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L'Antre Phil
Rue du vieux March au Grains 39
1000 Bruxelles |
Fist visit: Friday 4 August 2000
Last Visit: Friday 4 October 2002
Just around the corner from the Le Greenwich and Fin de Siècle, this friendly bar had some excellent live music on the first night we were there. |
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L'Archiduc
6 rue Antoine Dansaert
1000 Bruxelles  |
First visit: Sunday 15 March 1998
Last visit: Friday 15 February 2002
Great art deco jazz bar, perfect for a late night drink. The locked door policy gives it the air of an exclusive drinking club, but don't let this put you off - just ring the bell and they will let you in. Regular live jazz, including Saturdays from 5pm.
The rather neat upstairs gallery is equiped with large comfy chairs from which you can sit and watch the comings-and-goings down below. It's all rather like being on a 1930s ocean liner (check out the picture). Cozy, comfortable and convivial - you won't want to leave.
Website: www.archiduc.com/
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Au Soleil
86 Rue du Marché au Charbon
(corner of rue des Grands Carmes)
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Friday 4 August 2000
Last visit: Sunday 24 August 2003
Very eclectic bar in a former mens' outfitters (from which it takes its name) on a quiet corner in the maze of streets to the south of the Grand Place and the Bourse. Not a traditional Belgian bar, but a small, friendly place with a mixed clientelle and a vague latin american feel. Lots of tables outside on the cobbled street, wooden tables and benches inside. |
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Le Belgica
32 rue du Marché au Charbon
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Friday 13 March 1998
Last visit: Sunday 24 August 2003
Pretty basic, but popular, gay bar. Can get very crowded. |
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Beer Mania
174 -176 Chausee de Wavre
1050 Bruxelles
Website 
Click for picture |
Monday 16 March 1998
Saturday 25 March 2000
Not a bar, but a shop (also known as "Bieres Artisanales"). Run by a real beer fanatic, they sell over 400 different bottled beers. They also have a huge range of branded beer glasses, so that you can get the right glass for the beer you are buying. The owner is very helpful, and will do his best to find you the beer that you want.
Website: www.beermania.be |
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Café Tasse
Rue du Marché aux Herbes
1000 Bruxelles |
Monday 16 March 1998
+ numerous other occasions
Dave had a request from a friend to buy chocolate from this shop but we couldn't resist the temptation of trying the coffee available as well. Both are definitely up to Belgian standards.
We've bought chocolate from this shop on several other occasions we have been in Brussels - and we think that it gets better each time! Other real treats available here include chocolate-coated pistachios and a truly amazing ginger cake. |
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La Chaloupe d'Or
24-25 Grand Place
1000 Bruxelles |
Thursday 12 March 1998
Sunday 9 February 2003
"The Golden Boot". Typical Grand Place café/restaurant - vast, medieval looking, full of tourists (like us), and expensive. But with a location like that, we'd hate to think what the rates/rent are. That said, our first visit was a miserable drizzly day, we had been on a long walk around the city, it had an open fire, and we needed a beer. This set something of a pattern for the rest of the weekend - Dave had a Leffe (a blonde "Abbaye" beer, and Andrew had a Gueuze (a singularly Belgian beer, and a long-time favourite).
Verdict: OK, given the circumstances. On the other hand, it's not the King of Spain's House, which is the most popular tourist café on the Grand Place.
Five years later... |
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Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée
20 rue des Sables
1000 Bruxelles |
Saturday 14 March 1998
There are so many reasons to visit this unique museum - waffles with hot chocolate sauce is just one of them! |
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Cybertheatre
4/5 Avenue de la Toison d'or
1050 Bruxelles |
Monday 16 March 1998
Excellent cybercafé/restaurant/theatre close to the posh shops in the Avenue Louise area. This is a converted theatre, complete with a stage, dance floor, balcony restaurant, and hi-tech decor. Internet access is free as long as you keep buying drinks.
Website: www.nirvanet.fr/cybertheatre/
Update: When we passed this place in August 2000, we found that it had been turned into a sports theme bar "Sport Avenue". They still have an internet cafe, but we did not check it out. |
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Le Falstaff
19-25 rue Henri Maus
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Friday 13 March 1998
Last visit: Monday 10 February 2003
Vast art nouveau café alongside the Bourse. Popular with tourists and little old Belgian ladies alike. Very civilised, turn of the century atmosphere.
