Chez Lutgarde - Beers 'n' Bites in Brussels

front view of the Chez Lutgarde bar in Brussels. There are two parasols and four outside tables. The name "Chez Lutgarde" is in red. — **© Hannah Casier**

With the name Chez Lutgarde, it is not surprising they mostly serve beers from the young Lasne brewery Abbaye d’Aywiers, better known by the name most of their beers carry: Lutgarde. You could even consider this bar the downtown taproom of the brewery. What drew us in, however, were the advertisements for some Brussels breweries you don’t see in that many other bars yet, like Brasserie Vandekelder! Once inside, we discovered that actually all the beers they serve, are from small, independent breweries, and quite a lot of them even from Brussels!

Five of the seven pumps at Chez Lutgarde are reserved for their own beers. It’s worth mentioning by the way, that in spite of the use of “abbey” in the brewery name and the reference to a saint, most of the beers aren’t abbey style beers. No sign of a patersbier, dubbel, or tripel, but instead you’ll find their pils, blonde, witbier, IPA, and blackcurrant beer on draught. If you haven’t had them yet: there is an option to have 15cl tasters of three of their beers—with some of their own cheese—for € 12!

The remaining two pumps are for guest beers, but you’ll have to ask at the bar what currently is on.

The rest of the beer menu lists beers from local breweries De la Senne, La Source, L’Ermitage, and DrinkDrink!, but also De Ranke, Novabirra, 3 Fonteinen, Tartaruga, Gansbeek, and Kanet. As the menu states: “Proudly serving local and craft beers only”!

Croque Meneer

The food section of the menu is titled “Tapas”, but you could say a croque monsieur—or croque meneer, as they call their cheese toastie—is already a bit more substantial than a tapa… The rest is definitely more snack-sized: hummus with bread, cheese board, sausages, sliced ham…

There is another bar by the same brewery in Ixelles, by the way, called Café Lutgarde. Their food menu seems to be quite a bit larger, and they serve brunches during the weekend.

When you visit the bar, don’t forget to have a look at the artwork on display everywhere around you: it’s created by the art students working in the bar!