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 2022 - Hoogstraat area

Hoogstraat is a pedestrian street that runs south from the Suikerrui / Grote Markt junction to St-Jansvliet which hosts a Sunday market and has the entrance to Sint-Annatunnel, the pedestrian tunnel under the river Scheldt.

Het Souke

Het Souke (formerly 't Half Souke) is at 59 Hoogstraat on the corner with Heilige Geest. It was featured in Regula Ysewijn's book Belgian Cafe Culture with a photo of Leentje, the cafe landlady standing on the uneven tiled floor. Closed when I last visited in 2019, an online report for Algemeen Dagblad dated 4 July 2021 mentions that Leentje had to move to a care home and the cafe was bought by Nathan Gouka and is now managed by his son Jacob. 

They have improved the cafe by laying a flat floor and installing a wide sash window that opens up onto Hoogstraat. 

The mirrors on the inside wall have been retained but the decor has changed with record album covers over the bar and a rack for newspapers and music magazines.

For tradition, a Bolleke De Koninck (Antwerp Pale Ale) was my first beer in Antwerp on a wet Thursday evening (30 June). The wet weather would explain why I had the cafe to myself until Andrew, Keith and Richard joined me.

In addition to the beers listed on the board, there were some bottles displayed on the bar. After a chat with Jacob, I opted for Steenuilke, a sweet blond beer from Brouwerij De Ryck (Herzele) which suited my taste.

On arrival, the music playing included some psychedelic tracks (Monterey by the Animals - 1967, Mind Flowers by Ultimate Spinach - 1968, Gold and Silver by Quicksilver Messenger Service - 1968) that also suited my taste so I was glad when the 'usual suspects' also enjoyed the ambience and we had a further round of beers - draught De Koninck Triple D'Anvers for me.

Before leaving I left a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine with Jacob and he kindly posed with it before placing it in the rack. Thankfully it had stopped raining by the time we left Het Souke.

Het Souke is an updated traditional cafe with strong musical links and is recommended for anyone with eclectic musical tastes.

De Vagant

Traditionally, the 'usual suspects' would visit De Vagant, Reyndersstraat 25, for jenevers after lunch and beers at De Groote Witte Arend, on the other side of the street. However, De Groote Witte Arend, housed in a convent building with a courtyard, has changed to Pannenkoekenhuis Familie Suykerbuyck so we did not visit this year.

With its high ceiling, traditional floor tiles, tall windows, traditional furniture and stripped back decor, De Vagant seems airy and timeless. 

Since our last visit the range of jenevers has been cut and the range of beers has increased making the menu easy to navigate. My first beer of the day was a draught Bolleke De Koninck and there was a chair waiting for me at an inside table occupied by the usual suspects.

Simon, Andrew, Dave + Bart with Ullage + Keith & Richard

With La Chouffe on tap and sufficient matching glassware we were able to give Bart, our considerate host, a simple order sometime later.

a glass of jenever for John Reynor RIP

The others also ordered jenevers and Dave ordered a jenever for absent John Reynor. Sadly, John passed away in 2021 as a result of sepsis. It was Dave and John who attended the first Bierpassie Weekend in 2000. Others would join this group in later years (as the junior member of this group, I had not met Dave on my four previous visits - from 2016 to 2019). 

Before leaving De Vagant, Bart kindly offered to photograph our group and at this point we had ordered further beers (including my Adriaen Brouwer Tripel by Brouwerij Roman of Oudenaarde) and shared John's glass of jenever with a toast to him. It was generous of Dave to pay the final bar bill of 144 euros. Cheers!

Subsequent research identified a post by VRT, the Flemish Radio and Television Broadcasting Organisation, mentioning that De Vagant closed on Sunday 5 December 2021 due to the age of manager Ronald Ferket. The jenever collection above the cafe went to the jenever museum in Hasselt.

Our next stop was TOTA, 24 Hoogstraat, for authentic Argentinian empanadas.

De Ware Jacob

Facing south, De Ware Jacob is at Vlasmarkt 19. The 2022 opening times are displayed in the window (Tue - Fri  / di-vr: 15:00, Sat - Sun / za-zo: 14:00).

This was the Saturday late afternoon rendezvous for Simon (after returning from Linkeroever via Sint-Annatunnel), Andrew, Dave and Tim (after returning from Linkeroever via free pedestrian ferry) and Keith and Richard (after visiting Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie).

Simon was first to arrive and picked a pavement table next to an English couple. We chose bottled beers from the menu which includes beers from 9 local breweries still operating out of the 11 listed. 

Draught beers available include Brasserie Dupont Bons Voeux (9.5% ABV) and Sint Barnardus Abt. with an overall choice from 120 beers.

Simon & Dave (I ate all the pies) + Cabardouche Blonde Stoot

The introductory page mentions that De Ware Jacob (true Jacob) has only been a cafe since 1977. This information can also be gleaned from Regula Ysewijn's book Belgian Cafe Culture. She mentions that the interior is much older and was salvaged from other cafes. The bar came from a cafe in Brussels and the wooden wall panelling comes from another cafe in Antwerp. 

