If you want to impress your friends in Brussels, tell them you're going to Comme Chez Soi. Like the Atomium or the Mannekin Pis, Comme Chez Soi is a Brussels landmark. The Bruxellois talk about it as a pricey, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but no one dares criticise the place. To do so would show a lack of respect: like burping mid-meal, or turning up in a shell suit.

There's no denying the excellence of the cuisine, cooked by the father and son-in-law team of Pierre Wynants and Lionel Rigolet, or the quality of the service, marshalled (and that's definitely the word) by the two chefs' wives, Marie-Thérèse Wynants and Laurence Rigolet. But what about the wine list? The restaurant's website calls it "undisputedly one of the best in Europe", but I am less inclined to hyperbole.

Comme Chez Soi's selection is aimed at the well-heeled diner. There's a whiff of old Belgian money about the place, supplemented by the spending power of European Union potentates and assorted business executives. Such people are often suckers for a list crammed with famous names from Burgundy and Bordeaux, and less likely to notice that they are being politely, but firmly fleeced.

There are 1,200 bins maturing in the restaurant's cellars, 700 of which sell for more than €150 a bottle. Even when you bear in mind that 16% service is included, it's hard to leave Comme Chez Soi without a hefty wine bill. Tellingly, only five wines are priced below €50, and they are pretty ordinary. A wine like the zesty, refreshing 2005 Lurton Les Salices Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de Pays d'Oc should sell at €25 rather than €42. On the plus side, there is a good selection of half bottles.

You can't fault the eclecticism of the list. As well as the classic French sources, there are wines from the Jura, the Languedoc-Roussillon, Savoie, Jurançon and Provence. The knowledgeable head sommelier, William Wouters, told me that the list has become considerably more diverse in recent years. It's good to see a top restaurant offering small and generally well chosen selections from Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina, not to mention Luxembourg and, er, Belgium. The wines by the glass are similarly diverse.

But the focus here is on Burgundy and Bordeaux, with an impressive array of vintages and producers. There are comparative bargains (1989 Château Pétrus at €2,350, for example), but too many are rip-offs, even by British standards. To take three examples: 1988 Château Latour (€875) sells for £285 at Chez Bruce, 1995 DRC Richebourg Grand Cru (€2,500) is on the list at The Fat Duck at £1,400 and 1989 Château Lafite (€1,650) costs £550 at The Square. Given that many of these wines were bought as futures, Comme Chez Soi should be passing on the saving.

There are other irritations: no tasting notes, boring by-the-glass Champagnes, no separate sweet-wine section, a sprinkling of spelling mistakes (Côteaux, Ribeira del Duero, Insolia, Alvarinho), past-it vintages of certain wines (2000 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Villages and 1995 Roxburgh Chardonnay, for instance) and a selection of rosés in which the youngest is a 2004. To merit its place alongside the great wine-focused restaurants, Comme Chez Soi needs to make improvements—despite what they might tell you in Brussels.

Tim Atkin is a Master of Wine

Comme Chez Soi
23 Place Rouppe
B1000 Brussels
Tel: 322 512 29 21
Website: www.commechezsoi.be

Full wine list not available outside the restaurant

Lunch 12.00pm-3pm
Dinner 7pm to 11 pm
Closed Sunday, Monday and Wednesday lunch

IN THE BIN

Head sommelier: William Wouters (since 1987)

Number of wines: 1,200 (including 92 halves, 116 magnums and six double magnums)

Number of wines by the glass: 14 (including two Champagnes)

Number of wines under €50 (excluding half bottles): 5

Number of wines over €150: 700

Best-value wine: 2005 Terras Gauda, Albariño, Rías Baixas (€67)

Worst-value wine: 1996 Château Montelena Chardonnay (€150)

Gluggability: *

Sparkling water: €10

Expense-account adjuster: *****

The Sancerre index: 4.12

*Probability that the next-door table are paying with the company's money

2005 Sancerre Domaine de la Garenne: €66 at Comme Chez Soi. Retail price around €16

€1.47=£1

EIGHT NOTEWORTHY WINES

2003 Pintia, Toro (€94)
Vega Sicilia is justifiably one of Ribera del Duero's most celebrated reds. What is less well known is that the same team makes another excellent wine from the Tempranillo grape in less fashionable Toro.

1999 Domaine de la Bongran, Mâcon-Villages (€99)
If you like white Burgundies with masses of flavour, a touch of sweetness and (invariably) some botrytis characters, try a bottle of Jean Thévenet's off-the-wall Chardonnay. It's a controversial wine, so be sure to pair it with the right dish.

2001 Planeta Merlot, Sicily (€101)
Diego Planeta was the man who introduced French grape varieties to Sicily, transforming the region's bulk image. This supple, well crafted Merlot is a much better buy than many of the over-priced clarets on the list.

2005 Guru, Wine & Soul, Douro (€115)
You might be more accustomed to drinking the red wines of the Douro Valley (both fortified and unfortified), but this understated new-wave dry white made from a cuvée of local Portuguese varieties is one of the best on the Iberian Peninsula.

2000 Alsace Riesling, Cuvée Frédéric Emile, Trimbach (€117)
In the world of Riesling, the focus these days tends to be on Australia, Austria and Germany. So much so, that Alsace is often overlooked. This dry, minerally, intense white is the region's finest expression of this multi-faceted grape.

1996 Henriot Brut Champagne (€150)
Henriot is not regarded as one of the Champagne region's star names, but it should be going by this form. This toasty, generously flavoured, bone-dry fizz from an excellent vintage is good now, but will improve for another five years or more.

1996 Volnay Santenots du Milieu, Domaine des Comtes Lafon (€163)
A comparative bargain among the red Burgundies at Comme Chez Soi, this shows what a great producer can do with Pinot Noir in an exceptional year. The wine has plenty of fruit, but also has the structure to back it up.

2002 Domaine de la Grange des Pères, Vin de Pays de l'Hérault (€175)
This wasn't the greatest vintage in the Languedoc, but in the hands of a great winemaker like Laurent Vaillé, you wouldn't know it. This silky, almost red, Burgundy-like blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cabernet is stunning.