“Churchill’s – The English Pub” is the name of this week’s bar. Well, the draught beers are Belgian and Irish, and the only dish they serve is American. But if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to taste some fine English beers — although only bottled — while you leisurely watch a game of cricket on one of the many tv screens.
No such luck during our visit, however: the best British ales available were Scottish, and there was only football and boxing on the screens.
Some of you might still remember the bar on the corner of the Rue de l’Ecuyer and Rue de la Fourche as the Lop Lop, a bar serving Malheur 12° — yes, that’s a 12% ABV beer — in pitchers to students and tourists. After the Lop Lop went bankrupt, it was the Doghouse for a short while. A complete refurbishment later, it, became Churchill’s – The English Pub, which it still is today.
The Englishness of the pub is mostly to be found in the decoration: Churchill’s portrait in many different versions, lots of dark wood, and the photos of English music groups up on the wall.
The beers on the bottle list — almost all of them by Haacht — didn’t impress us at all. The bottle list refers us to the blackboard for “Real English Ales”, but the blackboard just in turn just tells us to “ask at the bar”… In earlier — better? — days, the blackboard actually did list the available guest ales, but this is at least the second visit it didn’t. Instead, the bartender has to resort in taking all the available guest ales out of the fridge — usually about five — and put them in front of us, so we can make our selection.
As mentioned, this time the best available ales in our opinion weren’t even English, but Scottish — BrewDog and Harviestoun. It seems at all times at least one of the guest ales is provided by Fuller’s, but usually their London Pride. In the past, English breweries like Thornbridge and Saltaire have featured on the guest list as well, something we would love to see again.
We didn’t yet try the “prime half pounder of Irish beef served in a bun” going by the name Winston Burger, but according to some reviews, it is quite okay, and the size makes up for the complete lack of side-dishes.
Other than that, your only food options are crisps and nuts.
It was eerily calm for a Friday evening, so we hope Churchill’s isn’t going the same way as the Lop Lop. Maybe some excellent English porters would lure people back in? That would work for us, at least!
tl;dr
Beers
- 4 beers and a cider on draught
- Guinness & Kilkenny
- British ‘guest ales’
Bites
- Crisps & nuts
- The Winston Burger
Churchill's - The English Pub
Schildknaapsstraat 29 Rue de l'Ecuyer
1000 Brussel
+32 2 514 27 10
http://www.churchills.be
What have people been drinking here recently?
- Darren Robinson is drinking a Primus at Churchill's - The English Pub
- David Ball is drinking a Primus at Churchill's - The English Pub
- barrybeerboy74939 is drinking a Tongerlo Blond - Blonde at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Michael Ritter is drinking a SUPER 8 Blanche at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Zach M is drinking a Wainwright The Golden Beer at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Zach M is drinking a Tongerlo Bruin - Brune at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Michael Ritter is drinking a Tongerlo Blond - Blonde at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Jason Bristow is drinking a Primus at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Bob De Medts is drinking The Fursty Ferret at Churchill's - The English Pub
- Edwin Lindholm is drinking a Tongerlo Blond - Blonde at Churchill's - The English Pub