If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you might try a new restaurant because a friend recommended it, because you walked past a place that looked cute or unusual, or because you read about it in this column (ahem).

In Brussels, RestoPass offers a special way to broaden your restaurant spectrum.

Here’s how it works: you pay €39 for the pass, which is a cute Passport-sized booklet. It gives you an identical discount at 40 different Brussels restaurants – 30% off your whole table’s food bill (drinks excluded). And not just one restaurant – as many of the 40 as you want.

The discount applies – up to €50 per restaurant – no matter what: no matter how many people, no matter what day of the week, no matter what you order. You don’t need to notify the server at the beginning of your meal, either – just break out your RestoPass when the bill arrives and reap the savings.

RestoPass – available in Dutch, French or English – is now in its second year in Brussels. The project piloted in Singapore, where Belgian Nicolas De Ridder was studying for an MBA and launched it as a project for one of his courses. De Ridder had no background in or connections to the restaurant industry (except as a patron).

While working as a consultant, he often travelled but usually ended up eating in the hotel’s restaurant or a touristy area. He craved recommendations from locals but could rarely find reliable information online (or in guidebooks). With RestoPass, he seeks to remedy that situation, to everyone’s benefit.

Each year, RestoPass issues a survey to local residents, who select their favourite establishments. The survey for 2010 received 2,000 responses. Restaurants are then approached to confirm their participation; most say yes, seeing it as a positive advertising opportunity and a way to grow their clientele. De Ridder (photo, left) emphasises that no money changes hands between the restaurants and RestoPass.

The pass remains valid for one year from its first use. Five thousand passes were printed for 2010 – up from 3,000 in 2009. RestoPass is expanding, with a June launch in Barcelona and a September launch in Paris. De Ridder and Brussels RestoPass co-founder Jean-Charles Malherbe hope to reach 20 cities across Europe by the end of 2011.

Although the selection is ultimately up to the survey results, you do find a decent variety. Plenty of classics of the Brussels restaurant scene made it on the list, such as Le Pain et le Vin, Le Quincaillerie or Belgo-Belge. But there are several Thai options, as well as Greek, Italian, Japanese and vegetarian establishments. The RestoPass website gives you the basics on each venue, or you can link to the restaurant’s own website for menus and further details.

You can buy the pass online or at one of their retail outlets, including fnac and Standaard Boekhandel. I’ve dined out RestoPass-style on several occasions (including mooching off friends’ passes, I must admit), and the scheme worked seamlessly. It’s a great way to explore some new restaurants, or perhaps even score a discount at one of your old favourites.

www.restopass.com

Forty restaurants in Brussels
Now!
A pass that gives you 30% off on your entire table’s bill for an entire year. Pardon us for saying, but you’d be crazy not to try it

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