In Brussels, the weekend takes an unexpected turn in Flagey. At Ciccio’s, lunch becomes a generous ritual! An all-you-can-eat lunch formula served at the table, plates that follow one another without restraint, and a lively atmosphere where people come as much to eat as to relax. Every Saturday and Sunday, it’s a new way to enjoy lunch, between Italian street-food and the art of sharing. Bruxelles secrète tells you all about it!
A lunch where you can lose track (and a bit of your head)
Neither quite a restaurant, nor quite a canteen, Ciccio doesn’t try to stick to trends. This unassuming Italian haunt, a stone’s throw from Flagey, could go unnoticed if it didn’t exude such energy. Unpretentious façade, decor halfway between raw trattoria and indoor garden, and above all a philosophy: here, we forget schedules, emails and to-dos. Just sit back and relax. Chef Mario Olimpio, already behind the excellent Primo, plays a freer score here, based around a hybrid bread-pizza called “pain’za”, born of Belgian flours, sourdough dough and an assertive street-food style. In short: a cuisine that doesn’t need to justify itself to be sincere.
The lunch that redefines the weekend
It’s become a ritual for those who want a gourmet weekend. For €25, every Saturday and Sunday lunchtime, you enter a new format. No long menu, no coming and going to a buffet… here, the dishes arrive at your table like so many winks. Bites first, then a waltz of bread’zas. The “Caesar Palace” mingles balsamic oyster mushrooms and grana padano fondue, the “Notorious P.I.G” explodes between sausage, fennel and guanciale, and the “Pink Paradise” dares a ricotta-mortadella-cucumber twist, all sprinkled with pistachio slivers. The spritz flows, the playlist swings to hip-hop, conversations rise and conventions fade. When we come out, we’ve eaten, of course, but above all, we’ ve unplugged. It’s probably the coolest all-you-can-eat lunch around!
📍 Address: Chaussée de Vleurgat 52, 1050 Ixelles
📆 Every Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm to 3pm
🎟️ 25€