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Fin de Siècle
9 rue des Chartreux
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Thursday 12 March 1998
Last visit: Friday 22 August 2003
Listed in the Time Out guide, and really a Time Out sort of place - bustling, cosmopolitain, slightly trendy, and a bit tatty (but plush by Belgian standards!). Rather friendlier and less intimidating than Le Greenwich next door. |
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Le Greenwich
7 rue des Chartreux
1000 Bruxelles |
Saturday 14 March 1998
Saturday 15 September 2001
Another Time Out recommendation. Rather quieter that the Fin de Siècle next door, since most of the patrons are immersed in intense chess games. A cosy enough spot for a late evening drink though. |
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Halles Saint Géry
Place Saint Géry
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Saturday 5 August 2000
Last visit: Sunday 24 August 2003
This bar is based in the fascinating converted market building that is the focus of the lively café scene around the Place St. Géry. Even if you decide to sit outside (as hudreds of others do - in the summer), it is worth going into the 18th century "Halles" to see just what can be done with such a building, not to mention the huge granite obelisk that they have moved inside.
The Halles is also and exhibition space and home to an environmental agency and an urban heritage centre. There are usually a number of interesting (and free) exhibitions on architecture and the built environment, cultural heritage, photography etc. |
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Java
22 rue de la Grande Île
1000 Bruxelles |
Last visit: about 2:30 am
Late-night bar with funky Gaudi-esque mosaic counter-top and seashell ashtrays. We have stopped in here a few times for a last late-night drink on the way back to the hotel, but it was only very recently that we found out what it was called! |
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La Kartchma
Place du Grand Sablon
1000 Bruxelles |
First visit: Sunday 26 March 2000
Last visit: Monday 10 February 2003
Andrew used to go to this tiny art nouveau café on the Grand Sablon when he lived in Brussels back in the late '70s. It is still there, and still worth a visit, although its small size and preserved art nouveau frontage are all that really distinguish it from the other cafés either side. |
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Monk
Rue St Catherine 42
1000 Bruxelles  |
Monday 25 August 2003
Close to St Catherine, this sizeable bar operates on pub lines, with bar only service, and has a vaguely celtic feel. There is a piano, and they have live music at the weekends.
Website: www.monk.be |
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Musée des Beaux Arts
Rue de la Régence 3
1000 Bruxelles |
Friday 13 March 1998
Down in the bowels - like any other art gallery coffee bar really. |
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Po-Boy
24-25 avenue des Athlètes
1020 Bruxelles |
Saturday 14 March 1998
Described as an "American Bar", this is actually part of "The Village" complex in the Bruparck theme park, next to the Atomium in Heysel. Pretty tacky really, and the place was deserted when we were there.
Internet access was BF 150/£2.50 for an hour at the ½ price student rate (standard rates BF 150/£2.50 for ½ hour or BF 200/£3.30 for an hour).
Website: www.american-bar.be/english/index.html |
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La Pompe
Rue des Eperonnieres/
Place St Jean
1000 Bruxelles |
Friday 13 March 1998
It was our first full day in Brussels, and hey - we managed to miss breakfast! Fortunately, Andrew remembered this tiny and unassuming café from his last trip to Brussels (some ten years earlier). The friendly and helpful barmaid was more than willing to serve us up with some delicious croque messieurs, and was equally anxious to make sure that we took advantage of the various magazines that they provided. A brief browse though Paris Match was enough to convince us that the French are more obsessed by Diana than the British!
Update:When we looked for this cafe in August 2000 we discovered that it is now a pharmacy (which is a shame, having rediscovered it after so long in 1998). |
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Pp Café
Rue J. van Praet
1000 Bruxelles |
Saturday 5 August 2000
Another establishment run by the crowd that do La Kasbah and Bonsoir Clara. However, although the food was good (excellent "croque" sandwiches for BEF 260 (£4) apiece), the service was very poor.
Our waiter was much more interested in meeting and greeting his numerous friends and acquaintances than he was in serving any of the customers. He also decided to give himself a substantial tip after our first order of drinks by pocketing the notes we had proffered without offering us the change that was due. We made sure that we gave the exact money when paying for the food.
A disappointing, and frustrating, experience. This place is clearly aimed at the young Bruxellois "in-crowd", and as far as we are concerned, they are welcome to it. Avoid. |
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Simba
Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale
Leuvensesteenweg
3080 Tervuren |
Sunday 15 March 1998
A rather nice little cafeteria on the central courtyard of the museum. A good place for a spot of lunch we thought!
Ham and cheese baguette BF 90/£1.50; Pancakes with cream BF 100/£1.60. |
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Le Trappiste
Avenue de la Toison d'Or 3
1000 Bruxelles |
Saturday 25 March 2000
Traditional mid-market Belgian café on the fasionable Avenue Toison d'Or, next door to (what used to be) the Cybertheatre.
Acceptable (particularly since we needed to escape from the rain), but somewhat idiosyncratic service, and slightly pricey. |
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