Racines

Should You Book Racines?

If you're choosing between Racines and Osteria Bolognese for Italian in Ixelles, the decision comes down to what you want from the meal. Osteria Bolognese leans into comfort and tradition; Racines pitches itself as Italian with a modern edge. For a special occasion or a dinner where you want some culinary ambition behind the plate, Racines is the more interesting choice at the same price tier. For a relaxed, no-fuss bowl of pasta, the other direction may serve you better. At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate (2025), Racines offers real value for the level of cooking on the table.

The Venue

Racines sits on Chaussée d'Ixelles, one of the neighbourhood's main arteries, at number 353. The Michelin Plate recognition it earned in 2025 signals a kitchen that is cooking with care and consistency, even if it hasn't reached the star tier. That distinction matters when you're deciding how seriously to take the menu: a Plate means Michelin's inspectors found good cooking here, not just an acceptable neighbourhood spot.

The room carries the kind of energy you'd expect from a confident local restaurant that knows its audience. The atmosphere skews warm rather than hushed, with enough ambient noise to make conversation feel natural without having to raise your voice. This makes Racines a workable choice for a date or a relaxed celebratory dinner where you want the evening to feel alive rather than reverential. If you're after the formal stillness of a higher-end tasting room, look instead toward Kamo up the price ladder, or further afield at a venue like Boury in Roeselare or Zilte in Antwerp for a genuinely ceremonial experience.

The cuisine is Italian, but the kitchen applies a modern sensibility to its compositions. Dishes are built around fish and meat as primary elements, with vegetables playing a supporting rather than leading role. Michelin's own note on the venue flags this directly: the Italian tradition's strength in well-seasoned, simply executed vegetable dishes is underrepresented here, despite the ingredients being available. If you're dining with someone who eats exclusively plant-based, Racines is not your leading option. Humus x Hortense handles that far more thoughtfully, though at a higher price point.

Enthusiasm in the kitchen is evident in the Michelin commentary, which specifically calls out the positive momentum the restaurant has built. That word, enthusiasm, is worth holding onto when framing your expectations. This is not a kitchen coasting on formula. The modern twist on Italian cooking here reads as genuine curiosity rather than trend-chasing, that translates into a progression through the meal that holds interest from start to finish.

For a special occasion at this price level in Ixelles, Racines is one of the more defensible bookings you can make.

Italian restaurants operating in a similar register elsewhere in the world, such as cenci in Kyoto or the formally acclaimed 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong, demonstrate what the cuisine can achieve when ambition and precision align. Racines operates at a different scale and price point, but the Michelin recognition places it in a conversation about intent and execution that those comparisons make useful. Within Belgium, the distance between a Plate and a star is instructive: restaurants like Hof van Cleve and Willem Hiele represent what sustained ambition looks like at the top of the Belgian table. Racines is not competing there, but knowing that context helps calibrate what you're getting.

For completeness on the Ixelles Italian front, Fico and Ricciocapriccio are both worth knowing about if your plans don't firm up. Each covers different ground within the neighbourhood's Italian offering, our full Ixelles restaurants guide maps the category properly if you want to compare before committing.

Timing and Booking

Booking at Racines is direct. With an easy booking difficulty rating, you don't need to plan weeks in advance the way you would for a harder table elsewhere in the Belgian dining scene, such as at Bozar Restaurant in Brussels or d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour. That accessibility is part of the case for Racines: the quality-to-effort ratio is good.

For a special occasion, a mid-week evening tends to give you a more attentive experience at restaurants in this category, when the room is full but not under the same pressure as a Friday or Saturday service. If atmosphere matters to you and you want the room humming rather than quiet, weekends will deliver more energy. Either timing works at Racines given its consistent track record, but mid-week is the better call if the meal itself is the priority over the social scene around you.

If you're planning a broader evening in Ixelles, our Ixelles bars guide and Ixelles experiences guide are useful companions. The neighbourhood has enough going on before and after dinner to make a full evening easy to construct without leaving the area.

How It Compares

Practical Details

For hotels nearby, see our Ixelles hotels guide. For wine options in the area, our Ixelles wineries guide covers what's available.