Antwerp - Spring 2024

For a three night visit in March 2024, we stayed at the recently renovated Hotel National which is well located within easy walking distance of Groenplaats and its metro station, served by several tram routes from Antwerp Centraal station environs.

Many of the city's best beer cafe bars are within easy walking distance. Over this stay, Tim enjoyed showing Meg some of his favourites, previously featured in posts on this blog, including: 

De Ware Jacob (run by Guy Dockx with Brasserie Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux on draught and bottles / cans of beers from all the Antwerp area breweries); 

Het Souke (run by Jacob Gouka with well chosen music and beers); 

Kulminator (run by Dirk and Leen with classical music playing but a bit chilly inside on this occasion. NB Cash only, give purpose of visit as to taste beer and not just drink it!);

De Vagant  

De Vagant (run by Bart Daems with high ceiling, a good choice of beers and jenevers);

Pelikaan (on a Melkmarkt corner, decorated with enamel signs on the outside and neon signs inside).

De Muze

Opposite Pelikaan on Melkmarkt, it was a pleasant surprise to visit De Muze, for the first time, after spotting on the bar's Facebook page that it features live jazz music every night.

On our first visit we found a 'railway carriage style' private table with a view of the side of the stage. 

De Muze 5 featuring a pianist, double bass, drums, sax and trumpet sounded great. There's no admission charge but a 50 cent supplement per drink is applied when live music is on, usually after 9pm.

There's a good draught beer menu (photo above) and a further two dozen bottled beers to choose from.

With dim lighting, high ceilings and interesting decor, De Muze has a lot of character and we revisited the following night for more jazz and beer!

Cafe Scaldis

Tim has visited many of Antwerp's traditional beer cafes featured in Regula Ysewijn's book 'Belgian Cafe Culture'. On this stay his mission was to visit Cafe Scaldis, Cadixstraat1 in Eilandje neighbourhood, once the heart of docklands but now surrounded by new residential housing developments.

As Regula Ysewijn writes 'Cafe Scaldis was founded in 1946 by the parents of current landlady Jose. The wooden bar comes from a 1920s cafe which makes cafe Scaldis look a lot older than it is'. 

A visit needs to be planned carefully as it is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 12 noon until midnight. Note also that cash payment is expected.

After a visit to nearby Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), on a bright afternoon, with a cold east wind blowing, we opted to sit inside cafe Scaldis. As the only customers seated inside, for some of the time, it was a pleasure to chat with Jose and to be photographed with her before leaving.

Stella Artois is the only beer on tap but bottled beers are also available. When it's busier the barrel tables in front of the bar allow groups to sit together at the bar. Jose mentioned that her regular customers usually visit later in the day.

More revisits + Cafe Hopper + Chatleroi

With time to spare between leaving Cafe Scaldis and 4pm when the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom opens on a Thursday in March, we walked further north to view the architecturally impressive Antwerp Port House / Havenhuis. The old fire station is topped by the new Zaha Hadid Architects' structure. It is situated at the northern end of the 24 tram route. 

Also of architectural interest is the Straatsburgbrug (Strasbourg Bridge) 'traction station' brick building nearby which the tram circles before returning to the city. The oval-shaped building includes external steps to allow elevated viewpoints for the public and was designed by Van Belle & Medina as part of the Brabo 2 project. 

It's always a pleasure to visit the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom. The soundtrack was a mixed bag on this afternoon but it was nice to hear Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Tim left an Ullage magazine (Autumn 2023) which included a feature on the taproom for its founder, Johan Van Dyck, who had kindly provided our group with an impromptu brewery tour in June 2023.

Also visited in June 2023, Dr Beer was our next destination, also quite near to MAS. It was busy for a Thursday afternoon but we found a good table (near hanging cane chairs and an anatomical model!) in the cosy surroundings and were expertly assisted in choosing beers by Jeroen Peeters who was happy to provide Meg with a sample of De Mortselarij Miss-T to taste from a stemmed black glass.

Before leaving, Jeroen was pleased to be given a West Berkshire CAMRA Ullage magazine (Autumn 2023) with a mention of Dr Beer and he had soon featured a photo of us with it on the bar and shop's instagram account realdrbeer.

On our last morning in Antwerp we visited the renovated Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) which is recommended for art and design lovers. There were special exhibits about James Ensor and Rik Wouters. Remember to allow enough time to get maximum value from the 20 euro admission charge.

It's situated in the Zuid neighbourhood, even further south from the cathedral than Dansing Chocola, where we dined on the night we arrived. 

