Beef braised slowly in dark northern beer, sweetened with brown sugar and thickened by a slice of mustarded pain d'épices dropped into the pot. Served with frites.
Where to eat it: 6 restaurants across 1 city.
Carbonade belongs to the whole of Flanders, and Lille inherited it along with the language and the beer. It is mill-worker food: cheap shoulder cuts, a long fire and whatever brown ale was in the cellar. Recipes vary by household and by brewery, with oud bruin, abbey beer and Flanders red all in use. East and West Flanders add prunes; Lille estaminets mostly do not. The gingerbread is the trick, dissolving into the sauce and doing the work a roux would do further south.
Common allergens: Gluten
Tip from the editors. If the sauce is too sweet, another spoon of vinegar fixes it faster than more salt does.
Chez Raoul on Rue de Gand in Lille is named for the singer Raoul de Godewarsvelde, an estaminet of chicken in maroilles, fricadelle and charcuterie boards.
Signature: Gratin de chicons, Welsh au maroilles
Order: Gratin de chicons, endives baked in ham and béchamel.
Tip: Closed Monday and Wednesday lunch. Saturday runs a long afternoon service then reopens late.
Au Soyeux on Rue de Gand in Lille runs 44 covers of ch'ti cooking, potjevleesch and carbonade with maroilles croquettes and roasted bone marrow.
Signature: Potjevleesch, Croquettes au maroilles
Order: Potjevleesch, the jellied terrine of four white meats.
Tip: Only 24 seats indoors plus a 20-seat terrace, so book for a weekend evening.
Estaminet La Vieille France on Rue de Gand in Lille seats 65 and cooks the northern canon, carbonade, blanquette de veau, potjevleesch and pot au feu.
Why locals love it: Sixty-five covers doing the regional canon rather than a tourist carte, on the busiest estaminet street in the city.
Tip: Closed Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch, which catches out most people who just walk up.
La Ducasse has anchored the corner of Rue Solférino in Lille since 1979, an estaminet of welsh, carbonade flamande and andouillette casseroles.
Signature: Welsh, Carbonade flamande
Order: The welsh, cheddar melted flat under the grill.
Tip: The estaminet has kept the same regional card since 1979, cooked from fresh local produce.
Le Barbu d'Anvers is a 130-seat Maître Restaurateur estaminet near Rihour in Lille, serving northern regional cooking across three panelled rooms.
Why locals love it: A 130-seat Maitre Restaurateur estaminet that long-time Lillois keep returning to, hidden a street back from Rihour.
Tip: Service is fast even when the room is full, which is why the lunchtime regulars keep coming back.
Le Porthos on Rue de la Monnaie in Lille is a brick-walled estaminet cooking the regional card: carbonade, potjevleesch and welsh, served all day at weekends.
Signature: Carbonade flamande, Potjevleesch
Order: Carbonade flamande, with the house frites.
Tip: The kitchen runs 12:00 to 14:00 and 19:00 to 22:00 on weekdays, then straight through from 12:00 to 22:30 on Saturday and to 22:00 on Sunday.
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