Spaghetti Lunch at Bavet in Cimetière d'Ixelles

Our team has been evolving lately with members leaving us and others joining! As such, a team lunch was necessary to say Goodbye and Welcome to our friends. The plan was to eat at Poke House in Ixelles but since they were full, we went to Bavet, located on the other side of the street. In that moment, we all agreed that Spaghetti was a better comfort food on a grey autumn day than a poké bowl. Thank you Universe for this intervention!

I had heard of Bavet before but I must admit I had never eaten there. When we stepped in, it felt like we went back in time, right into the rock'n'roll years! It reminded me a bit of Pop's from Riverdale, just darker! The walls are a mix of black and red with a Pulp Fiction design on the ceiling, super funky and colorful! Tables and chairs give an old school vibe, cutlery is presented in tomato cans, you'll find a bunch of interesting frames on the walls...A lot of details that give Bavet its personality.

Inside Bavet - Ordinary Brussels - Lifes

Our table at Bavet - Ordinary Brussels -

Rock'n'Roll at Bavet - Ordinary Brussels

Bavet's ceiling - Ordinary Brussels - Li

The menu itself is easy to navigate, either you choose an existing spaghetti or you compose your own! If you're looking for suggestions and seasonal drinks, check the vinyl inside your menu! Now you might be wondering...Composing your spaghetti? Yes you can and here is how it goes:

1. Choose 1 sauce (they propose 6 in total);

2. Choose 1 spaghetti type (Classic, Brown, Gluten Free);

3. Choose your cheese (Emmentaler or Parmesan or both);

4. Choose your toppings (Bacon, sliced chicken, meatballs, rucola, onions, halloumi);

5. Choose your extra (extra sauce or extra cheese or both);

6. Last but not least...Choose how hungry you are, like a mouse, a dog or like a horse?!

I love that you can compose your own spaghetti and that they thought about Gluten Free options! So since it was a company lunch, I went a bit extravagant and composed the following bowl: The Bavet sauce with classic spaghetti, Emmentaler and Parmesan, 3 meatballs and halloumi. Since I am not a big eater, I asked for a medium portion or should I say, a dog? The girls also spotted the tacos so that's what we ordered as a starter to share.

Suggestions from Bavet - Ordinary Brusse

Menu at Bavet - Ordinary Brussels - Life

Although they didn't have jalapenos on that day, the tacos were good and served with generous portions of guacamole, cheese and tomato salsa. The only thing I didn't like is that this starter was cold and in some pubs they served the tacos hot...Making it even better! The bowl didn't last for long though... It's tacos after all!

A fun yet quite essential "detail" is that you receive an actual huge white bib/"bavette" to not stain your clothes while eating. That's actually where the name of the restaurant comes from as in French we talk about a "bavette", in short Bavet.

10-15 minutes after we finished our starter, the spaghetti bowl arrived fuming hot one after the other. It was looking good and smelling delicious! I am not sure how the girls managed to eat their horse portions because my dog seemed too big already ^^'

Tacos at Bavet - Ordinary Brussels - Lif

Tabasco Ready! - Ordinary Brussels - Lif

The Bavet Spaghetti - Ordinary Brussels

In any case I couldn't wait to dig in especially since my halloumi was nicely grilled and the bowl looked so good! The first bite was a real pleasure and I loved the combination I came up with: generous amounts of cheese, rich flavors, a yummy sauce...man I loved it so much! I have to admit it was a bit heavy though but on a rainy day I couldn't complain! And no I couldn't finish my bowl that was fine since I got a doggy bag!

Honestly, these spaghetti were an amazing comfort food and I am definitely going to adapt how I serve my own bolognese from now on! The waitress was really nice, funny and not pushy at all but always there to help. Price wise, since you can create your own bowl you decide how much you can spend. To give you an idea:

• If you take classic spaghetti with one of the 6 sauces on the menu you'll pay: 9.5€ for the mouse portion, 11.5€ - 12.5€ for the dog portion and between 13.5€ and 15€ for the horse potion.

• If you want other spaghetti then add 0.5€ the brown and 1.5€ for the Gluten Free pasta;

• If you want cheese, it's free;

• If you want toppings count between 1€ and 3.5€ per topping;

So my spaghetti cost me 11.5€ for the base (dog size, bavet sauce) + 2.5€ for the meatballs + 3€ for the halloumi = 17€ for my custom lunch, not too bad right?

Have been to Bavet? What was your spaghetti like?