Restaurant in Saint-Gilles, Belgium
Plant-forward Vietnamese, solid value, book it.
Nénu holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for both 2024 and 2025 — a consistency signal that the Vietnamese contemporary kitchen on Rue Dejoncker is worth your time at the €€ price tier. Chef Masaki Misaka runs a plant-forward menu that has earned We're Smart recognition alongside Michelin's flag. With a 4.6 Google rating across 535 reviews and easy booking, this is Saint-Gilles' clearest value case for serious cooking without the splurge price.
If you have already been to Nénu once, the question on a second visit is not whether the kitchen holds up — it does. The question is whether the 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand (following a 2024 award of the same) signals that this Vietnamese contemporary address in Saint-Gilles has found its ceiling or is still climbing. The answer, based on what the data and the room suggest, is that Nénu is not coasting on recognition. At the €€ price tier, with a Google rating of 4.6 across 535 reviews, it remains one of the most defensible value propositions in Brussels for contemporary Vietnamese cooking. Book it.
Nénu sits on Rue Dejoncker in Saint-Gilles, a neighbourhood that has become one of Brussels' most concentrated pockets of serious, independently minded restaurants. Chef Masaki Misaka is running a Vietnamese contemporary kitchen that draws a clear-eyed crowd: the We're Smart recognition and the Bib Gourmand together describe a restaurant where produce thinking and culinary technique are both present, and where the value-to-execution ratio is high enough that regulars return without needing a special occasion to justify it.
The plant-based range at Nénu deserves specific attention. We're Smart, which focuses on vegetable-forward cooking and rates restaurants on their use of vegetables and plants, singled out Nénu's 100% plant-based dishes as genuinely accomplished — while noting the range could be broader. That is a precise and useful data point: if you are coming specifically for a plant-forward meal, Nénu delivers technically competent, flavour-led vegetable dishes that go beyond token options, but you may find yourself wanting more variety across multiple visits. For a mixed table where plant-based is one preference among several, this kitchen handles both tracks without shortchanging either.
The Bib Gourmand classification is Michelin's marker for good cooking at a price that does not require a special occasion budget. Holding it in both 2024 and 2025 is a consistency signal, not a fluke. At the €€ level in a city where the gap between ambitious cooking and accessible pricing can be wide, Nénu occupies the position that food-focused diners in Brussels return to when they want quality without the formality or the bill of a splurge destination. Compare that to the handful of €€€ addresses nearby and the value case for Nénu becomes arithmetically obvious.
Room and team contribute materially to why the Google score stays above 4.5 at volume. The We're Smart note on atmosphere and team enthusiasm is consistent with what a 4.6 rating across 535 reviews implies: this is not a kitchen-first, service-afterthought operation. The energy in the room is part of the offering. For the explorer-type diner , someone who comes to Saint-Gilles deliberately, who reads menus carefully and tracks what is happening in a city's restaurant scene , Nénu reads as a confident, self-aware address that knows its format and executes it consistently.
On the cuisine side, Vietnamese contemporary cooking at this level requires balancing inherited technique with kitchen originality. Brussels has a Vietnamese restaurant community with deep roots, but contemporary Vietnamese , meaning a kitchen that draws on Vietnamese flavour logic while applying modern technique and seasonal sourcing , is a more specific category. Nénu's Bib Gourmand and its We're Smart recognition together suggest the kitchen is operating at a level above the broader Vietnamese dining offer in the city. For a useful international point of reference, Gia in Hanoi and Little Bear in Ho Chi Minh City represent what the contemporary Vietnamese format looks like at the source , Nénu is doing its own version of that in a Brussels context, with the ingredient sourcing and technique markers to justify the classification.
Within Saint-Gilles specifically, Nénu sits in a competitive peer group. ANJU offers Korean contemporary at the same €€ price point; Colonel Louise and Dolce Amaro operate at €€€. Flamme handles country cooking at a different register. Atelier Acqua e Sale rounds out a neighbourhood with genuine range. Nénu's specific advantage is the combination of Michelin recognition, plant-forward ambition, and a price tier that makes repeat visits plausible.
For context on what the Belgian fine dining ceiling looks like, Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, Boury in Roeselare, Zilte in Antwerp, and Willem Hiele in Oudenburg represent the country's highest-rated addresses. Nénu is not competing at that level , it is not trying to. Its value is in delivering Michelin-flagged quality at a fraction of that outlay, in a neighbourhood you would visit anyway.
