Is the service charge included in the bill at Chez Clément?

For British, Irish or American visitors used to a tipping culture in restaurants, this is one of the most useful Belgian rules to understand. Belgian law requires the menu price to be all-inclusive: VAT and service are built into the displayed price. There is no separate « service charge », no compulsory percentage added at the bottom of the bill, no tip suggestion printed on the receipt. The total shown is what you actually pay. This applies to Chez Clément exactly as it applies to every other restaurant, brasserie and café in the country.

This rule applies across both restaurant services (lunch 12:00 to 14:30, dinner 19:00 to 22:30) and at the bar (continuous from noon to 01:00). It applies on weekdays and weekends, on Sundays and on bank holidays. It applies whether you are paying by Visa, Mastercard, Bancontact or cash. The principle is the same: the price you see, all in. The brasserie has been applying this since the all-inclusive rule was generalised in Belgian hospitality, and the routine is now decades old.

What you might still see is a wage transparency reflex: in some Belgian houses the team is paid a stable wage rather than relying on tip income. The cultural understanding is that the meal is priced fairly, the team is paid fairly, and any tip from the guest reflects a personal gesture of appreciation rather than the team's basic compensation. At Chez Clément, the brigade of thirty-two operates under chef Vincent Frédéric De Laloy, in post since 1996, with notable long-tenure markers (the kitchen porter has been on the team for twenty years).

For corporate diners and business lunches, this also matters at expense-report time: the invoice you receive is the final, all-inclusive amount. No reconstruction of service or tip is required. The brasserie can issue an itemised invoice on request, useful for VAT recovery in Belgium and for cross-border expense filing within the EU.