Up next in 10
Discover the incredible food scene of Lille and learn what you should eat when you visit one of northern France’s most underrated foodie cities! In this video we dive into the traditional dishes, local specialties, sweet treats, beers, and comfort foods that make Lille and French Flanders such a delicious destination. From hearty carbonnade flamande and crispy frites to amazing waffles, cheese, moules-frites, and local beers, this is the food guide travelers need before visiting Lille. We talk about the foods locals actually eat, the best regional specialties to try, restaurant culture, café traditions, and what surprises tourists most about eating in northern France. Whether you are planning a weekend in Lille, a France food trip, or just want to know what makes Lille unique compared to Paris or southern France, this video has you covered. Foods & Drinks Featured: Carbonnade Flamande Welsh Rarebit à la Lilloise Moules-Frites Potjevleesch Maroilles Cheese French Frites Gaufres de Lille Local Chocolates & Pastries Northern French Beers Flemish-inspired Cuisine Café & Market Food Culture If you love honest travel advice, French food, European travel tips, and learning how locals really eat when they travel, this video is for you. #Lille #France #FrenchFood #LilleFrance Wolters World for Food! Our videos focus on helping travelers know what to eat when they travel, the traditional food that you always want to eat when you travel. Copyright Mark Wolters 2026 Our Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/woltersworld Visit Our Amazon Store for Drinkware, cookingware, travel gear, and other necessities of life. http://www.amazon.com/shop/woltersworld Follow Jocelyn on Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/jocelynwoltersworld Follow Wolters World on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/woltersworld Follow Our Shorts Channel for quick travel tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmSIWRrLCcqamLlTEEBLFLA
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
A city that's more beer than wine? Is that possible in France? Well, let me tell you
0:05
fellow travelers or fellow hungry travelers, it is possible. And we're in that city right now
0:10
Lille, France. And there we have for you are the eats and drinks of Coming Here to Lille
0:20
I gotta tell you, if you're coming here to Lille, there's a specific type of local restaurant
0:26
you need to go to to really enjoy the true delicacies and tasty food and drinks of Lille
0:32
And those are the estamines. And the estamines are the small little local restaurants that you need to go to when you're here
0:40
And I'm going to tell you, you could be here in the middle of July on a dead Monday night
0:46
and you still need to make reservations when you go there. So if you're coming here to Lille and you want to go eat these estiments, make sure
0:52
you make reservations. You can do it online or ask your hotel to book one for you because it's very important
0:57
because you do want to eat there because these foods I'm going to talk about, you're basically, I'm going through the Estimone's like menu list right there. All right
1:05
Yeah, the Estimone are small, so there's not a ton of space. So don't forget to make reservations
1:11
when you come to them because honestly, for the food you have, the treatment you get
1:16
everything, and it's truly a legal thing and you're really going to enjoy it. So don't forget those reservations. Now, the first thing I want to tell you
1:22
And this is actually my favorite thing to eat when you're here is the Coronado Flamando
1:26
And basically what it is, it's braised beef. They braise the beef in beer because this is beer country
1:33
And it literally falls apart. Like you can eat it with a spoon
1:37
Like you don't even need a knife. Just chook, chook, chook and have it. And usually there's some onions in with it
1:42
And you have that beer sauce in there. And it's so good. And you're just like, oh my God, I could die from happiness because it's so good
1:49
And they'll have fries there. And you'll notice fries come up quite often because we're near the Belgian border and frites are always good
1:55
But yes, you'll have that. Another thing you're going to have, this is one that you're like, wait, I'm not in the UK
2:01
Why would I want to have Welsh rarebit? Well, Welsh rarebit is actually very popular here
2:06
And if you're not sure what it is, basically you put a piece of bread and then some ham and then you just drown it in cheese
2:13
And they love their cheese. You're like, they drown it in there and you put an egg on top
2:17
It is really, really good. And you're going to need a fork and knife to get it. And I'll tell you, wait a sec to eat it because that cheese is like bubbling and it will burn the inside of your mouth to all get out