Although impressed by the art and interiors, we decided against refreshments at the cafe at KMSKA and instead headed to the roundabout at the southern end of Leopold de Waelplaats, the space in front of the museum. There are several cafes in this vicinity including Chatleroi, Wijnbistro Patine and Cafe Hopper. A blackboard outside Chatleroi (closed until 4pm) lists dates when the cafe hosts concerts and DJs. 

We were happy with our eventual choice of Cafe Hopper where most tables were taken. Some customers were reading from a supply of newspapers on top of a grand piano and good music was playing. While Meg had a cappuccino, Tim finally ordered his first Bolleke De Koninck of the visit (normally the first beer ordered, when in the city where it's brewed, rather than the last!).

Antwerp - Friday 28 June 2019

Day 2 of the Belgian trip begins with breakfast in the Hotel Rubenshof dining room containing art nouveau details including stained glass windows and rooflights.
We walked into town via the Antwerp Zuid branch of Belfius Bank at Riemstraat 47 as we needed extra Euros from an ATM.

Continuing along Kloosterstraat we passed some cafes and upmarket clothing, antiques and home interiors shops.

Reaching Sint-Jansvliet, we noticed cyclists queueing outside the entrance for St Anna's Tunnel (the underpass). Instead of waiting, we entered the building to ride two flights of wooden escalators to reach the 572 metre long level cyclindrical tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists that runs under the river Scheldt to Linkeroever (left bank).

There are historic photos of tunnel construction mounted on the walls of the escalator shaft and the tunnel itself. There are no lanes marked on the tunnel floor so pedestrians need to take care to avoid obstructing the waves of cyclists that pass after descending by lift.

Emerging into the bright sunshine we headed north and walked through the Open Air Maritime Museum Boeienweide to see the anchors and large steel marker buoys on display.

After spotting a large ferry crossing the river, we headed to the dock near Frederik Van Eedenplein for a free ride back to Antwerp. This gives nice views of the skyline including the outline of Zaha Hadid's angular Antwerp Port House to the north.

Het Steen - from ferry (photo: Steve Kelly)

The lightly loaded ferry deposited us, slightly damp from some spray, at the ferry terminal next to the medieval fortress of Het Steen (stone castle) which was undergoing renovation.

MAS

We walked a kilometre north and then alongside Willemdok to reach MAS (Museum aan de Stroom). From the rooftop observation deck, reached by flights of escalators, there are panoramic views.

View towards north west from MAS (photo: Steve Kelly)

Steve spotted that the cooling towers, visible 10km to the north west, are next to a nuclear power station (Doel) on the banks of the river Scheldt.

A walk north of less than a kilometre led to Bar Paniek on the east side of Kattendijkdok.

Inside the warehouse building is a bar and seating shared with a workspace where grinding noises could be heard.

My first beer of the day was Antwerpse Brouw Co Seefbier, brewed nearby. Our shady seat outside looked across the dock to new residential tower blocks.

At 1.15pm we headed to the taproom of Antwerpse Brouw Co at Indiestraat 21 only 150 metres away as John texted to say that he had arrived there.

My first beer here was Super Cadix, 5.6% ABV dry hopped lager.

The taproom is part of the brewery building but we did not notice any brewing activity. 

Keith, Steve, Richard and Simon

Before long, Keith and Richard would join our table in the courtyard, under a canvas awning for shade. Simon had spent Thursday night in Brussels and was the last to join our group after checking in at the Tryp by Wyndham hotel and catching a tram to a nearby stop.

As one of the original crowdfunders for Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, Keith Moore had found the funders plaque inside the brewery bearing his name. At the Bierpassie Weekend festival later, he would also meet up with founder Johan Van Dyck. Keith had travelled to Antwerp from his home in Germany and mentioned that he had again won the annual Mainz craft beer festival prize for home brewers. The 2018 summer beer style contest was won by his Entdeckung (Discovery) based on the beer once brewed by Fuller's.

Keith has programmed a Raspberry Pi computer to control brewing temperatures for his beers. Unsurprisingly, when asked about his favourite bar at the end of the trip, Keith picked the Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie taproom.

Hussy, a new 7% ABV 'easy going blonde' limited release beer to try for the first time, reached the high standard set by the brewery's other beers which I have previously enjoyed.
During our visit we observed landscape gardening activity involving the construction of raised beds from railway sleepers, adding plants to fresh soil and watering. The taproom courtyard now has a greener look than previously.

