Antwerp - February 2025

 

Antwerp Central station looks spectacular from inside and outside! Our arrival on Sunday 2 February 2025 only required a short walk west on De Keyserlei, passing Bier Central and several diamond jewellery specialists, and then south near the Opera to reach YAYS aparthotel, just past a convenient Lidl supermarket.xx

The new YAYS aparthotel has no reception with guests using a PIN number to enter the hotel and pre-advised room and is recommended. 

This post will focus on bars visited for the first time and will mainly be useful for anyone staying near the central station or visiting any of the excellent art and photo galleries in the Zuid district. 

Antwerpen-Centraal

Unfortunately De Kroon van Hopland (previously visited) and De Hovenier (marked for a visit) were both closed so three less recognised cafe bars were visited in the evenings.

Cafe de Klok was the largest cafe bar of these and our custom seemed to be tolerated here without much of a welcome. There were only a few customers in the last hour before closing. The sizeable room has tall windows with curtains, a wooden central bar and bench seating with red leather cushioning. The overhead fluorescent lighting might be the bar's worst feature. The Belgian pop music from the jukebox tonight wasn't really appreciated either!

There's a picture of the bar's exterior with Stella Artois branding, in the pages of the bound menu.

There's a decent selection of beers including local options like De Koninck Bolleke on draught and Seefbier in bottles. Prices were reasonable with all six Trappist beers priced under €5.

The bottle of Hopus (€4.70) was correctly served, with a branded shot glass for the sediment from the bottle, although it's left to the drinker to perform 'the theatre of the pour'.

An earlier visit to In de Stad Aalst, before a good meal at Restaurant Sinbad, was a completely different experience.

The small space with a short bar was busy with regulars but we found a table near the front window. A chandelier and many small framed photos of customers on a side wall are reflected in the window. The floor tiles were a traditional floral design. Other decoration included traditional Tripel Karmeliet and Stella Artois signs. The barman simply pointed at a small list of beers, on a wall just past the bar, when asked for a menu.

It was hard to go wrong with a keenly priced Westmalle Tripel here! You have to like music played loudly to relax here and the varied selection included some rock classics including Peggy Sue and Love Potion Number 9.

Like De Hovenier, In de Stad Aalst is one of the cafes included in the 'More great cafes' section at the end of Regula Ysewijn's book 'Belgian Cafe Culture'.

There are two bars next to each other on Kipdorbrug at the junction with Italielei / Frankreiklei. On two occasions one would be open while the other was closed. On Sunday night, Tante Lies was in darkness but De Kleine Opera was open.

This was another lively bar, with local drinkers. The dimly lit interior featured games machines and  neon lighting.

When my chosen beer was not available it was no hardship to accept Westmalle Tripel (€4.50) as an alternative! A new customer was made to feel welcome here but an antiseptic smell did not encourage lingering for long.

Het Zuid

                                            KMSKA                                             MHKAFE (Keith Haring)                 M HKA (Panamarenko)                                                                          

A Visit Antwerpen post mentions 'Het Zuid has been setting the tone in cultural and creative terms in Antwerp for decades. Just a five-minute walk apart, you'll find three top museums ... The Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) ... Fotomuseum Antwerpen (FOMU) ... and the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA). 

Having previously visited KMSKA in 2024, this year we visited MHK A where a temporary Panamarenko - Journey to the Stars exhibit included a spaceship model. 

Absorbing culture is thirsty work and while in the Het Zuid neighbourhood we visited L'Entrepot du Congo which overlooks the new Zuidpark, a green area that was previously docks and then a car park. 

A locally brewed De Koninck Bolleke (€3.50) always makes a good first beer of the day in Antwerp! The large high-ceilinged room has black and white floor tiles and traditional cafe furniture with marble topped tables. At a nearby table, a customer had brought his cat on a lead inside while he quickly drank a cup of coffee. 

The range of bottled beers includes Nello's Blond and Nello's Tripel brewed by Brouwerij De Arend in Hoboken, Antwerp, four Super 8 beers, Gordon Scotch Xmas and Guinness.

