Porto - Thursday 28 February 2019

A full day in Porto / Oporto would include tasting Calem port in Vila Nova de Gaia and end with a free concert by Still Life in the Casa da Musica cafe.

A return to O Fumeiro (Marques), uphill from Hotel Grande Rio, for coffee and croissant was a good start to the day. To go anywhere in Porto usually involves going up or downhill and this may partly explain why there are relatively few cyclists.

On the way downhill, towards the river Douro, I stopped to take a photo of the (closed) tiny Bar Santa Cachaça which I had passed on my first night in the city and not dared to enter!

Another photo stop was for a row of buildings at Praça de Almeida Garrett, opposite São Bento station.

Pelourinho (ornamental pillory) and cathedral beyond

Just down and up from here is the Sé do Porto (cathedral) in an elevanted position where you can enjoy views of the city and the river Douro.

CAL, Av. Vimara Peres 56

I passed CAL, a (closed) bar with bottles of port and beer in the window and a 'craft beer on tap' sign on the northern approach to the high level of Ponte de Dom Luís I metal arch bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Crossing the bridge, which is also used by the Metro, there are good views including the river far below. Looking back to Porto you can see the ancient stone walls, a funicular railway and the steps that I would later climb from river level.

On the Vila Nova da Gaia (southern) side are the various port wine lodges including Calem which I would visit later.

Having reached the south bank there are good views of the bridge showing also the lower level which is used by vehicles and pedestrians.

It is a steep descent to river level and after lunch at a cafe I joined an English language tour of Calem port lodge. John (João?), our professional guide, finished the interesting tour by presenting us with a selection of ports for a tutored tasting. This tour is recommended and the standard tasting (13 euros) includes Cálem Fine White and Cálem Special Reserve Tawny. Our group of five, which included an American / Australian couple, would stay on for some time here learning about each other's trips and origins with IT backgrounds being a common thread for three of us.

Emerging into the daylight the riverside views include the traditional Rabelo boats once used for transporting port down the river Douro. 

I crossed back to Porto on the narrow pavement of the lower level of the Ponte de Dom Luís I.

A long climb up the steps of the Escada Dos Guindais was made easier by the central handrail to pull on. 

A stop for coffee on the shaded first floor terrace of the bar of Guindalense Futebol Clube provided a welcome break. I hear this is a lively place to enjoy beer and music in the evening but did not have a chance to return.

After reaching the top of the steps you arrive at the Batalha end of the funicular and a little further on is Praça da Batalha with a view of the church of Saint Ildefonso at the northern end of the square. Rather stupidly I forgot to visit Cervejaria Levare at Praça da Batalha 12A, which had been closed when I walked past here on Wednesday.

Fábrica Nortada

However, I did walk another five minutes to reach Cerveja Nortada at 210, R. de Sá da Bandeira, for my first beer of the day at 4pm. 

Most of the beers are listed on a blackboard behind the bar.

I ordered Nortada Weiss Bier which was 3 euros for 30cl and served in a tall glass from a tap connected to one of the many horizontal stainless steel tanks in the spacious bar.

The beer range and menu is also available from clipboards at the tables.

I picked a table near the copper brewing vessels and was rewarded by the sight of steam when a brewer came to check on brewing progress.

A visit to the downstairs toilets revealed a sign showing that I had reached the 'Empty' stage and views into the lower level where there are fermentation tanks and a bottling plant.

There are other graphics in the main bar in a similar style.

Bottles of the various Nortada beers are on display.
Cerveja Nortada is a slick operation but my impression was that the focus of attention here was on diners rather than beer enthusiasts. Although the large space had some interesting features, especially the brewery, the rest of it was a bit too bright and modern to be cosy, especially when there were only a few customers inside. 

A Fábrica da Picaria

It was only another 10 minutes walk west for a third visit to A Fábrica da Picaria at Rua da Picaria 72. There is a step up to the entrance which is well worth remembering for the time that you leave or a surprise may result!

With the beer of the month offer still available and complimentary peanuts I settled in at 5pm in the room at the back with the long table and a view of brewing tanks.

Marta had not yet left for the evening yet and I was able to present her with some CAMRA magazines including West Berkshire 'Ullage' that has featured Quinten Taylor's article about beer in Lisbon and Porto and Reading & Mid-Berks 'Mine's a pint' with Quinten on the cover. She kindly posed for a photo wearing the Hop Stuff and West Berkshire Brewery badges that I also gave her.

With my next beer she gave me a dish of marinated Tremoços / Lupini beans to try and showed me how to remove the skin first. There are popular as a snack with beer in Portugal apparently.

There is a shaded elevated terrace with tables accessible from the back of the room. 