The house is a listed building which dates back to the 16th century during the Spanish rule.

Regula also writes that the steep stairwell you find in the back is from this period and is one of the very few 'pagaddertrappen' in Antwerp. On this visit I remembered to photograph the stairwell after a visit to the toilets at the back.

Before leaving, there was also an opportunity to ask the landlord his name (Guy, pronounced Gie) and ask about the word on his t-shirt - goegezjost. Guy explained that it was local dialect for someone who had been tricked or cheated. 

Guy at the wheel! - a page from the beer menu

Guy accepted a copy of West Berkshire CAMRA magazine Ullage in exchange for a Dutch Bierproefgids (Beer Tasting Guide) produced by Ariel Meeusen 'BierCoach' of City Beerwalk from a pile on a shelf inside the cafe.

See also the 2019 Antwerp post which includes photos taken then when Tim and Steve visited De Ware Jacob previously. 

This is another cafe with an appeal to music lovers as the background music is blues, rock, jazz and folk. The maritime details of the cafe's interior and the beer range that includes draught Bons Voeux served by Guy are additional reasons to visit. 

Our group would now split with Tim and Keith visiting the new location of Msemen for a Moroccan meal in the 34 Hoogstraat premises that were previously Aura Brasserie. The food is prepared in an open kitchen. There is now a small fountain in the quiet courtyard at the back.

For more Antwerp background material please see Antwerp - The Usual Suspects 2022 and other linked posts from there.

Brussels feat. Gist - Sunday 30 June 2019

Transferring to Brussels on day four would bring first visits to Gist and Au Laboureur as well as repeat visits to old favourites Poechenellekelder, Delirium Cafe (Hoppy Loft) and Moeder Lambic Fontainas.

Steve and I caught the 11.40 Antwerp Central (top level) to Brussels Midi train arriving 12.31. The standard single fare is 7.40 euros. It took a while to get through the sprawling Sunday market between Brussels Midi / Zuid station and Boulevard Maurice Lemonnier and then it was another 500 metres along the shady side of the street to reach Hotel Barry at Place Anneessens.

We could leave luggage in our rooms before continuing past Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Mannekin Pis and Poechenellekelder to reach Gist at Place de la Vielle Halle aux Bles.

As Gist (meaning Yeast in Dutch) was closed we retraced our steps down Rue du Chene, passing a mural, to reach Poechenellekelder.

Plenty of people were seated at outside tables but we climbed the spiral stairs to find a table near the small bar.

(Photo: Steve Kelly)

By now it was 1.30pm and I ordered a coffee while Steve chose a 37.5 cl bottle of Oude Geuze Boon from Brouwerij Boon (7.70 euro). Bottles of the 7% ABV 'blend of 90% mild 18 month-old lambic, 5% strong 3 year-old beer and 5% very young lambic, which provides fermentable sugars and wild yeasts' are given a best before date 20 years after the bottling date. Steve commented 'Sour. Lovely' on Untappd.

Poechenellekelder is famed for its collection of puppets and figures and also has a fine collection of enamel beer signs. A puppet on stilts attached to the hand rail jiggles his head everytime anyone touches the hand rail when using the stairs to reach the toilets downstairs!

My first beer was Saison de Dottignies by Brouwerij de Ranke from the draught beer menu.

When Simon Grist joined us, having travelled on a later train from Antwerp, we ordered lunch. A Croque Monsieur sans jambon for Steve while lasagne was 'the usual' for me and Simon. The lasagne takes a while to cool down and eventually I nearly finished mine.

I stayed with the saison beer style by ordering a bottle of IV Saison by Brasserie Jandrain-Jandrenouille (6.5% ABV, 4.20 euro) as the last beer here. This is the original beer produced at the brewery since 2007 in a rural location midway between Brussels and Liege.

At 4.15pm we walked back up Rue du Chene to meet up with John, Keith and Richard at Gist which had opened at 3pm.

An outside board by the entrance lists the beers on tap including two on cask.

Inside, the two handpumps are just visible behind a blackboard propped up against them. An elevated stainless steel box section houses the taps for the other draught beers.

The interior includes a mixture of seating and a variety of posters and artwork on the white walls. There are two record decks with LPs underneath at the far end of the bar. Some loud frenzied music was playing that meant it was more relaxing to sit outside. However Steve liked the music here and the music played later was more acceptable to my ears.

Opposite the bar is more seating with sections of blackboard above to display the draught beers individually.

Outside our pavement tables gave a view of Place de la Vielle Halle aux Blés which contains a statue of Jacques Brel. This was visited by passing tourists posing for selfies and further distraction arose from vehicles passing and then reversing nearby after finding that Rue du Chene was closed to traffic.
We spent three hours here and the beers I enjoyed from the draught menu were Mongy Session IPA (4% ABV) by Brasserie Cambier based near Lille, Lupulus Blanche the permanent white beer at Gist and the cask version of Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba.

