Whether you prefer to indulge in a hearty meal, spend a night at the cinema or theatre, or enjoy roaming an art gallery, our monthly cultural guide has you covered.
Here are our top picks of what to eat, watch and discover on Brussels' vibrant cultural scene this month.
Restaurants
Brasserie Bloemvol
This brasserie opens right next to the Brussels Stock Exchange (Bourse) on 6 June – but is already generating a buzz.
Founded by two entrepreneurs with a passion for good food, Maxime Grell and Ludovic Chevalier, new restaurant group Nonante Folies hopes to reimagining the quintessential Belgian brasserie experience – "a no-fuss place where you feel good, where you eat well, and where every visit becomes a memorable moment." Their ultimate aim is to serve classic dishes using local produce and highlight the skills of the craftsmen from the Low Countries.
Credit: Brasserie Bloemvol
Under the direction of chef Alix Gascoin, the menu of this new restaurant will feature emblematic dishes such as the classic carbonnade stew, croquettes and a vegetarian vol-au-vent, all accompanied by a unique wine list. Housed in a listed building, whose interior is the work of architect Zazie Maquet, the restaurant is prepared to treat 140 guests inside and 60 on the terrace.
Find more information here.
Prélude
An exciting recent opening is Prélude, situated in the heart of Saint-Gilles and led by the talented Chef Mama Tataki, who won the Be Cheffe contest in 2024. Her unique and creative approach to cuisine is definitely one to watch.
Credit: Prélude
Every week from Monday to Friday 10:00 until 15:00, Mama Tataki's team offers a delicious different meat, fish, vegan and salad dish using the freshest ingredients.
Find more information here.
Theatre
'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'
From 24 to 29 June, the English-language amateur theatre group the Brussels Shakespeare Society (BSS) is bringing one of the Bard's lesser-known works to the capital's stage: 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona'. The play is set in 1960s Italy: "a period where youth culture, love songs and love itself became a dominant obsession: all you need and all that mattered," according to director Tom Mallan, who has directed the play several times before elsewhere.
Colourful music, dancing, décor and fashion from the era have enabled him to "fill plot holes and flesh out key moments that the script leaves unseen," while giving the play a "festive, eclectic and baroque-bordering-on-madness flavour."
The 16th century play is surprisingly modern, Mallan adds, as the protagonists are revealed to be two women instead of the titular two gentlemen. "Our modern expat audience will also recognise themselves in the theme of leaving home to seek opportunity or adventure, only to meet with unexpected crossroads that test your very identity." Expect colourful characters, silly subplots and wacky dance numbers.
Find more information here.
'855-FOR-TRUTH'
From 2 to 14 June, The Bridge Theatre is bringing '855-FOR-TRUTH' to an unusual and historically charged venue, The Berger Court at Stassart House – the former Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. With this new production, the professional nomadic theatre is taking on a new challenge: producing an adaptation of a play that has never been performed before.
The hypnotic and provocative drama, written by Eva Hudson and directed by Lydia McKinley, is set somewhere in the woods in a timeframe close to the end of the world. In this remote location, the paths of two strangers with radically different backgrounds and ideologies cross: an 18-year-old member of a religious sect, and a young climate scientist. Meredith, raised in a Christian sect, believes the world will end in six days. Isaac, a fringe environmentalist, is in a race against time to understand what is happening.
With 855-FOR-TRUTH, the lines between faith, science, and survival blur. The play offers a story of humanity that reveals our frustrated desire to repair our world and the lives of others. It raises the question of where the most polarised viewpoints can align and what new perspectives can emerge through exchange.
Cinema
'Jeune Mères' (2025)
Directed by Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, 'Jeune Mères' tells the story of a shelter for five teenage mothers – Jessica, Perla, Julie, Naïma and Ariane – all of whom have grown up in difficult circumstances and are attempting to make a better life for themselves and their children.
This emotionally powerful portrayal of resilience from the Dardenne brothers features empathetic, grounded performances from all involved.
Find more information here.
'Kind Hearts' (2022)
This Belgian documentary was first released a few years ago, but Cinema Aventure in the city centre will be screening it again this month.
After graduation, Billie and Lucas are faced with big decisions: move in together as a couple or share a flat with friends? Full of affection for each other and curiosity about what's to come, they feel their way forward, together and individually.
Find more information here.
Exhibitions
'Jules Verne 200'
The immersive ‘Jules Verne 200’ exhibition will open at the Horta Gallery in Brussels on 11 June, and is set to run until Autumn. The exhibition, which will cover nearly 1,500 square metres, features many immersive and interactive spaces, blending metaverse, virtual reality, and 360-degree projections.
Visitors can dive into five of the French author's major novels: 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea', 'Around the World in Eighty Days',’ 'Robur the Conqueror', and 'From the Earth to the Moon.'
A digital installation by artists will recreate "famous scenes from the novels as if they were impossible photojournalistic documents," the organisers say. Iconic settings from the books will be brought to life through engravings, posters, and audiovisual extracts.
Find more information here.
'Jules Verne 200' (Left) and 'Familiar Strangers. The Eastern Europeans from a Polish Perspective'
'Familiar Strangers. The Eastern Europeans from a Polish Perspective'
This contemporary art exhibition reflects upon recent changes in Eastern Europe, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine. It brings together various voices of diasporas and minorities and their political struggles in a region that was long considered to be culturally homogenous.
Different artists use each gallery, as if it was a room of their own, culminating in an informal shared space in the middle. In Eastern Europe, during the communist dictatorship, the public sphere was often practised in intimate settings, be it a kitchen or an apartment exhibition. The exhibition offers an insight into the worlds of some extraordinary "familiar strangers", who forge a sense of place in the world, in Poland, in Europe and beyond.
Find more information here.