On the wall behind my long table is a brewing infographic. The simple limited menu now includes
Bifanas no Pão / Hot pork sandwich: 1,90€ and Cachorrinho / Hot Dog with Cheese: 2,90€.
I liked the small scale and good value at A Fábrica da Picaria. It will certainly be my first choice bar to visit in Porto next time and hopefully Marta will still be there to welcome me back!

Catraio Craft Beer Shop

Another ten minute walk west led to Catraio Craft Beer Shop at Rua de Cedofeita 256, a pedestrian street.

In contrast to the minimalist feel at the previous bars, the dimly lit interior (from lights in bottles) included more decorative features and seemed cosy.

The tables were quite busy so I sat at the bar. My first beer was the reasonably priced and refreshing Ora et Labora Pilsner by Post Scriptum Brewery located between Porto and Braga to the north (1.5 euro, 1/2 pint, 4.5% abv).

An 'In the pursuit of hoppiness' map on a blackboard shows the location of various breweries in Portugal. Ronaldo makes a cameo appearance just above the island of Madeira. Arrows point to Portugal for good beer, Spain for good tapas and Morocco for good hash.

A second beer here was Atlantida by Cerveja Bolina based north of Lisbon (6.5% American IPA, 2.50 euros, 1/2 pint).

Up to 13 beers from the Catraio Craft Beer Shop draught beer range are displayed on untappd.com and details are also fed to a flat screen by the bar. The latest untappd check-ins at the bar are also displayed at the base of the screen. (My untappd.com account name is timofnewbury.)

There were shelves of bottles and leaftlets near the entrance so I left my remaining copies of Ullage magazine there on the way out at 8pm.
With a cosy ambiance, knowledgeable staff and a wide range of beers, Catraio Craft Beer Shop can be recommended but note that it does not uusally open until 4pm.

With a mission to reach Casa da Música by 10pm for a concert it was time for a meal and although it was not my first choice, Migalhas 2 provided excellent value with grilled fish and a half bottle of wine for less than 10 euros. 

With good timing, it was 9.45pm as I approached Casa da Musica, Porto's new concert hall. 

This gave me time to order a drink and find a good seat near the stage of the cafe for a memorable (free) performance by Still Life Trio featuring Margherita Abita (vocals), João Silva (violin) and Claudio Marrero (sax and keyboards).
A late finish but an easy journey back to my hotel by metro. This had been a 19000+ steps day!

Postscript:

Many thanks to Marta who kindly gave me A Fábrica da Picaria branded glasses as souvenirs for Quinten's visit in 2018 and my visit in 2019. 

While I am looking after Quinten's glass until I can hand it to him in Reading one day, my glass was put to good use on Easter day!

Brussels Friday 22 March 2019

The prospect of a first visit to L'Ermitage Nano Brasserie in Brussels and day trips to Mechelen and Leuven made a trip to Belgium by Eurostar, while the United Kingdom still remained a member of the European Union, something to look forward to in March 2019.

L'Ermitage Nano Brasserie, Brussels - decorated window to street.

Friday 22 March arrived and the first stage was to get from Newbury to Brussels via London Paddington and St Pancras International.

£6.25 Newbury to London (with railcard)

On previous trips the return fare from Newbury to London often cost more than the single fare from London to Brussels but on this occasion I had snagged an advance single fare of £6.25 in a Great Western Railway ticket sale.

London Paddington station - view from overbridge

Thankfully my train arrived at London Paddington on time. The view from the overbridge leading to the Hammersmith and City line station called for a photograph. With mainly electric trains instead of diesels nowadays the station is quieter and the air quality is better.

A walk through St Pancras International revealed that there were no queues for the Eurostar terminal so I headed for the Barrel Vault, the new Wetherspoon pub sited in the unit previously occupied by Marks & Spencer on the east side of the station with windows facing Kings Cross station.

There was time to order a small breakfast (£3.10) and coffee with refills (£1.80) while I waited for Simon to arrive.

Simon duly arrived and after breakfasting we joined the short queue for the 10.58am Brussels train at the Eurostar terminal. Despite Simon's intention to book a forward facing window seat we ended up with a rear facing seat and not much window. The train was full so there was no opportunity to move seats.

Brasserie de L'Ermitage

After arriving on time at Brussels Midi we walked to Brasserie de L'Ermitage, 26 Rue Lambert Crickx via Place Bara.

On Friday or Saturday a visit to this brewery and tasting room can be combined with a visit to nearby Brasserie Cantillon and is recommended. See L'Ermitage Nano Brasserie blog post for more details of the quirky decor, beers and brewery.

After checking into our hotel we caught a 51 tram from Bodegem south to Albert at 16:10.

We both used our pre-purchased MoBIB cards to pay for the journey on board.

