Me & Mamy Louise

On our last visit to Brussels nearly two years ago, Uncle David introduced us to a very special lady in his life: Mamy Louise.

A beloved neighborhood restaurant in the suburb of Uccle where he lives, Mamy Louise is where he and Michele would often end up when they aren't in the mood to cook at home (which, I understand, is pretty often). My sister, Marlon and I all fell in love at first bite, particularly with their scrumptious gaufre de Bruxelles, otherwise known as the Belgian waffle, with chantilly cream and white chocolate.

Mamy's gaufre was one of the first things that popped into my mind and got me salivating when I started planning this weekend trip to Brussels. So it was totally awesome that we headed there for Sunday lunch.

We began the three hour-long lunch with their signature aperitif, champagne with some peach liqueur, mint leaves and... an ice cube. Unusual to have ice with champagne, but it works really well here.

To start, Marlon and Uncle David both ordered the poached egg with bone marrow, which I'm sure my sister would have loved.

I was torn between the winning mushroom toast, which I've had before, and this ravioli with goose liver. As you can see, goose liver won.

For mains, I had a braised rabbit with tagliatelle in a sweet onion and wholegrain mustard sauce. Kill me now. (Said the rabbit.)

And of course, I couldn't leave without sinking my teeth into the famous gaufre de Bruxelles. Crispy, warm, airy and soft, with hits of extra sweetness from the white chocolate nuggets mixed into the chantilly cream, this is a Belgian waffle that makes any other Belgian waffle (Starbucks, I'm mostly talking to you) about as light and tasty as a toilet seat cover.

Marlon's stuffed smile and glazed-over eyes? I had them too. Somehow we managed to battle the food coma long enough to pack ourselves off to the train station, board to our train, and make it back to Amsterdam without passing out or giving away our belongings to enterprising thieves. And I spent Monday with a very upset stomach. I guess it didn't want to go back to Amsterdam after a weekend like this.