Amadeus Brussels: Ribs on Keto

Amadeus has been serving ribs in Brussels since the 1980s and shows no signs of stopping. There are several locations around the city, the Ixelles one on Rue Veydt probably the best known, and they all follow the same format: dark room, candlelight, checked tablecloths, all-you-can-eat spare ribs with various sides. It is a dinner spot rather than a lunch place, it has been a reliable Brussels night out for decades, and it has a specific problem for keto purposes.

The ribs are coated in a sweet barbecue sauce. Not lightly glazed but properly slathered. The sauce is the point for most people, and it contains enough sugar to be relevant if you are tracking carbs carefully. A full evening of all-you-can-eat ribs with the standard sauce is not a keto dinner.

What you can do about it

Ask for the sauce on the side, or ask whether they can prepare some ribs without it. This is worth trying. Some Amadeus locations will accommodate it, others are less flexible because the ribs are prepared in batches. If they can do it, plain ribs, or ribs with the sauce applied minimally, are a completely different situation, since pork ribs are just fat and protein, and a lot of them at that.

If the sauce cannot be avoided, you are making a judgement call about how strict you are being. A portion of sauced ribs at Amadeus probably runs to 20 or 30 grams of carbs depending on how much sauce ends up on them. For some people on keto that is a write-off evening; for others it is an occasional exception. Only you know where you are with that.

The sides, with fries and salad the usual options, are a simpler decision. Salad. Always salad.

Why go anyway

Because Amadeus is a good Brussels evening out, and ribs are fundamentally a keto-compatible food under the sauce. The atmosphere is genuinely good, and the old Ixelles location has the feeling of somewhere that has been doing the same thing for a long time and is not trying to update itself, which in Brussels is either charming or annoying depending on your mood. It is the kind of place you take people visiting from elsewhere who want something that feels specifically Belgian without being another brasserie.

The price is reasonable for all-you-can-eat, the wine list is adequate, and you will leave full in a way that suits keto even if the sauce accounting is not perfect.

There are multiple locations around Brussels, including Ixelles and Sint-Gillis, so it is worth checking which is closest. Booking ahead for dinner is a good idea, particularly at weekends.

It is not the most keto-optimised restaurant on this list. It is one of the more enjoyable Brussels evenings on it.