2:28
Take my word for it. But it is a very traditional dish from here because they love their cheese
2:33
They love just enjoying it. So you'll have that. Now, another thing, which if you don't like the cheese and you don't want the beer so much, but you can have with beer
2:42
Another really popular thing you'll have when you're here are the moulet frites or the mussels and fries
2:47
Yes, having the mussels here, you can have those in Belgium. It's just right over there
2:52
But honestly, the mussels and fries here are always good anytime. So clean
2:57
And don't forget, use one mussel to pull the mussels out of another shell
3:02
Oh, so good. So good. You want to have that when you're here. And they'll have like various sauces for you
3:08
I like the beer sauce myself because we are in beer country, but you can have it with local
3:12
cheese in it, all kinds of other mussel-like dishes, but so good
3:17
And then we have one that you might not want to get. It's a potjevles, which I know I'm butchering
3:24
but it's basically, if you think of all the leftover meat in your fridge, you know, oh
3:29
we got this kind of meat and this kind of meat and your mom kind of throws it all together but then she puts it with some gelatinous stuff and a little like a jelly and it kind of forms together And then she rips it up and throws it on a plate for you Yes it sounds horrible Oh and also it served cold Not a lot of tourists really like it
3:47
but I've had it and it's actually pretty good. If you like that kind of like after Thanksgiving
3:53
like cold turkey, cold pork, cold food, all together kind of stuff, it's actually pretty
3:58
good. Like I had it with fries tonight and I was like, this is a lot better than I thought
4:02
And I'll be honest, when you order that, the locals will be like, um, are you sure you want
4:07
to have that? Because tourists tend not to like it. But honestly, I thought it was pretty good
4:12
Now I'm here in the Grand Place here in Lille and I got to tell you, there's one thing that
4:16
everybody from Lille will tell you need to have. The fricadella and fries. Look, fricadella
4:21
if you look at it, it looks like the innards of a hot dog, but deep fried. And then they give it
4:26
you with fries and if you get it you have to have it there's actually a frittura right down the way
4:31
but this frittura is all like frying places all over the city you want to get that and make sure
4:36
if you get the fries if you get fries anywhere ask for the andalus sauce which is basically mayonnaise
4:42
with some tomato paste and a little bit of like peppers paprika in there other kind of stuff it's
4:46
so good but honestly being here on the grand place and having a fricadella is like the most
4:51
Lille thing you can do. Way more than anything else. Frigadella. Frigadella
5:03
It is like a uncased hot dog kind of taste. But it's good
5:08
Make sure you get the Andalus sauce, though. That is the bomb. Now, another food
5:12
I think is very important for you to know about when you come here to Lille are the
5:16
cheeses. They are like next level cheese people. I know, we're in France
5:20
mark we're in france of course they love cheese that's that's the french way yeah but here they
5:25
like really really really like the cheese like over the top so you'll see cheese in sauces you'll
5:32
cheese and croquettes you'll see cheese like with crocs which you usually have but there's a cheese
5:37
the morrier which i know i'm butchering with your cheese you should really have when you're here
5:41
but i'm going to tell you if you go into some of those local restaurants those estamines you will
5:46
notice a really kind of pungent cheese smell that is that cheese and it can be a bit much for some
5:53
people but i want to tell you i've had an acrook so i basically like a think about a toasted ham
5:58
and cheese sandwich with that cheese in there or i had a tot like a like a piece of like almost like
6:03
quiche made with it it is very strong but you're like yes i can eat that and the more you're here
6:09
the more you fall in love with it but there's tons of great cheeses you can have when you're here
6:14
And it might show up as a starter. It might show up in your main course
6:18
Heck, it might show up in your dessert if you want. But honestly, the cheese is here
6:22
You can't go wrong. And the Montelier cheese is the one you really want to have
6:27
When you're here in Lille and you want to have some of that fantastic food from here
6:31
I got to tell you, don't pass up the Estemine. I'm sure I'm pronouncing it wrong, but these are the local restaurants that are here in Lille
6:38
