Mechelen 2026

You will find a concentration of cafe bars around Mechelen's historic Grote Markt which is overlooked by Saint Rumbold's tower. On the last two days of a Belgian trip during the May 2026 heatwave, Makadam was the only one that Tim and Meg visited.

Several cafe bars in other parts of Mechelen were also visited though! Mechelen is easy to reach by train with two stations on the main railway line between Brussels and Antwerp. However, some trains do not stop at Mechelen-Nekkerspoel.

Makadam

Makadam is the arrowed cafe bar on the north side of the Grote Markt with the 'Martha Sexy Blond' sponsored sunshades. (NB Martha Tripel is the beer's new name).

Special beers in bottles or cans are listed on a blackboard and there is a smaller board, near the entrance, listing draught beers.

The printed beer menu lists about 80 bottled beers including several from local and smaller brewers.

Tim chose Brasserie de la Senne Wadesda #9, a Tripel Saison limited release from the Specials board.

Café De Hanekeef

Located at Keizerstraat 8, Mechelen's oldest beer cafe has been serving drinks since 1886. There is a strong rooster theme at Café de Hanekeef which takes it's name from the baskets that they were carried away in from a nearby market.
After climbing the steps to enter the cafe, one of the first things to notice is the old wooden tip-up seats along one wall that may have come from an old cinema.

The decorative floor tiles and a traditional wooden 'spaarkas' with numbered slots, once used for savings, on the far wall are also featured in the above photos.

At a quiet moment on a sunny Monday afternoon it was possible to get a photo of the traditional dark wood bar and bar back with its tidy glasses and unintentionally, a portrait of our hospitable host. A 2024 Café Society post by Cliff Lucas for Belgian Smaak features several superior photos of De Hanekeef and its decor.

The beer menu lists six bottles from Het Anker brewery including Maneblusser (€3.90) and Gouden Carolus Whisky Infused (€5.90).

We liked the local character of De Hanekeef and returned more than once, after a first visit on Monday afternoon, to try a variety of beers from the menu (above). A lesser known beer on the list is Vossen met de Meynen Soixante-Neuf (top right photo above).

De Vleeshalle

De Vleeshalle (Meat market hall) opened in 1881 and closed in 1967. The building was renovated in 1992 and is now a 'culinary hotspot in the heart of Mechelen' with a collection of food outlets offering dishes from various countries.

A central bar serves nine draught beers, nine bottled beers and five no / low alcohol beers.

Pictured above is a Vleeshalle Tripel from the bar with Kibbeling (fish nuggets) from NØR and curly potato fries from another food stall. There are many seating options in different areas of the hall.

De Gouden Vis

Previously visited and featured in a March 2019 Mechelen Meander post, De Gouden Vis is an Art Nouveau beer cafe with a terrace overlooking the river Dijle from the north side. It is located at Nauwstraat 7, just west of Grootbrug (big bridge).

The terrace was crowded on a warm Tuesday evening but there was plenty of space inside with a view towards the river. From the Mechelse Bieren section of the combined mat / menu (below), Bruur (above) is brewed for Collectif Malunés, a contemporary circus company, by Circus Brouwerij.

Bruur cost €5.20 for a 33cl bottle. De Gouden Vis is an essential beer cafe to visit in Mechelen. 

Dijlepad floating footpath - view from east end near Fonteinbrug

The Dijlepad is a floating footpath on the south side of the river Dijle between Grootbrug and Fonteinbrug, near Kruidtuin (Botanical Gardens). Taking this path from Grootbrug to an exit before Fonteinbrug (e.g. 't Plein) gives a quick and interesting route from De Gouden Vis to Kafee Zapoi.

Kafee Zapoi

Kafee Zapoi is located about 100 metres west of Fonteinbrug, at Onze-Lieve-Vrouwestraat 117. 
(Between Kafee Zapoi and Nagelmackers Bank (111), there is a gated entrance to a passage which leads to the Dijlepad).

