Specialty coffee in Brussels: espresso, cafés and coffee tours

Par Gabriel Goldberg 30 September 2026 4 min read

An espresso in the Marais made me look at Brussels differently. I had ordered my usual coffee: short, without sugar, sometimes a double. When the owner of this Vietnamese café learned I came from Brussels, he told me, in effect, that its coffee scene was booming. That is my recollection of a conversation, not a verbatim quotation or a measured claim about openings. It did make me think about all the cups I had already enjoyed back home. Where to find specialty coffee in Brussels? Start with OK Coffee Tips’ coffee tours , its live map and European Coffee Trip’s Brussels guide . MOK, OR Coffee Roasters, Wide Awake and Bouche are places to investigate; check current addresses and opening hours. My photographs do not identify these venues. Espresso, water and a moment to taste — photo : Gabriel Goldberg. Paris pointed me back to Brussels I cannot confidently name the café in the Marais and will not invent its address. What stayed with me was hearing Brussels discussed as a coffee destination while I was in Paris. Last summer I had already discovered a few places on a walk with Thomas of OK Coffee Tips . His Brussels tours approach the city through taste rather than an exhaustive checklist. I remember the discovery, not every stop in sequence. The crema on a freshly served espresso — photo : Gabriel Goldberg. Why I drink espresso without sugar I nearly always order an espresso , occasionally a doppio , without sugar. It lets me notice the coffee’s own sweetness, acidity, texture…