View north from steps of the Vlinderpaleis, Bolivarplaats, Antwerp Zuid

When every table in Cafe Hopper, on the southern end of Leopold de Waelplaats, was taken on a Monday afternoon, we walked south to the Palace of Justice 'Vlinderpaleis' at Bolivarplaats.  After climbing the steps we had a good view back towards Antwerp along Amerikalei. 

By the time we returned, Cafe Hopper was still full so we went across the road to Wijnbistro Patine, next to Chatleroi which had not yet opened.

Patine has a nice rustic atmosphere with natural wood shelves. A bottle of Seefbier brewed by Antwerpse Brouw Co (€4.20) made a good local choice. The bar's menu has daily special offers including draught Stella Artois for €1.85 on Mondays and house wine for €2.95 on Wednesdays.

In February, Chatleroi, the black cat themed bar, opens at 4pm on weekdays and we had no problem finding a table soon afterwards! From March 2025, weekday opening is 3pm.

There's a mix of high and low marble topped tables, with basic stools to sit on. The illuminated Vedett sign behind the bar reads 'Rock and Roll never dies'. Appropriately, there's plenty of interesting rock and blues music being played including Dire Straits - Wild West End and Tom Waits - Downtown Train. Draught beers include the estimable Tripel d'Anvers brewed by De Koninck in Antwerp served in a stemmed glass that features buildings in the city.

Chouffe in the cafe at Middelheim Museum

We returned to Het Zuid the next afternoon after a visit to the open air sculpture park at Middelheim Museum where the cafe is also recommended. On this occasion there was a table free at Cafe Hopper, previously visited in 2024, after a visit to KMSKA, and recommended for its coffee, beer and music selection.

Other revisited bars

De Ware Jacob                                   De Vagant

A few favourite Antwerp bars were revisited on this trip including De Ware Jacob (for draught Avec Les Bons Voeux) and De Vagant (for draught Cherry Chouffe) which were as enjoyable as ever. It is always reassuring to find places like this where the owner has a familiar face and runs an establishment to be proud of in an effortless way.

Only visited previously in 2019, it was nice to revisit Beerlovers Bar (for draught Brouwerij St Bernardus Tripel and a bottle of Huisbrouwerij Wapper Saison Wapper) and find that it was better than remembered. Both service and prices were good. Perhaps the secret is to visit on a quiet Monday! 

This visit coincided with a meal at nearby Little Tibet Cafe (Tibetan art cafe, Rotterdamstraat 88) which is simply furnished and serves dishes from a limited menu. The substantial noodle based dishes are recommended and good value. A few beers are available.

Friends have enjoyed beer and food at Bier Central and a first visit was made as it was close to the aparthotel. It proved to be a pleasant place to sit down and take a leisurely look at the 'Beer Encylopaedia' menu, where beer prices are higher than average. On this occasion there was no need to order anything but perhaps another time?

Tim has made many visits to Antwerp and these have been documented by posts in Beer Europe over the years. The web version of Beer Europe includes a search field. 

Some recent Antwerp posts include:

Antwerp First visits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/AntwerpFV2024.html 

Antwerp Revisits June 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/07/antwerp-2024-revisits.html 

Antwerp Spring 2024 - beereurope.blogspot.com/2024/03/antwerp-spring-2024.html

Dinant 2025

 

Finding an old postcard of Dinant - La Roche a Bayard in my late uncle's collection was an inspiration to see the road through the vertical rocks beside the river Meuse, south of the town. Dinant is 27 km south of Namur and 87 km south of Brussels. 

Staying in Namur made a visit there simple as there are usually two direct trains an hour from there to Dinant. We decided on a Saturday for the visit as two interesting bars there don't open until late afternoon on weekdays. However, the downside was finding the small town rather busy with fellow tourists on Saturday 1 February 2025.