Visited on Monday and Tuesday night, there was dim lighting. It's popular with a younger set and likely to be busy at weekends. There are several nice touches like candles and fresh flowers on the traditional wooden tables.

The decor is interesting and includes a gramophone and stained glass. The beer menu includes beers from Brouwcompagnie Rolling Hills based in Oudenaarde. Tim liked Treeple Chase (Steeple) Belgian Tripel 'a ride with the wind in your hare' (above) fermented with Saison yeast and Wildebeest (6% ABV, NEIPA, below) 'your next world trip in a glass'.

As well as Rolling Hills Pils, there are also three Het Anker beers on draught: Maneblusser, Gouden Carolus Tripel and Gouden Carolus Classic.

Het Anker Brasserie

It was a relief to find a table in the shade outside the Het Anker Brasserie on a sunny Tuesday. Here you can also enjoy the sights and smells of an active brewery while drinking a beer brewed on the site like Het Anker Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor (33cl bottle, €4.50, above). On a quiet day like this, the table service can be highly recommended.

Tour guide Marc De Knijf - 23/3/2019

To see inside the brewery you can take a tour or read a previous blog post about a tour in March 2019 which includes photos from inside the brewery.

Het Anker Maneblusser from the brewery shop served at home

Branded glasses and beers listed in the Brasserie menu can also be purchased in the brewery shop to take away at reasonable prices.

The menu includes canned beers e.g. Battelaar, from the linked Batteliek microbrewery, 3 km away. 

Sint-Beggastraat & Fonteinstraatje

A visit to Het Anker brewery &/or brasserie can easily be combined with a leisurely walk around the historic streets of the Groot Begijnhof and Klein Begijnhof and the baroque Begijnhofkerk which are next to the brewery.

Cafe Tilt

Jack Anderton posted a great review of Cafe Tilt on The European Bar Guide after a visit in 2019.

Located outside the inner ring road and on the south west side of the straight Kanaal Leuven-Dijle, pedestrians will find plenty of interesting Belgian suburban houses of interest in the vicinity of this Lokaal / Pub / Club.

When we arrived at Cafe Tilt on (Bank Holiday) Monday at 4.15 pm, a cyclist was outside organising luggage after the local cycling club had returned from a weekend trip to the Netherlands.

Inside, we were lucky to find two free stools at the far end of the bar as Cafe Tilt was otherwise full. One end of the bar has a football theme and the other is about cycling. It is the base for WTC Tilt -Wielertoeristenclub Tilt v.z.w. Mechelen. There are cups and trophies above the bar. 

After a walk here in the sunshine the cool 33cl glass of Maes Pils (€3.10) was just what we needed. There were no language problems here as the bar lady who served us has relatives in Wigan. There was a lively atmosphere inside and it's great when a pub has a strong following based on shared interests that include socialising at the local. 

VerToi

Vrijbroekpark is a little further out from central Mechelen. May is a good time to visit the park with its oversized deck chair, attractive landscape, trees, flowers and herbs.

VerToi is a purpose built brasserie near the edge of the park with fine views and plenty of outdoor space.

A delightful spot to enjoy a cold draught Omer Vander Ghinste Bockor Pilsner on a hot day and the service included a charming smile.

Postscript

Unfortunately we did not have an opportunity to visit Het Maanlicht as it was closed when we passed after visiting Het Anker Brasserie on Tuesday afternoon so we revisited De Hanekeef.

Two other landmarks on the map are historic Brusselpoort and the contemporary Opsinjoor figure (Opsinjorke XXL), both above.

Poperinge Bierfestival 2025

It was nice to be invited to join a group of CAMRA friends on their annual trip to Poperinge for the beer festival on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October 2025.

The 28th edition of Poperinge Bierfestival was held in Zaal Maeke-Blyde, a concrete barn-like building with a car park in front.

It's located north of the town centre but only a short walk away.

Poperinge itself is near the French border and just over an hour's drive from Le Shuttle terminus near the Channel tunnel entrance just west of Calais. 