And they're small little restaurants. And they're so good. Like, you're going to eat so well
6:42
And I want to tell you, when you're here in Lille, they don't mess around with the portion sizes
6:46
You will be full when you leave. But I got to tell you, on the weekends, these can get pretty fulled up
6:52
So it's a good idea to make reservations. And you can do them online. When you stop by, just set up a reservation
6:57
You'll be OK. But oh, man, you're going to have a few hours of fun eating away and drinking away when you are here
7:03
So, yeah. But honestly the Estimulet do not pass them up because it is truly a Lille thing that you have to do but there tons of them around the town the old town so you should be able to find some now another cool thing is when you come here there lots of markets around town and if you want to go to the Marche de Wassheim which is basically if you go by the Palace of
7:25
Fine Arts fantastic art museum by the way you go past that that way that's a Marche a market there
7:31
and they're going to have all kinds of food stalls they're going to have the cheeses the meats like
7:35
that really like European market kind of thing. It's fantastic to visit
7:39
You can grab some food there, which is really nice. It opens up at eight o'clock in the morning. So why pay for the hotel breakfast
7:45
when you can go there and get some really great food there, right? But also there's the Marche de Voulil
7:50
which is the old town market. You can do that one if you want, which has, you know, the cheeses, the meats
7:55
and all those kinds of things. You can enjoy that. So there's a lot of markets you can go around town
7:59
and honestly, tons and tons of restaurants. But there's a stamina. listen like i said you got to make reservations for them but actually other restaurants it's a
8:08
good idea to make reservations for them as well and if you don't want to have the liel cuisine
8:13
you can go to euroly which is the mall like the big mall by the liel europa train station like if
8:20
you're coming in the tgv from paris if you're coming in from london there's a huge mall there
8:25
and literally it has every fast food place you've ever heard of if you want to have quick you can
8:29
have that. If you want to have Wingstop and Popeyes, you can have that. So you do have multiple
8:33
options when you're here. There's lots of international food here because this is, it's a
8:37
student town. So one thing I got to tell you, look out for the student deals. If you're a student
8:41
coming through, the menu, the student menu can really save you a lot of money when you're going
8:47
to eat when you're here. But I've talked about this before, but I got to tell you, beer is the
8:53
drink for here and you'll see that beer in the food right I mean think about it that carbonade
8:59
that I talked about before braised in beer I've had multiple things that rare bit yes it was cooking
9:06
the beer as well the one I had you're gonna see beer all over the place and that's the thing when
9:11
I've gone to multiple restaurants the last one I was at literally the guy I asked the guy hey what
9:15
what's a drink I should have he's like uh beer we only do beer here I'm like no but like an after
9:20
dinner thing is like beer. Yes, beer is one of those things. And the thing is, the beer here
9:25
because we're close to Belgium with the Belgian style ales and stuff, you have multiple types of
9:30
beers you can enjoy. Probably the most famous beer from around here is the Chitty brand
9:34
and they're going to have different kinds. You can try that. That's really good. Or the Pelforth
9:38
beer, you can try that. So you have a lot of options. You know, we've had all kinds of good
9:42
beer when we're here, but that is one of those things you're going to see. And that's what the
9:46
locals are going to drink because you're going to get the wine. You're going to get wine from other parts of France because this, this is beer country. That's why after you finish eating, you might be
9:55
able to get yourself a fleur de beer, which is basically a liquor that's made from the foam of
10:02
beer. Yes, they distill the foam of beer into a liquor and give it to you. It's a lot smooth in
10:09
like a grappa or like a brand or anything like that. Like it's actually pretty good. Like I've
10:13
had it before. I thought it was really nice. So you can have that. Another thing is the Yennefer
10:17
or the Jennifer, like that gin kind of thing. You might've had it like in Amsterdam or in Belgium
10:22
Since we're so close to the border, that shows up here as well for a little bit, something stronger
10:27
And then let's talk about desserts. Well, probably the most famous dessert from this region is the
10:32