Steve and I persuaded Keith, John, Richard and Simon to visit nearby Bar Paniek and we arrived via the rear workshop entrance on Kattendijkdok-Oostkaai at 5pm.

The small upstairs seating area was free so we found a shady spot, just under the roof, with a view of the dock. The Bar Paniek draught beer range includes Seefbier and Bootjes Bier, the latter referencing the Red Star Line which operated passenger ships from Antwerp to New York until 1935.

Tim, Simon, Keith & Richard on the tram (photo: Steve Kelly)

It was hot under the roof so after one beer we walked to the tram stop on Londenstraat and travelled by 70 and 7 trams to Meirbrug, a short walk from Groenplaats the site of the Bierpassie (Beer Passion) Weekend festival.

Arriving about twenty minutes after the festival opened at 5pm we were able to find a table on the west side of the square, near the Brasserie Du Bocq stand (14),  that would later offer some shade.

Entrance is free but a 20cl Bier Sommelier tasting glass costs 5 euros with a complimentary glossy programme. The blue beer tokens cost 2 euros each and except for a few beers marked in the programme as '2 jetons', one token simplifies payment for a glass of beer.

Having visited Allagash Brewery in Portland, Maine, in October 2017, I was keen to try Brewers' Bridge, the collaboration beer brewed with Brasserie Dupont of Tourpes, near the border with France.

At the Dupont bar, after he recognised my brewery cap, I was able to tell the barman that there are some wonderful people at Allagash. An Allagash blog post includes photos of the brew day and mentions that the Saison style beer was brewed with Dupont yeast and Cascade hops shipped over from Grandview, Washington.

Another special beer to try was draught Boulevard Brewing Co Jam Band Berry Ale a 5.9% ABV fruit ale made with blueberry, raspberry and tart cherry. (The Kansas City based brewery, founded in 1989, is now owned by Duvel Moortgat Brewery.).

King Mule IPA (photo Steve Kelly)

Our table was not far from the Cornelissen brewery bar and this is where Steve found his favourite beer of the festival at an early stage - King Mule IPA. This 5.7% ABV / 80 IBU 'unique stubborn Belgian IPA' ix mixed with tangerine juice.

After a recommendation for Brasserie Dubuisson Peche Mel (Bush), I also enjoyed the peach flavours and then discovered that at 8.5% ABV it is rather strong in alcohol.
A good thing about this festival is that with so many beers to choose from that it is possible to stick to a style like fruit beers and easily find plenty of variety.

Another benefit of the festival is live music including the tradition of the strolling Dixieland Street Band who livened up the evening when they played Dixieland jazz music near our table.
By now our group had grown to include Graham who had been in Europe since a Polish trip with Mark Geeson and his Farnham friends to Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk earlier in the month.

Cathedral (north side) - view from Elfde Gebod

At 8.30pm our group, less vegetarian Steve, left the festival and walked around to the other side of the cathedral for a meal at Elfde Gebod (11th commandment) where we sat at a long table outside the restaurant building that dates back to 1425.

The 6.9% ABV amber beer I enjyed here was Martin's IPA 44 from a company founded by British master brewer John Martin in Antwerp in 1909.

Several in our group ordered Apostle's Fish Stew (16.95 euros), while I ordered Steak Robespierre served with a bowl of frites (18.90 euros).

Thanks to Keith for suggesting a Dutch Trappist beer -  La Trappe Tripel as my next beer here. I agreed with Keith about the fruity pear flavours from the 8% ABV Tripel.

As Steve had not returned to join us I caught the 4 tram at 11.22am from Groenplaats for five stops to Pacificatie while the others headed back to their hotel via Dageraadplaats. 

During this time Steve had enjoyed a visit to Billie's Bier Kafetaria where he met Billie! This was his favourite bar of the trip and it's also one that I had enjoyed visiting with Simon in June 2017.

Passing a corner building with a rack of clothes on the pavement outside and hearing music I took a look inside. 

Cafe Baba at Pacificatiestraat 36, is an unusual combination of gallery, retro shop and bar with tables inside and outside.

From the blackboard outside which listed a few bottled beers, I chose Westmalle Dubbel, a favourite Trappist beer. 

A good choice of late night music on the decent sound system included Angie Stone's I wish I didn't miss you and Charles and Eddie's Would I lie to you. Cafe Baba stayed open after midnight but this would be my last beer of the night and there was only a walk of 450 metres to reach Hotel Rubenshof.