Gent Nightlife

Fun cocktail bar, not far from the Kinepolis cinema. The first floor is rather small. Not cramped, but you don't have the room you have in many other bars. There's a second floor, but I didn't see it. The ventilation is not sufficient to keep your clothes from getting a cigarette smell. Normal prices (for a cocktail bar). Good music and not too loud. And the most important: the cocktails are well made.

This excellent concerthall is the best in town, when it comes to worldmusic concerts, the big names in rock music, but also jazz and classical music. I'm not a fan of the last 2 kinds, but the setting is definitely grand and the acoustic is among the best in the Low Countries. Last time I saw Shantel there and before that the Waterboys and both are fond memories.

Dress Code: No dress code required, just wear what you like

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(Oct.5th.) The Stranglers or the famous granddaddies of the punk rock (seventies) came to Ghent for the start of their accoustic and unplugged concert in Europe
I saw them in the Capitol Theater of Gent and enjoyed their worldhits like
-Always the Sun, No More Heroes, Strange Little Girl and especially Golden Brown.
And as first part of the concert :
THE rock&roll band of the Ghent area: Bieze Baaze - also unplugged
The income of this concert was fully donated to a social project of the Gent Academic hospital St. Lucas.

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A rather private show by a local rock&roll band called "Bieze Baaze"
Discographic : my preferred songs
-(Nen echte Genteneire es nen) Buffalo
-Blaave dure
-Boempa
-Een manneke en een maaske
-Kievief
-Loetsebollekezoetse
-Mijn gent
-Mijnen hond
-Rrock en roll
-Roste marianne
-Schuunen dag
-Slonse
-Wachten op misschien
-Zaterdag

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The stranglers, british rock band from the seventies and reborn in .......
Discographics :
- Peaches (1977, in 2002 used by Adidas as music in their commercials)
- No More Heroes (1977)
- Golden Brown (1982)
- Skin Deep (1985)
- Always The Sun (1987)

Dress Code: leisure

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For the people who love Irish pubs, this is a very good one. They have everything an Irish pub should have and they also have amazing food. I had an enormous hamburger there (see pic), and it tasted really good also. The terrace is also a nice feature, although when we were there, there was a little bit a strange smell there.

Aba jour is busy modern bar down by the canal. It is very friendly and welcoming and they serve lovely beer, good wine and the food looks appetizing - although we didn't try it.

We had a few drinks there but moved onto a restaurant for dinner - and later wished we had stayed at Aba jour as the food looked much more appealing.

Café den Turk at Botermarkt 3 is situated only a short stroll, or stumble depending on whether you are on your way to or have already sampled a few Belgian beers, away from St. Bavo’s Cathedral and the Belfort in central Ghent.

From the outside it looks as if it is going to be a small, intimate bar but inside it is deceptively spacious with an L shaped bar area at the front and a number of nook and cranny rooms at the back. It does, however, retain an intimate yet convivial atmosphere, emphasised by the pleasant jazz and blues music playing in the background, at a volume that compliments rather than drowns out conversation.

The décor is brown and cream walls with dark panelling ornamented by a few pictures and paintings. The porcelain light fittings of various different designs hang low over the tables providing a warming amber glow. Staff are extremely friendly and the bottled beer selection though smaller than some other bars in the city is very good and there are also a number of beers on tap. The clientele seems to be a mixture of ages, locals and visitors and when we were there on a Saturday evening the atmosphere was lively yet relaxed with a good smattering of laughter and conversation.

As well as drinks the bar also serves snacks such as sandwiches and croquettes we didn’t have any, however, choosing instead to sample a few glasses of wonderful Belgian beer. And very good they were too!