tata sucre, which is basically the sugar tart. Think of it this way. Your grandma made you a
10:39
fried donut and then she had like butter and brown sugar and cream with it like the chantilly
10:47
the the the the like whipped cream on top it is so good like when it comes out warm and you have the chantilly the whipped cream on time and it melting away oh my god it is so good you can have
10:58
that but if you want to do something basic you can go for a creme brulee with the like the little
11:02
cookies on top because there's a special cookie from around here a surprise cookie you want to
11:06
have you can have that i mean there's so many good things you can have for dessert when you are here
11:11
but probably the most important sweet you want to have from a shop when you're here you want to go
11:17
to the Patisserie Mert. And Mert is a, I mean, it's literally like if you're here on the Grand
11:22
Place, you're going that way. Okay. And basically it is one of the prettiest patisseries I've ever
11:28
gone to. You can walk in and go to the shop and buy and take away. But when you go there, you want
11:33
to go and you want to have their waffles. And when I say waffles, like when you go around town
11:37
you'll see those Belgian waffles, you know, the big thick ones, you'll see those a lot
11:41
but these are not like that. These are more like the strumpfwaffen you have in like the Netherlands
11:46
like the thin waffles, but it's a long thin waffle. And the center, the center is what you're going to love
11:52
The center is a Madagascar vanilla cream in there. Oh my God, it's so good
11:58
Like I went there today, I had one with a hot chocolate. It was so good. I'm like, could I have a second one, please
12:03
It is that good. But if you go to that particular, you don't have to get that. You get that and you get other things
12:08
because they have all kinds of other tarts and torts when you are there. And that's just it
12:12
Throughout the town, there's so many great cafes you can go to and sit outside or probably inside because we're in the north of France and it rains
12:19
a lot when you're here, but you can have that as well. And it's so good, but now it's a must do when
12:24
you're here. Now, some things I think you should know about eating here in Lille. One, you gotta
12:30
have patience. I mean, just like everywhere in France, when you make a reservation, it's for you
12:34
for the night. So that is your space and no one. And I mean, no one is going to bother you
12:40
including your server. So if you need another beer, if you need to order your dessert, you're
12:44
going to have to get their attention to get them to come over. They're not going to be upset if you do that because they're doing their own thing, right? So you want to be aware of that. Also
12:52
you have to realize here in the north of France, they don't mess around with portion sizes
12:57
And in Lille, you will be well fed, like very well fed. So don't be surprised if you're like
13:02
I can't eat all of this because there's such big portions. And if you're looking at when you're
13:07
going to eat, just know in general, lunch is from 12 to 2. And then a lot of the restaurants might
13:12
closed in the afternoon for a while and then they open up again and then dinners from like 7 to 9 30
13:18
or 10 because this is not like a late night eating place okay this is more of a more of a normal place
13:23
i've got to get back to work tomorrow so we're going to eat and enjoy ourselves then get home
13:28
in time for a sensible bedtime to get back to work but honestly folks when you're here you're
13:33
not going to get back to work the next day because you're going to be so full and so happy with all
13:37
the great food, whether it's beer based or just a delicious based kind of food. So what are some of your favorite things to
13:44
eat here in Lille? Because honestly, there's a lot more stuff here. I just want to kind of go through some of the more
13:49
traditional foods that you could enjoy here in Lille. So let us know in the comments below so we can have other travelers enjoy
13:54
this tasty town here in France. So I wish you all the best. I
13:59
want to say thank you to our members on YouTube and our patrons on Patreon for making these delicious videos possible
14:04
If you want to know how you can help us keep making these videos, go to patreon.com slash
14:08
waltersrule to find out more, or click that join button down below, and
14:12
just to know that you join up and help us keep going. And I want to say a thank you to
14:16
all of those patrons and all those members. You all are awesome, and I want to say
14:20
merci beaucoup for all of your support. Anyway, au revoir from here in Lille
14:24
France
#food
#Tourist Destinations