Leuven - Spring 2024

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For a three night visit in March 2024, we stayed at the historic Hotel Industrie which is well located close to Leuven railway and bus stations.

The city's best beer cafe bars are within easy walking distance and, on Saturdays, a visit to Hof ten Dormaal farmhouse brewery is possible with a choice of bus routes followed by a flat walk. Over this stay, Tim enjoyed showing Meg some of his favourite places, previously featured in posts on this blog, including: 

Metafoor (on Parijsstraat, a street down from Oudemarkt, passed by a couple of times until we found it uncrowded on a Sunday lunchtime); 

De Blauwe Kater (on a corner of Vismarkt, blues music on Mondays (live) and on the sound system at other times); 

STUK Cafe (occasional live music events in a spacious high ceilinged room with big windows);

and Hof ten Dormaal farmhouse brewery (cosy taproom for their own bottled beers and the chance to meet brewer Jef Janssens);

Establishments visited for the first time on this trip and recommended are: Brasserie Gambrinus; MALZ and Het Strand.

Brasserie Gambrinus

On Grote Markt, facing the cathedral and near the Gothic town hall (included in photo above), Brasserie Gambrinus has an interesting history explained in Regula Ysewijn's book Belgian Cafe Culture. Originally named 'Au Duc de Brabant' with the appearance of a Viennese brasserie, it was renamed in 1896 when the family Van Mechelen bought it. With Germanic decorative themes, the precious interior of Gambrinus survived WWI and moved to a building commissioned in 1932.

We visited on Friday and were directed to one of the few free tables. It is closed on Sundays. While female staff serve beer and wash glasses behind the bar, male staff with starched overalls stand in front of the bar and deal with customers both inside and on the seats outside.

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