It surely was beery last weekend, and we hope you had the opportunity to visit one or more of the beer festivals. One of the smaller festivals — if you can even consider it a beer festival instead of just a themed weekend — was the Italian Beer Weekend at Moeder Lambic Fontainas. It’s the kind of weekend they organize on a regular basis, featuring a different country every time. But the bar is well worth visiting on normal days as well!
bottled
Cool Bun
UPDATE: Closed permanently…
Since the gourmet burger trend started, loads of burger places appeared in Brussels, trying to get their piece of the pie. You can now find burgers in all price ranges, and the ones at Cool Bun are certainly in the higher range. In this case however, that is completely justified! The burgers are grilled to perfection — some places just don’t seem to understand ‘medium’ — with the finest, organic ingredients, and they even have some American craft beers to go with this pinnacle of American cuisine.
Churchill’s
“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.
Booze’n Blues
It’s not very likely we will ever again feature a bar where the eight “draft beers” on the menu are actually just the 25 cl and 50 cl version of each of their InBev pilsners, a mazout (pilsner with coke), and three sous-marins with different jenevers… The Booze’n Blues however, has a trick up its sleeve: about every currently available beer of Brasserie de la Senne! The jukebox is nice too, of course.
Nüetnigenough
Never not enough. That is the literal translation of the peculiar name this restaurant goes by: Nüetnigenough. Don’t let the double negation fool you though: it is a Brussels word for a greedy glutton. Nüetnigenough is not an all-you-can-eat restaurant however, but it offers a fine selection of mostly very Belgian, often beer infused dishes, and more importantly, an even finer selection of Belgian beers.
Poechenellekelder
After a week amidst the midges in the country of kilts and bagpipes, we’re back in Brussels to introduce you to some more local drinking holes!
Still in the tourist mindset, we went to the Poechenellekelder, right across our famous Manneken Pis. But even though the terrace and tables inside might be filled with tourist just thirsty after photographing a statue of a peeing boy, this venue actually does have something to offer for the real beer lover as well!
Contrebande
Usually we know or discover a venue first, and then visit it to find out which beers — and possibly food — they’re serving in that venue. In the case of Contrebande however, it was a Facebook post by brewery L’Ermitage about one of their beers being used in a dish, that put us on the trail of this new bar in Ixelles. It’s a lovely new place, and as we expected, the beer list was rather interesting. So interesting in fact, we initially overlooked one little but important detail: Contrebande is a bar without beer taps…
Monk
UPDATE: Closed permanently…
For years, Monk has been a reference point in the nightlife of Brussels centre, especially for the Dutch speaking community of the city. Live music, great beers and booze, plenty of space and a huge bar counter. In 2012, it all ended, and for a year, the curtains were closed. It did reopen eventually, however, and with new owners and a slightly tweaked concept — adding spaghetti to the mix — the bar managed to lure many of the old customers back, and a lot of new ones as well.
La Porte Noire
La Porte Noire — or The Black Door, as it is sometimes called by English speakers — has been one of my favourite places for years: a great selection of beers and single malt whiskies, slightly quirky and completely isolated from the outside world. The quirkiness and isolation are mostly due to the fact that this bar is located in the vaulted cellars of a 16th century convent, topped off with some Celticness and fantasy.
Malt Attacks
As much as we love to spend an evening in a restaurant or bar, cracking open a bottle at home or somewhere else with friends can be at least just as nice. Supermarket beers — even though the offer has improved over the last couple of years — just won’t do for those occasions, of course, but luckily there are shops like Malt Attacks. You won’t be able to have a drink there unfortunately — barring special events — but you’ll surely find the ideal beer to enjoy at home!