Pin Pon - Beers 'n' Bites in Brussels

UPDATE: Closed, and was replaced by a Broebbeleir.

It was about time we wrote something about a place serving dinner again, and one of the places we’ve been wanting to try for a while already, was Pin Pon, in the Marolles. Sure, we had been there a couple of times before, but only for drinks, never even having seen the restaurant space on the top floor.

This time we took the plunge and went up the stairs to try their kitchen as well. We weren’t disappointed!

Pin Pon is situated in a former fire station, and the theme is still very visible: interwoven fire hoses as bar decoration, a fire truck out back, and of course the name of the venue, mimicking the sound of a siren.

We skipped the starters — in the end we were glad we did, since the portions were quite generous. There were plenty of main dishes to choose from (priced between €12 and €20), although sadly, the very attractive looking “plat du jour” apparently only is available during lunch hours. We decided upon the fish and chips, and the boudin vert with stoemp. While we were waiting, we were served a basket of bread that looked and tasted quite familiar: our neighbourhood baker Charli supplies the bread here. Not surprising, since he is one of the partners running the restaurant.

Homemade tartar sauce with the fish and chips, pine nuts with my boudin vert: they certainly put some effort in their food here, with great results. We’ll have to come back to try some of the other dishes!

Thera are a couple of places in Brussels — like Monk or Bia Mara — serving their ‘own’ version of Zinnebir, but in fact that is only a different — albeit beautiful — label. For Pin Pon however, Brasserie de la Senne actually brews a blonde ale (not a pilsner!) that isn’t available anywhere else: PinPon. And that’s just one of the at least four De la Senne beers on draught! Usually they have a Cantillon beer — not specified which one — on draught as well, but unfortunately not when we were there last time.

The bottle list contains beers from De Dochter van de Korenaar, Hof ten Dormaal — although again, we have to guess which one — Tilquin, and others.

Although free tap water should be normal, it is nice to see Pin Pon at least offers cheap (€0,50) cooled tap water, with and without carbonation.

Even though the view from the front is quite nice — the Place du Jeux de Balle — even better is the terrace on the courtyard at the back, away from the street.

Now you know where to go after visiting the flea market!