From seats on the right hand side of train, on a very misty morning, there were mainly views across the river Meuse during the half hour journey. The train passes several barrages, with lock systems for the large barges that use the river. Shortly before arriving in Dinant, the train crosses a bridge to the west bank of the river and passes the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Leffe, above the other bank. The Abbey's image is featured on bottles of Leffe beer.

After leaving the train, one can cross the river by the Charles de Gaulle bridge to reach the town with it's citadel above. that can be accessed by climbing 408 steps or taking the telepherique / cable car. The bridge is adorned with saxophones variously painted to represent different countries and a tribute to Adolphe Sax, born in the town and inventor of the saxophone in the 1840s.

La Capsule

Visible from the bridge with it's orange facade and situated under the Citadel on the east bank of the river Meuse, we were early customers at La Capsule and picked a table near the window with views across the river.

It was cold outside and unsurprisingly no customers were yet sat at the tables on either side of the cobbled road between the bar and the river. We only drank coffee on our first visit in the morning but returning at 2.30pm and able to sit at the same table we found that the sunshine had attracted customers to the outside seats.

There was a poster in the town for Dinant Biere Blonde (Brasserie des Legendes) but La Capsule had Biere Le Dinantais (Brasserie Minne) a 5.3% ABV Blonde brewed for the bar and featuring the orange frontage on its label and matching glass.

Although it was bright from sunshine at the front of the bar it was only dimly lit at the back. A guest beer from the tap enjoyed here was Bretty Boop by Brasserie des Legendes.

The regular tap beers are mentioned on a page in the bound menu and the guest beers are written on a white board near the entrance which also features a variety of brewery signs. 

The 'Tout sur le Houblon IPA' section of the menu includes beers from Brussels breweries: Brussels Beer Project (Delta) and Brasserie de l'Ermitage (Lanterne, Soleil and Theorem de l'Empereur - a beer featured in the Unusual Suspects section of Breandan Kearney's book Hidden Beers of Belgium).

Pub St Roch

Our first beers in Dinant were enjoyed at Pub St Roch after visiting the vertical rockfaces at Rocher Bayard. The historic building overlooks a small cobbled square where Rue Pont en Isle meets Rue Courte Saint-Roch.

Inside, it is simply furnished and traditional touches include candlelight at the bar and an old clock. A curving wooden staircase leads to additional seating on the first floor. We chose the table closest to the log fire.

The laminated drinks menu cards include (Wallonian) regional sections for beers with none from Flanders or large breweries.

Our beer choices here included Bertinchamps Framboise (€4, 33cl, Namur region) and draught Brasserie Caulier Bon Secours 4 Houblons (€4.50, 33cl, Hainaut region). A portion of cheese, served with celery salt, also seemed appropriate at lunchtime.

It's well worth walking south of the bridge to find this historic pub with excellent service and facilities.

A walk further south will reward you with river views and and Rocher Bayard where the southbound road skirts around by the river and the northbound goes through.

For details of bars visited in Namur - please see the Namur 2025 blog post.

Liege 2025

The curves of the new Liege-Guillemins station, designed by Santiago Calatrava have graced the city since it's opening in 2009. The major city in Wallonia is situated on the river Meuse, near Belgium's eastern borders with Germany (Aachen) and The Netherlands (Maastricht).

Views from the Namur to Liege train

Liege-Guillemins is normally served by two trains an hour from Namur taking 45-50 minutes for the journey that follows the north bank of the river Meuse. We arrived in Liege by train on the morning of Friday 31 January 2025. Passengers aged 65+ can make a return journey between any two Belgian cities for €8.50 with a Senior Ticket. Tram tracks now lie in front of the station but the start of the Liege tram service has been delayed until April 2025.

L'Aigle d'Or

Taverne L'Aigle d'Or is one of the few Wallonie bar cafes mentioned in Belgian Cafe Culture by Regula Ysewijn. Most of the iconic cafes in this handsome book are in Flanders.

Arriving here just before noon, we were able to find a table before customers began arriving at lunchtime. Blackboards list the lunchtime menu, large arches break the space into distinct areas, several tall fridges are stocked with a variety of beers, a partition separates the bar from the dining area with tables.