Most of the trip was underground and leaving Albert station we headed for Parc de Forest passing Bar du Matin at Place Albert on the way.

Parc de Forest (panoramic)

It was a surprise to find that we were now in an elevated position with views towards Anderlecht from Parc de Forest. We noticed that there were plenty of people in the park relaxing in the sunshine.
We took a walk down towards the northern corner passing a group of fir trees with hanging parrots nests and noisy green parrots congregating.

A view from this side of the park included a variety of houses in Avenue du Mont Kemmel bathed in afternoon sunlight.

4,5,6 Ave du Mont Kemmel

We walked back up this road and spotted some decorative art nouveau houses at the road's highest point.

Moeder Lambic Original

After repassing Bar du Matin we walked down Rue Arthur Diderich to find Moeder Lambic 'Original' on the corner with Rue du Savoie.

Arriving here at 17:00 we enjoyed two beers inside at a chunky wooden table beside an open window. The hip-hop style music playing seemed a bit incongruous with the surroundings.

More details of our visit can be found in a separate blog post Moeder Lambic Original, Saint-Gilles which includes the daily tap list with three cask ales. A visit to this bar is recommended but note the 16:00 opening time on weekdays.

On leaving it was downhill again towards the Barriere roundabout which many trams circumnavigate.

Brasserie Verschueren

 

We walked north down Chaussee de Waterloo to reach Parvis de Saint-Gilles and Brasserie Verschueren arriving at 18:30.

The tables were busy but we found a narrow table inside the art deco style room with a view towards the bar. For details of the 'Bieres Maison' from De Ranke and Brasserie de la Senne that we enjoyed here and Pepsi the cat view a separate blog post Brasserie Verschueren, Saint-Gilles.

Brasserie de L'Union

Simon at the Brasserie de L'Union

A two minute walk east along the broad pedestrianised Parvis de Saint-Gilles led to the equally stylish Brasserie de L'Union on the corner with Rue de Moscou. There are black and white photo portraits behind the bar and the illuminated bar canopy is topped with a sign 'L'Union fait la force'.

The beer we both ordered here was draught Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet (8.4% ABV 33cl, 3 euros). The bad news was that it was not served in the brewery's own glass however it is a beer that I always enjoy drinking.

La Brocante

After a 1km walk north via Rue Haute along the side of the University Hospital we reached La Brocante, 170 Rue Blaes, on a corner of Place du Jeu de Balle, the site of the daily Marolles market (8am-2pm) where antiques and bric-a-brac can be found. It was now 20:20.

Less busy than the previous two brasseries we found a table near the bar and after spotting a promotional poster I ordered draught Brasserie {C} Smash (Liege Pale Ale, 6.2% ABV, IBU 26 - 'notre nouvelle sensation houblonnee') hopped only with Mosaic and certainly tasting hoppy.

There is an interesting sculpted city scene with a central tree behind the bar and a variety of enamel brewery signs. Music from a commercial radio station was playing.

The cafe even displays its own enamel sign which may not be as old as it looks?

The floor tiles are the same as at Brasserie Verschueren and La Brocante also has its own cat.
There was no opportunity to stay for a second beer here as it closes at 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Cafe Bebo

Instead we walked another kilometre to the spacious premises of Cafe Bebo, 2 Avenue de Stalingrad, arriving at 21:00.

We both ordered draught Brasserie Dubuisson Cuvee des Trolls which was served in the correct 33cl glassware. The 7% ABV, 19 IBU blonde ale, with dried orange peel added at the boiling stage, cost 3.50 euros here.

Poechenellekelder

 

After this beer we walked a further 500 metres, past Mannekin Pis to Poechenellekelder and were relieved to find a free table on arrival. I ordered lasagne as usual and draught Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba.

We stayed for another beer as there is always good service here and the surroundings are fascinating.

Moeder Lambic Fontainas

We left before midnight and stopped off at Moeder Lambic Fontainas on the way back to our hotel.

This is a different style of bar to the original in Saint-Gilles. Here you can rely on the same good service but with a larger choice of beers in a more contemporary setting. The six handpumps can be spotted half way along the back of the bar by the Cantillon sign.
Simon was especially impressed by his black IPA from Ghent's Dok Brewing Company - Sabrosura. This was brewed in collaboration with Madrid's La Quince Brewing and includes mango and Guajillo chilli additions.

We would return to Moeder Lambic Fontainas on Saturday night after a visit to Mechelen and there are photos from this visit at the end of the Mechelen meander blog post.

On Sunday we visited Leuven - more details in Leuven jazz festival blog post.

On Monday, before returning to the UK we visited some Victor Horta art nouveau buildings in Ixelles and revisited Saint-Gilles including a second visit to Brasserie de L'Union - more details in Brussels (South) blog post.