If you have to eat near the station in Lieges, you are in trouble…read more The station is in a seedy part of town. the private sector places out on the street are the sort of bars you might go to if you are looking to start a fight. the grand cafe de la gare has upscale decoration, upscale prices, beautiful bathrooms and a promising menu. promises - promises ..... now the cook only works lunch hours and dinner hours - so the staff may not be as good during the off hours when they serve snacks rather than the full menu. but i suspect the problem is cheap raw ingredients and a stiff the customer mentality rather than the absence of some five star chef. our lettuce was brown and wilted. bread products were supermarket quality. olives were out of the can. if you know you have to eat while waiting to change trains at lieges - buy your lunch at the previous stop and eat it on a bench in the station. and if you actually live in lieges - go downtown.

I have decided to write this review in English because my two predecessors have rated this…read moreCafé-restaurant rather negatively. It is true that there are not that many fancy restaurants around the Gare de Liège but around which gare in Europe do you usually find fancy eating? Also, it is not sordid at all around the gare, it is actually quite clean compared to many other places in Europe. If you think this is bad, you clearly need to travel a bit more in Europe... But let's come back to what it matters, the Grand Café is actually trying (in my opinion) to break this idea that you cannot find a nice eatery in a train station. In the same way that usually we assume that you cannot have a train station that is at the same time a piece of art. We can discuss for days about Calatraba and his work but even if this train station may not be completely functional (it is quite true that it is very windy and you feel quite exposed), I think it is quite a view to experience if you are around the south of Belgium. People from Liège come to eat here, which indeed means the best is to come for lunch or dinner. If you try it at other times, it is a risk indeed. You are not in USA here, so you won't get 24/24 service with full menu. I feel your pain as a tourist (believe me) but that is the reality and not only in Liège. Given said all that, the quality of the food here is quite high (so are the prices). The chef cares about the dishes and the ingredients and there are quite a few people working hard in the kitchen (something that it is rare to see in restaurants in Belgium). So I was quite impressed by that. Service was correct, efficient (for once), and fast. They have a humongous wine list with quite a few interesting bottles and the prices are rather reasonable. The interior is quite nice, a bit posh indeed, but remains nevertheless cozy. The bathrooms are superb. I think they did a good job integrating the design of the restaurant into the whole structure of the station. The menu is quiet ample and you will find all Belgian favorites here. I suggest you give this place a try, either you are a local or a tourist but during lunch or dinner times, and that assuming you can obviously afford it.