A bound menu includes details of 9 permanent draught beers and bottled beers. A further 11 variable draught beers are served.

Permanent draught beers include L'Aiglon, a 5.4% ABV Blonde brewed for the bar by Brasserie Minne. This was highly rated by Frank, a homebrewer from Aachen (humble_beer on Untappd).

Impressively, the menu page for Trappist beers includes 3 Westvleteren beers and Tynt Meadow. Music playing included Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild.

Museum La Bovarie + Madame Bovarie

After coffee at Aigle d'Or, we headed to Museum La Boverie (art gallery), crossing to the island part of Liege using the La Belle Liegeios footbridge which opened in 2016.

Artworks in the permanent collection include The Turnip Washer by Evariste Carpentier. 

The Museum La Boverie shop had a display of Brasserie Surrealiste beers for sale. 

The fridge at the Madame Bovarie 'sandwich shop' inside the museum building with views towards the river Meuse was well stocked.

For our first beers of the day we enjoyed locally brewed beers here. Blanche de Liege is a wheat beer brewed by Brasserie de l'Abbaye du Val-Dieu, 20 km north-east of Liege. Smash is a pale ale brewed with Mosaic hops by Brasserie (C) in Liege. A complimentary bowl of savoury snack biscuits was placed on our tray when we reached the payment point.

It was nice to see Le Plongeur et son arc in the distance, a 2000 replica of a 1939 artwork by Idel Ianchelevici featuring a diver on his hands on the tip of a white arc of a diving board on the opposite bank, as we walked northwards from La Boverie.

After crossing the Pont Albert 1 back to the west side of the river, we walked past the yacht harbour and then inland to Place Saint-Paul by the cathedral before continuing past the historic Taverne Saint-Paul to reach Le Pot au Lait.

Le Pot au Lait

A lengthy passage leads to Le Pot au Lait and there are exotic and colourful 3D murals to admire on the way.

The entrance to the bar is also elaborately and colourfully decorated.

Inside the lighting is dim and a variety of spooky and weird images and objects are displayed. There are plenty of different areas for seating and it was quite busy for an afternoon. Heavy metal music was playing. 

The beer menu offers good variety and value. Beers are ordered and paid for at the bar, which has a surface decorated with a colourful mosaic design..

Beers may be served in a standard stemmed glass as in the case of the Goliath Triple brewed by Brasserie des Legendes.

L'Annexe

To reach our final bar in Liege, L'Annexe, involved passing Au Delft by the university and recrossing the river Meuse on a footbridge - Passarelle Saucy.

L'Annexe is accessed from a narrow passageway (Rue Roture) that leads off a one way street (Rue Puits-en-Sock) and is situated across from Cafe Le Petit Bougnat. It's only open from 4pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Blackboards against an internal brick wall by the bar list bottled / canned beers, cocktails (not shown above) and draught beers. The bar was very quiet so there was an opportunity to chat with Kenny the barman, from Mauritius. He went to the cellar to look for a beer from Misery Beer Co (as featured in Breandan Kearney's book Hidden Beers of Belgium). 

He returned with his last can of English Porter (€7) but sadly there was no Harzington 'inspired by the brewers of Vermont'. 

Instead Hazy Pale brewed by Norm Brewing, less than 2km away proved an excellent alternative. Kenny also gave us a complimentary dish of crisps. Music playing was laid back in style e.g. Ross David - Fire Burnin. 

The bar was still quiet when we left and in a heartwarming moment, Kenny handed me the can of Misery Beer Co English Porter as a gift, refusing to accept any payment for it. Cheers!

From here we caught a bus that took us over the Pont des Arches and dropped us near the imposing Palais Provincial. A short uphill walk leads to Liege-Saint-Lambert station which was undergoing building work and had no functioning platform indicators. Happily the train we boarded was bound for Brussels via Namur and we would arrive back in Namur in darkness.

Obviously, half a day is inadequate to explore Liege fully and it is a city destined for a future visit!

A separate blog post Namur 2025 features bars visited in Namur on this trip.