Simon with Jenlain & Jody

After my tip to visit the bar, Simon Grist had spent several hours at Gist on Thursday evening and spoken with the owners Jenlain and Jody. Today it was my chance to chat with them. Jenlain explained that they are able to sell casks of beer within three days so that the quality is maintained. They also check the cask beer carefully each day and will not serve it if the quality has deteriorated.

They started with some casks from the London brewers Anspach & Hobday and are able to use the empty casks to source Belgian beers from Brasserie de la Senne, L'Ermitage and No Science amongst others. Jenlain mentioned that they expect to be involved with serving cask beer at the BXL BeerFest at Tour & Taxis, Brussels on 24-25 August, 2019. Jenlain was interested to see the programme for BierPassie Weekend that we had attended in Antwerp but thought that the festival's 20cl servings were on the large side.

The Gulp // Cask Ale comes to Brussels post by Brussels resident Eoghan Walsh about Gist which had led to our visit includes details of the Gulp cask festival held there on a Friday in May 2019.

It was time for Simon to go to Brussels Midi to catch his Eurostar train back to London so he departed at about 7.15pm. While John, Keith and Richard were keen to visit Poechenellekelder for lasagne and then move to Delirium Cafe's Hoppy Loft, Steve and I had an alternative plan and would meet them at the Hoppy Loft later. Before leaving we had to get photos at the Jacques Brel statue!

Au Daringman

Steve and I walked to Au Labourer via Galeries Royales Saint Hubert pausing for a glance at A la Mort Subite.

Contnuing, we passed Saint Catherine church and then along narrow Rue du Flandre passing Au Daringman at 37, the corner with Rue du Chien Martin.

A la Mort Subite, Au Daringman and Au Laboureur are all featured in Regula Ysewijn's book as authentic Belgian cafes. A visit to Au Daringman is on the cards for my next visit to Brussels.

Au Labourer, Rue du Flandre 108, is at the northern end, at the junction with Rue du Marche au Porcs.

Regula Ysewijn writes 'Today we find an early 1920s decor with wooden wall panelling and a matching bar, all made by Henri Houbaer from Koekelberg, who also created the interior in other Brussels cafes around this time. On the outside of the bar you still find the traditional geuze corkscrew, I have never seen it in such a prominent spot.'

With prominent advertising for Papegaei from Brouwerij Verstraete this was an 8% ABV strong blonde ale that we both ordered. It is brewed with barley, wheat, oats and fresh hops by Adam Verstraete at the Deca brewery in Woesten, near Ypres. We sat at a table inside to avoid most of the traffic noise outside but all the doors and windows were open on this warm evening. The distinctive music playing on the sound system was by Alain Bashung (1947-2009) from En Amont, his last studio album, released posthumously in 2018.

We left at 9.15pm and stopped to take a photo of the Cubitus mural that faces Au Laboureur from across Rue du Marche au Porcs. The scene is of the Mannekin Pis statue but Mannekin's position has been usurped by Cubitus the dog and he is the spectator by the railings.

On the way to Delirium Village we stopped for some Asian food at a new minimalist cafe / restaurant in Rue du Flandre that Steve had spotted with an illustrated vegetarian menu displayed in the front window

Crossing the pedestrianised Boulevard Anspach, Steve noticed the bicycle wheels suspended across the street in connection with the Tour de France which would start from Brussels within a week.

We arrived at Delirium Cafe, Impasse de la Fidélité 4, at about 10pm.

We climbed the steps from the entrance to reach the Hoppy Loft and find the others sat at one of the tables with a top made from a wagon wheel in the dimly lit room.

From the list of 20 draught beers above the bar, I enjoyed a 25cl glass of Zero San, a Brut IPA dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin from Reservoir Dogs (Nova Gorica, Slovenia) costing 5.60 euros.

There were two other beers from Reservoir Dogs, four beers from Oitava Colina (Lisbon, Portugal) and three beers from Beerstorming (Brussels) amongst others.

The Hoppy Loft has plenty of brewery enamel signs on display and there are more on the passageway that leads to the toilets.

One of the cheapest beers (3.80 euros / 25cl) was Delirium Tremens by Huyghe Brewery and this seemed a good reason to reacquaint myself with it!

When the Hoppy Loft closed we joined the lively crowd in the passageway outside. Impasse de la Fidélité is the location for Jeanneke Pis fountain and statue, protected by railings, another photo opportunity!

Moeder Lambic Fontainas is on the way back to Hotel Barry from Delirium Village and this is where I enjoyed my final beer of the night - Noisy Pale Ale brewed by No Science. The 6% ABV Belgian IPA (60 IBU) is brewed with Challenger and Mosaic hops. This was a recommendation from Jenlain of Gist who had called in to his old workplace for a beer. Jenlain pointed out the six handpumps against the wall at the back of the bar and mentioned that he had been involved in expanding the range of beer styles served from these pumps. He also pointed out that there is only limited storage capacity for beers to be served from the handpumps but that KeyKegs could be accommodated. 

With music by the Handsome Family playing on the sound system it was nice to be able to sit at the bar with good beer and good music. As usual the Moeder Lambic staff were reliably professional. 
Hotel Barry is only 250 metres away and I would sleep soundly despite the residual heat and lack of air conditioning in my room.