind to explain that we could order fries à volonté, and they just came in this small portion to make sure they kept fresh and warm... and not get cold on the table. Wonderful meal, nice atmosphere, cool menus (with the story of the place, QUITE A STORY, I must say...) and very friendly service. If the price would also not be so high, I would go to Anderlecht more often, just to eat in this little truly Brussels gem. But if you're in town only for a couple of days, don't miss it. It's worth the metro/tram ride. And you can discover the surrounding neighborhood's beautiful architecture too!

We read a review from Craig Laban (Philadelphia Inquirer), and decided this was a must on our journey through Brussels. We had to take a taxi to this "off the beaten path" hidden gem. The staff didn't speak English, which is fine by us, but we were able to get by. Best mussels. Best steak. Good fries. We enjoyed our local experience. Visit if you can.

If the sound of Belgian comfort food done right sounds appealing, then please walk, run, uber or bus it to Friture René with nary a second thought. I was lucky enough to have a foodie friend suggest we have dinner at this multi-generational family run joint and I thank my lucky stars for the invite. We started out with an aperitif of Cantillon Gueze from Brussels last remaining local brewery down the street. Pucker up! I was given no option for the appetizer, so shrimp croquettes it was, and no sharing! To each his own because these ultra crispy fried flavour bombs will hook you at first bite. The oozy, melty, shrimpy deliciousness pours out as you cut into the crackly shell. Nirvana. I love to cook but I am somewhat flummoxed as to how these delectable morsels are prepared. Do they create the filling and then freeze it before the crispy coating is added and then fried? Who knows, but I will leave that enigma to experts such as the Friture René family. I'm not a huge mussel fan, but large tables all around us were indulging with huge abandon. Next up for me was a hearty Steak Frites with Archiduc (mushroom) sauce. Phenomenal. Nice wine list. We enjoyed our Languedoc rouge's chocolatey tobacco depths. Our waitress was very concerned that I didn't finish my frites and offered to replace them with a warm, fresh batch - but truth be told I was too full to finish! Super friendly, warm service in a fabulously homey vintage venue. I cannot wait to make the next trek here.