Estaminets & Beers, Brussels

1 more image

Favorite thing: We found several nice bars in the vicinity of the Grand Place and for so touristy an area didn’t think the prices were over-inflated. One we particularly liked was La Faucon to the east of the square, where we enjoyed a post-dinner coffee and guenever. Another was the Mannekin Taverne – confusingly not very near the Mannekin Pis but to the north west of the Grand Place on the road leading to the Bourse. Here I liked the draught brown beer, Grimbergen.

Favorite thing: Belgium produces some 400 brands of beer. i didn't have time to sample them all, but the ones I did come highly recommended.

Stella Artois, Juliper and Maes are your standard lagers and are vey good, but Lambic is a traditional Brussels beer.

Not forgetting of course all those beers that the monks brew...far to many to mention...brilliant to drink!

Favorite thing: try out the chocolates & beer.

The choice of both is just amazing - not too good for the waistline but they taste really good & you're on holidays so go on & spoil yourself!!

The bars on the Grand Place are pretty pricey but it's worth having at least one beer there so that you can sit outside, soak up the atmosphere & people watch.

Favorite thing: Finally you find your way inside a cosy Estaminet ready to order one of the more or less 1000 Belgian Beers.

Here at La Bécasse you can taste FARO beer on tap which is served in earthenware jugs.

FARO is a substyle of LAMBIC which is a type of wheat beer that has the unique distinction of using unmalted wheat and being spontaneously fermented using the wild yeasts of the Senne Valley (Brussels).

The lambic family of beers includes also these substyles: gueuze, faro, kriek, framboise and pêcheresse - the ONLY beer I like to drink!

Notice: Each and every type of Belgian beer has its OWN glass!

Favorite thing: When you think you are about to enter the place and have a cold beer...
- you find out there is a very narrow alley leading somewhere...
...Not looking good but...
...hopefully it's the way to an Estaminet!

This one leads to *TOONE* an Estaminet and a marionette theatre.

It is found along - Petite Rue Des Bouchers - and with the crowd cannot be very well located unless you walk with your head up - Remember (the sign)... ;-)!


Address:
6, impasse Schuddeveld (off petite rue des Bouchers),
1000 Brussels.

*

Favorite thing: ...by "La Tournée Des Grands Ducs" where you stroll from Estaminet to Estaminet and taste BELGIAN BEERS before diner! To find these - belgian pubs - you should walk with your head a little bit up in order to see these Estaminets' signs.

Notice that these pubs are extremely well hidden and you can easily miss the entrance...

...see on the picture the sign "À LA BÉCASSE" and the incredibly narrow entrance?
In this case there is also a mark on the pavement so can find it easier by also looking down, lol!!

Favorite thing: A belgian beer is a MUST so let's go now for theTOURNÉE DES GRANDS DUCS: oyee, oyee, beer lovers, lol, follow me to find out the best places to enjoy a good belgian beer...

Favorite thing: This pub was themed after a funeral parlor. Really morbid looking place. The tables were coffins covered with glass and we got our drinks in skull-shaped mugs. I was rather irritated when I discovered that my fruit cocktail cost more than the two beers the girls had, put together. Isn’t that almost like encouraging people to drink?

Anyway, the place was good fun and the bartender was absolutely hilarious. He wouldn’t stop flirting with the three of us. He gave us his card at the end of the evening and made us promise we would write to him. Hmm. Interesting character. We escaped with our sanity intact, thankfully.

Favorite thing: An old inn owned by the same people as A La Bécasse, and similar in style. It, too, is hidden down an alleyway (keep-up your head) and has a heritage feel, with old wooden tables, stained glass and leather benches. Good for cold days or gloomy Sunday evenings.


Address:
8 rue Marché aux Herbes, 1000 Brussels
Open:
11.30am-1am Mon-Sat;
4pm-1am Sun.

Favorite thing: This nice estaminet is located just next to the Opéra De La Monnaie (see picture above) and along the shopping street Rue Neuve.

The Belgian revolution of 1830 started in this square "Place de la Monnaie", when opera-goers were inflamed with patriotic fervour.

It has been renovated since and has mirrors and wooden panels creating a pleasant place to sit and read history books or watch the world go by.

Watch out, however, if you order a *lunette* of beer - it's a LITRE (= 3 X 33cl of a beer of your choice) served in champagne-"coupe" glass and requires some careful thinking of how to drink its content before starting, lol!!


Address:
3 place de la Monnaie, 1000 Brussels
Open:
8am-1am Mon-Thur;
8am-2am Fri, Sat;
10am-1am Sun