Can anyone recommend a nice (but not expensive) place to go for dinner in Brussels during the week where we can eat outside?

On another note... why is it always me that gets stuck with planning all the details when I go out with my girlfriends???

Maybe because youre hard to please?

Actually, I'm really not fussy at all, and even less so on a week night. I think they stick me with the planning because:
a) I'm the one who has been living here the longest.
I speak the local languages.
c) They think I know where all the cool places are.
d) They are simply more passive than I am by nature.
But for once I'd like my friends to organize something themselves where all I'd have to do is show up!

I went here once and ate outside and it was OK (the garden/atmo better than the food).

LA TABLE DE L'ABBAYE
Tel. : 02.646.33.95
Rue de Bellevue 62
1000 BRUSSELS (CITY)

For pricier, the Villa Lorraine has a good garden I'm told.

Doesn't the MIM restaurant/terrace open sometimes in the evening in the summer?

The Villa Lorraine has an OK garden with big chandeliers hanging from the trees, but it has to be in the top 5 most expensive restaurants in Belgium. But, there's a Chinese place just down the road from there, not far from (the Blue Elephant) with a superb garden. I can't remember its name, but the floor is glass with fish swimming around underneath your feet.

We ended up going to Café Panisse on rue du Tabellion in Ixelles. It was nice, with a lot of tables outside... but I really seem to be "stuck" in the place du Châtelain area! Then again, is there really anywhere else to go in Brussels for reasonably priced hip/cool dining and drinks other than place du Châtelain, rue St-Boniface and place St-Géry? Brussels is such a village.

Brussels is such a village.

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Totally agree <img src="../images/emoticons/ysmile.gif">

They don`t even have a river with some nice coffee places, I miss so much having a lunch or a chat with a friend while sipping coffee somewhere beside the water.

Many good restaurants on :
<a href="http;//www.goodresto.be" Target="_BLANK">http;//www.goodresto.be</a> ans on
<a href="http://www.portailhotels.com" Target="_BLANK">http://www.portailhotels.com</a>

Here are a few favourite of mine :

- Flâneries Gourmandes : 2, Rue Berckmans - 1060 Saint Gilles. (French)
- Chez Oki : 62, Rue Lebroussart - 1050 Ixelles. (French-Japanese Fusion)
- Siam Square : 118, Rue Américaine - 1050 Ixelles. (Thai)
- Blue Elephant : Chaussée de Waterloo 1120 - 1180 Uccle. (Thai)
- Pasta Commedia : Avenue J.et P.Carsoel 3 - 1180 Uccle (Italian, French)
- San Daniele : 6, Avenue Charles Quint - 1083 Ganshoren. (Italian)

In fact, there are at least two rivers in Brussels :

- the Senne (and the canal), but it's in the industrial and port area, so no cafes.

- the Woluwe : well, more a stream than a river, but it does have a few big ponds with parks around them, which is pretty unique for a city the size of Brussels.

Amsterdam, Ghent or Bruges may have lots of small canals with cafes and restaurants along them, but one does not have a drink at a terrace along the Thames in London nor the Hudson in NYC, and even less along the Sumida in Tokyo. The bigger the city (and river) the less chance of dining or drinking on the river banks. Maybe it is because Amsterdam, Ghent or Bruges are all smaller than Brussels that this is possible.

That sounds so cool! Anyone knows the name of the place?

@dora maar: I also miss the water. Love watercities!
But Brussels now has the Brussel Bad. 1,5 km of citybeach at a canal near Metro Yser.
It's free entry. Quite busy though.

Found it online: citedudragon.be