De la Senne Archives - Page 2 of 10 - Beers 'n' Bites in Brussels

Buying Beer when Bars are Barred

31 May 202015 March 2020 by Martijn

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic measures, going to a bar or restaurant to enjoy a fresh draught beer isn’t an option anymore for the next couple of weeks… After drinking all the beers you had in your fridge, where can you get some more?
When the first version of this article appeared about a week ago, there were still plenty of options to go out and stock up, but even though beer shops are legally allowed to stay open*, many have decided to close their doors anyway, and—if they haven’t closed completely—rely on delivery and pickup only…

This article was updated regularly until 31/05/2020. By that time, most brewery shops were open again, bars who could and wanted, started selling beers for takeout.
We’re now counting down to the reopening—in whatever form—of the bars…

Patatak

7 August 202119 February 2020 by Martijn

UPDATE: Opened a second location in Brussels centre.

With the addition of Patatak to the food scene in Saint-Gilles—already a year ago—there are really no excuses left to have a bad beer with your chips. This chip shop even has three beers—by Dupont and De la Senne—on draught! The chips themselves are freshly cut, and fried in beef fat, which has become a rarity in Brussels.

Family Brews

26 January 202024 January 2020 by Martijn

Family Brews opened just a little over a year ago in the Rue des Harengs, just off the Grand Place. In such a central location, you might expect just another tourist trap, but nothing could be further from the truth! For prices comparable to the ones you’ll pay for an uninteresting industrial beer in nearby bars, here you can enjoy some local brews instead. Don’t get hung up on specific breweries or beers, just let the staff surprise you with something they think you’ll like!

Otomat

13 July 20248 January 2020 by Martijn

UPDATE: Closed permanently…

Belgians love eating pizzas at least as much as any nation, but most of the time they go for—not always successful—copies of the Italian originals. Otomat decided to take another direction, and now creates decidedly un-Italian, but nevertheless very tasty pizzas. Besides that, they’ve given beer a central role: Duvel yeast as an ingredient for the dough, and plenty of beers to pair the pizza with, even some local ones!

BXLBeerFest 2019

7 January 202021 August 2019 by Martijn

It’s the end of August, which means it’s time for the biggest craft beer festival of Brussels: BXLBeerFest! For this third edition they’re once again pulling out all the stops to make this a great beer festival: clean glasses for every beer served, cold storage for the kegs, great food, and plenty of room to sit or walk around to socialise with old and new beer friends!

Holy Smoke

21 June 2019 by Martijn

We’ve seen the Holy Smoke meat smoker in the beer festival circuit quite a few times. Most of the time, there was either a long queue of hungry people, or they were sold out, both a good indication of their popularity and quality. In 2017 they opened an actual restaurant near the Porte de Hal, with an even bigger smoker, to provide everyone in the usually fully-booked restaurant with heaps of pork ribs, sausages, brisket, and pulled pork…

Swafff! Brussels Craft Beer Festival 2019

17 May 2019 by Martijn

The third edition of the Swafff! Brussels Craft Beer Festival this weekend, kicks off the beer festival summer in Brussels again. On Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th of May, Karreveld Castle and its grounds will be the place to be anyone interested in sampling beers from almost 20 Belgian and other European breweries. Add some food, a DJ, four bands, games, and a bouncy castle, and you’ll have a fun filled weekend for the whole family ahead of you!

La Tana 2.0

23 January 20241 March 2019 by Martijn

UPDATE: La Tana has moved across the street, and the bottle shop has now moved into that space as well, so there are no longer two different locations.

Valerio’s love for beer was already obvious in La Tana 1.0, where the mostly Italian and Belgian beers served alongside the pastas and other Italian dishes, were a more than worthy accompaniment. To do a bit more with that passion for beer, he opened La Tana 2.0 just a couple of houses up the same street as the restaurant: a beer shop, where you can sit down—even on a small terrace, when the weather permits—and enjoy a cold one as well!

Fernand Obb

1 February 20191 February 2019 by Martijn

From the outside, it would be easy to think Fernand Obb is yet another greasy spoon, but both the food and the beer menu will quickly show you it’s not: upscale burgers, luxury shrimp and cheese croquettes, and a wide range of local beers.

Don’t expect to find any chips though, but we promise you: you will not miss them at all!

Au Marché National

30 January 201914 December 2018 by Martijn

We don’t go to the theatre often, and even this time, it was only to grab a bite in its restaurant, Au Marché National. Well, we were lured there by the prospect of an exclusive beer—No Science‘s TNT, brewed especially for the Théâtre National. Unfortunately, it’s only available—on draught—in the bar of the theatre, right next to the restaurant, which is apparently closed during lunchtime. Luckily for us, there are some nice bottled beers available in the restaurant.