Maison Dandoy Brussels

Belgium is famous for its waffles and I happen to be obsessed with waffles. I love waffles in all forms, from Belgian waffles, waffle cones, and Hong Kong’s famous egg waffles to American chicken & waffles and PAGU’s potato wafflatos, I love them all.

In fact, in my younger days I loved eating toasted Eggo waffles topped with vanilla ice cream. Soooo good.

I remember trying my first ever Belgian waffle when we got stuck in Belgium during our flight home from our honeymoon after the 9/11 attacks. Although the circumstances surrounding the unexpected stopover were stressful and overwhelming, we do hold special memories from the several days we spent in Brussels. While we were there, we tried their famous waffles for the first time, explored the Grand Place, and bonded with others New Englanders who were on our same flight (and thus same situation).

Almost two decades later, we finally made it back to Brussels. I immediately started searching around for the best Belgium waffle. Virtually everywhere I looked I read about Maison Dandoy.

Maison Dandoy is best known for its speculoos cookie, a crunchy biscuit hand made from brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and cloves. However, they also make a very highly sought-after waffle.

In fact, there’s almost always a line out the door. Both times I decided to save time by agreeing to eat at an outdoor table, even though it was a bit cold during the winter.

The waffles are made to order and taste best if you eat them immediately. At the Galerie du Roi location, there are only a handful of tables. In fact, there’s a separate line for those who want to dine-in versus those that just want to take-away biscuits or other items from the bakery. On average I waited about 15-20 minutes for a table.

There are several locations. One time we went to one of their pop-up stalls and ordered a waffle. There was no seating so we ate it standing up. It was good, but not as enjoyable as getting a proper seat at the larger location at Galerie du Roi.

We’ve tried both their Liege style yeast-raised brioche-like waffle as well as the lighter, airier Brussels style waffle.

My favorite is the Brussels waffle with a side of fresh whipped cream. That’s it. Nothing else.

One one visit I did try ordering it with both whipped cream and crushed speculoos once (pictured above). Although I think some would enjoy it, I personally found it to be too sweet and preferred the waffle plain and simple with just whipped cream.

*Getting a Liege waffle from a street vendor in Ghent*

I highly recommend trying many, many waffles while you are in Belgium. They are absolutely delicious here and it’s fun to try the different types. Maison Dandoy makes a lovely Brussels waffle, but they aren’t the only ones.

In fact, during out last week in Belgium, we ended up going to a local pub-like restaurant called Le Cirio. They had two great things going for them: they served Westvleteren 12 (one of the world’s most limited and highly highly sought after beers) and they made a great Belgian waffle with ridiculously generous amounts of whipped cream (which I loved).

Though it was good, my favorite is still the ultra light and airy waffle from Maison Dandoy. I think I went there around four times (for waffles) plus countless other times to get speculoos during my 7-week stay in Belgium.

This is definitely a must visit if you are in Brussels!

Maison Dandoy – Galeries location
Galerie du Roi, 2
1000 Bruxelles