 |
| Grand Place |
Which five bars would you choose for a first night in Brussels? My plan for our group of five beer enthusiasts from Newbury was to start at Gist and then visit La Fleur en Papier Dore / Het Goudblommeke in Papier and Poechenellekelder and include previously unvisited La Porte Noire and Goupil le Fol, if time permitted.
Thursday 6 March 2025 was a day when President Zelensky visited Brussels to meet with European leaders. This resulted in delays to the 95 bus from the 'Science' stop on Rue du Midi at Square de Meeus, near our
Adagio Aparthotel Access Brussels Europe base, to it's destination near Grand Place. However our bus was allowed to pass through the police checkpoint in Place Royale and then downhill to the stop in Rue du Lombard.
A short 150 metre walk brought us to GIST and a sign pinned to the door advising of delayed opening until 7pm (just after 'Happy Hour' that had been part of the original plan).
La Fleur en Papier Dore
With an interesting
heritage and ranked winner of the 2025 Top 100 bars in Europe for
European Bar Guide, it was delightful in many ways and is a 'must visit' bar in Brussels. Rich picked it as his favourite of the 18 bars we would visit during this long weekend trip.
Before leaving we enjoyed another beer from the limited menu with
Tripel Verschueren (de la Senne) as my choice.
La Porte Noire
Only a few metres further up Rue des Alexiens is the entrance to La Porte Noire. Beyond a red curtain are steps down to the vaulted cellar bar which was empty when we arrived.
Service and payment is at the bar.
A blackboard at the side and individual blackboards above the bar give details of all the draught beers available including Troubadour Magma (The Musketeers) and Noir de Dottignies (De Ranke).
To simplify the order we ordered a round of Zinnebir (de la Senne) with a 25cl class costing €3.80. By this time another group of customers had arrived. The draught beer range offers a good mixture and also includes Kasteel Rouge and VI Wheat (Jandrain-Jandrenouille) as well as several Blonde and Pils options.
After La Porte Noire's opening time (6pm) it makes sense to combine a visit with one to La Fleur en Papier Dore as they are so close to each other and to a bus stop, where the 95 back stops on its return journey to Wiener via Science on Rue du Luxembourg.
GIST
GIST was open after we retraced our steps. From a wide choice of free tables we chose one facing the bar. The blackboard above the bar listed available beers. Two handpumps are a feature here but no beer was being served from them today.
Jeff took advantage of the opportunity to try draught
Westmalle Duo, a limited edition Trappist draught beer.
Tim chose L'Amoureux #01 (Brasserie l'Ermitage), a 5% ABV hazy Pale Ale brewed in Brussels with hops mainly from the southern hemisphere. A 25cl serving cost €4.50.
 |
| GIST - Rich, Pat, Jeff and Mike (+ Tim on right of mirror!) |
Rich had chosen Rabarberlambiek (Oud Beersel). According to the Non Blondes quiz team tradition, it was Rich who supplied our table with three assorted packets of crisps, to accompany our beers. This tradition continues at
The Lion, Newbury on Thursday (quiz) nights while Kieran marks the first three rounds.
The rhubarb Lambic was one of the six
Oud Beersel Lambics available on tap, sourced from Beersel, 10kms south of Brussels.
Beer lovers can rely on GIST to serve an interesting range of local beers. Usually there is also some good music playing but regrettably this evening's music selection did not meet that standard.
Poechenellekelder
A short downhill walk brought us to Poechenellekelder, close to Mannekin Pis, where we found the small boy was not in a special costume for this evening.
The blackboard outside the entrance listed the draught beers as St Feuillien, Rock 'n' Carol and Taras Boulba. At tables inside, large format menus list all the beers and a limited range of snacks and pasta based meals.
As always, the puppet based decor, was of interest. This time our spaghetti and lasagne dishes were served without much delay.
We each ended up drinking two beers here and these included Orval, Rochefort 6, VanderGhinste Roodbruin, Rock 'n' Carol (
Janine Boulangerie-Brasserie brewed at L'Annexe using unsold bread) and Lindemans Faro. The bill came to €25.50 per head before any tip.
Goupil le Fol
We decided there was time to visit a fifth bar on our first night in Brussels and headed up Rue de l'Etuve for a view of the Grand Place illuminated at night (top photo) and then back to Goupil le Fol at Rue de la Violette 22, usually open daily from 4pm to 2am.
The small bar is situated just inside the entrance, and drinks are ordered and paid for, preferably with cash, before finding a free table inside the dimly lit room with various styles of furniture.
Our table in the main room looked towards the side of the bar and a spiral staircase of metal plates leading to another room on the first floor.
French chansons were playing on the impressive juke box giving the bar a nostalgic atmosphere.
The musical theme is also featured in the selection of records and record sleeves displayed overhead.
A limited range of beers was available and our choices included Lutgarde Blonde and Lutgarde Blanche served from the bottle. The brewery was formed in 2017 and based at
Abbaye d'Aywiers, once the home of Sainte-Lutgarde (1182-1246).
Leaving the lively bar before midnight, we were able to catch a 95 bus from the Mannekin-Pis stop on Rue du Midi back up the hill to Rue du Luxembourg, to conclude a good first night out in Brussels.