Poperinge has a railway station with an hourly train service to Antwerp via Ghent stopping in Ypres and Kortrijk. (Ghent is served by frequent trains from Brussels. Kortrijk is served by hourly trains from Lille.)

On arrival at Zaal Maeke-Blyde, there is a self service cloakroom area before reaching the ticket desk. With free admission, it is only necessary to purchase a 15cl tasting glass (€5) and tokens (€2 each) before entering the hall which has no windows and lighting with colour effects making it difficult to take photos and see the true colour of beer in a glass. Entrance to the good quality toilets involves a payment of €1 fee which earns an ink stamp on your hand to qualify for further use on the same day.

A useful four page programme lists all the beers and the location of the 25 individual brewery stands located at the four edges of the hall.

My first beer on Saturday afternoon was one that had been recommended to us on a preceding visit to GAST. Brouwmens Soesol is the first beer brewed by three friends - Pepijn, Jordi and Michiel - who met in Poperinge and discovered brewing during the coronavirus period. It's a pleasant 6.5% ABV Blond beer.

The official welcome and opening of the festival, organised by Bierclub Poperinge, took place in mid afternoon with toasts from the stage. This would be the only break from the continuous amplified music from the stage where Gregoir was on permanent duty as DJ.

The hall could easily seat over a hundred people at round tables and there were people of all ages from Belgium and beyond. Cheese, ham or crab baguettes could be purchased for 2 tokens (= €4) from a counter near the entrance.

Lupulus Fructus & St Bernardus Prior 8

Many of the stands around the hall were for small local breweries like Brouwmens but there were a few larger breweries including Leroy Breweries with Hommelbier, Brouwerij St Bernardus from Watou and Lupulus. 

Terrest Golden Tripel & De Plukker Rookop served by Valerie Van der Bauwhede

Valerie Van der Bauwhede brews Terrest Brewery and De Plukker beers at Terrest Farm outside Houlthurst. In the Keikoppenbier section of his book Hidden Beers of Belgium, Breandan Kearney writes 'In the summer of 2023, Valerie Van der Bauwhede started interning on [Joris] Cambie's [De Plukker organic] hop farm as part of an 'introduction to agriculture' class.' This weekend, Valerie was serving beers and answering questions about them at Stand 25, near the entrance to Poperinge Bierfestival.

Having enjoyed Tripel Plukker at Cafe De Snoek on Friday, Tim tried three more beers brewed at Terrest Brewery during the festival including De Plukker All Inclusive, an 8% ABV Blond featuring eight hops: Cascade; Fuggle; Centennial; Challenger; Goldings; Phoenix; Pilgrim and WGV.

At Stand 16, Brouwerij St Bernardus shared with Brouwerij Kazematten. After reading a Belgian Smaak post by Breandan Kearney about Kazematten and it's unusual location behind the ramparts of Ieper (Ypres), Tim added Wipers Times Tripel to his Untappd Belgian wish list. On Sunday evening, he was finally able to enjoy drinking it!

At Stand 1, near the entrance, two tokens (= €4) were needed for a glass of Brouwerij Werbrouck Tripel Blond with added Poperingse Patron Picon (17% ABV). This was a memorable way to enjoy a final Sunday drink at the festival. Located in Roesbrugge, near the French border, the family brewery was founded in 2018 and brews with Poperinge hops.

After a few beers, it was easier to accept the coloured lights and constant pop music and get used to a couple of tunes that were played regularly for DJ Gregoir to get a response from the drinkers - The Poperinge Song (Poperinge, Poperinge chorus) and Sweet Caroline (video above)! 

Before closing time on Saturday there was even a conga line circling around those still seated that can be viewed above.

Sunday night was less busy but our group again stayed on until after the closing speech and the lights were turned up.

Thanks to the festival organisers, breweries, friends in our group especially Terry for driving and Mark for accommodation etc. Thanks also to the kind people at the festival who gave us spare tokens and shared tipples with us! See you in Poperinge in October 2026?!