Day 5: Turkish Pizza in Little Anatolia

So I've finally had a food epiphany about Belgium: Belgian food is generally crap in any of the restaurants I can afford to eat in. Virtually all restaurants in Brussels that serve traditional Belgian dishes have the exact same menu. They even look suspiciously like they are under the same ownership and management. To summarize, I can spend 15 euros on a mediocre meal OR I can spend 6 euros on a delicious Turkish pizza (Lahmacun).

This actually works out great for me because my room is in a heavily Turkish neighborhood in Schaarbeek called "Little Anatolia." There are literally dozens of Turkish restaurants that cater to an actual immigrant community. Competition is fierce and prices are MUCH lower than their Belgian competitors.

Tonight, I had my first lahmacun. For 6 euros, I got a giant boat-shaped pizza cooked in an actual wood-fired oven. The menu was enormous with dozens of topping combinations so I opted for a basic pizza split between minced/seasoned meat and cheese. As an added bonus, I got some Turkish sausage on top. The lahmacun arrived with a sizeable plate of lettuce, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, and a lemon. I mistook this for a salad before I noticed all the Turkish diners topping their slices with the mix, sprinkling on some lemon juice, before folding it all in half to consume. Next time, I'll do it right ;) Needless to say, this meal was perhaps the best I've had yet in Brussels.

Here is a kriek or cherry-flavored lambic beer I picked up at the store. All you framboise drinkers back in Columbus need to realize how badly you are getting ripped off on your Lindeman's out at the bars. This bottle cost 1.5 euros.

Finally, we have the Botanique or Botanical Garden. I would have taken more pictures but there were far too many euro-douche teenagers around all the cool stuff.