Booking difficulty at Nénu is rated Easy. This is a neighbourhood restaurant with genuine demand but not the kind of scarcity pressure that makes planning difficult. Book ahead to secure your preferred time, but last-minute tables are realistically available. No booking method is specified in the current data, so check directly via the restaurant's address at Rue Dejoncker 21, 1060 Saint-Gilles.
| Detail | Nénu | ANJU (€€) | Colonel Louise (€€€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | €€ | €€ | €€€ |
| Cuisine | Vietnamese Contemporary | Korean Contemporary | Meats and Grills |
| Michelin recognition | Bib Gourmand 2024, 2025 | , | , |
| Google rating | 4.6 (535 reviews) | , | , |
| Plant-based options | Yes (100% plant-based dishes available) | , | , |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Easy | Easy–Moderate |
For more options in the area, see our full Saint-Gilles restaurants guide, our Saint-Gilles hotels guide, our Saint-Gilles bars guide, our Saint-Gilles wineries guide, and our Saint-Gilles experiences guide. For high-end Brussels dining beyond the neighbourhood, Bozar Restaurant is the reference point. For Belgian fine dining at the top tier, d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour is also worth knowing.
The plant-based dishes are the kitchen's calling card , We're Smart specifically flagged the 100% plant-based options as accomplished, so if you are at the table with a plant-forward eater, lean into those. Beyond that, no specific dishes are confirmed in the current data. The Bib Gourmand classification means Michelin's inspectors found the cooking broadly strong at a fair price, so ordering across the menu without overthinking it is a reasonable approach. Ask the team on arrival , the We're Smart note on staff enthusiasm suggests they will have an opinion.
Come expecting a neighbourhood restaurant with real kitchen ambition, not a formal dining room. The €€ price tier means you are not paying for ceremony, but the Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025 means the cooking has been independently verified as worth your time. Saint-Gilles is a walkable, restaurant-dense neighbourhood in Brussels , Nénu fits into an evening that includes the area rather than requiring a special trip across the city, though it is worth the detour on its own terms. Book ahead; the Google score at volume (4.6, 535 reviews) suggests consistent demand.
No capacity data is confirmed in the current record, so it is not possible to state maximum group size with certainty. At the €€ tier in a neighbourhood bistro format, large groups (8+) should contact the restaurant directly before assuming availability. For confirmed group-friendly options at similar price points in Saint-Gilles, ANJU is worth comparing. Nénu's address is Rue Dejoncker 21, 1060 Saint-Gilles.
No seating configuration data is available in the current record. Neighbourhood restaurants in Saint-Gilles at the €€ level vary considerably , some have counter seating, others do not. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm. If bar or counter seating is a priority for a solo visit, it is worth asking when you book.
No dress code is specified, and none is expected at a Bib Gourmand-level €€ neighbourhood restaurant in Saint-Gilles. Smart casual is appropriate and consistent with the room's described atmosphere. Nénu is not a formal dining destination , the energy is described as enthusiastic and accessible, so dress for a good dinner in a lively neighbourhood spot rather than for a white-tablecloth occasion.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Nénu | €€ | — |
| La Buvette | €€€ | — |
| La Charcuterie | €€ | — |
| ANJU | €€ | — |
| Colonel Louise | €€€ | — |
| Dolce Amaro | €€€ | — |
How Nénu stacks up against the competition.
The kitchen's strength is plant-based Vietnamese cooking, which earned We're Smart® recognition alongside two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024 and 2025). Go deep into the vegetable-forward dishes rather than treating them as a side option — that's where the kitchen is most confident. Specific menu items aren't published here, so check current listings directly with the restaurant on arrival or when booking.
Nénu is a €€ neighbourhood restaurant on Rue Dejoncker in Saint-Gilles, backed by two Michelin Bib Gourmands — meaning it over-delivers for the price rather than coasting on reputation. The format is casual and enthusiastic rather than formal, so this is not the place if you want a long, ceremony-driven dinner. Come expecting well-executed contemporary Vietnamese food with a genuine plant-based focus, not a tasting-menu experience.
Nénu is a compact Saint-Gilles neighbourhood spot, so large groups need to plan ahead. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, but groups of six or more should check the venue's official channels to confirm capacity and table configuration. For a private-dining-style group dinner in Brussels, this format is better suited to tables of four to six than to larger parties.
Bar seating specifics aren't documented for Nénu, and the venue's layout details aren't publicly confirmed. At €€ with easy booking availability, the safer call is to make a reservation rather than arrive expecting counter or bar seats — demand from Brussels' younger dining crowd is real even if it's not hard to book in advance.
No dress code is specified, and the atmosphere is described as hip and enthusiastic rather than formal. Saint-Gilles has a creative, neighbourhood feel, and Nénu fits that register — neat casual is appropriate, and there's no case for dressing up. Leave the suit at home.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
