Cafes

  • ’t Parlement: Halle’s great beer and whisky cafe

    ’t Parlement: Halle’s great beer and whisky cafe

    Halle, a historic market town 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Brussels, sits on the edge of Belgium’s Payottenland. Halle is in the Province of Flemish Brabant, and is part of Belgium’s lambic country. As such, it should be no surprise that the city has a number of great beer-focused cafes, and that lambic is…

  • A visit to De Bascule, a great Lambic and Trappist beer cafe in Pepingen, Belgium

    A visit to De Bascule, a great Lambic and Trappist beer cafe in Pepingen, Belgium

    Pepingen is a collection of villages in the heart of the Payottenland, in Belgium’s lambic country, to the south and west of Brussels. The municipality of Pepingen is comprised of the villages of Beert, Bellingen, Bogaarden, Elingen, Heikruis, and Pepingen. This area is full of beer cafes, breweries, and distilleries. These include Brouwerij Sako in…

  • ’t Paddenbroek: A Great New Beer Specialist Cafe in the Payottenland

    ’t Paddenbroek: A Great New Beer Specialist Cafe in the Payottenland

    While the pandemic forced quite a few beer cafes in Belgium to close their doors, it was a bit kinder to Belgium’s lambic country and culture, which has continued to thrive. Lambic breweries and blenderies did not take a break during Covid, producing lots of new brews, with some excellent ones among them. Following the…

  • Cafe/Restaurant Piétrain: Antwerp’s Steak and Grillhouse…with 100+ beers!

    Cafe/Restaurant Piétrain: Antwerp’s Steak and Grillhouse…with 100+ beers!

    One of the main reasons I visit Belgium is for its great variety of classic beers. Food is the next biggest factor: the Belgians know how to eat well, and pairing great brews with fantastic meals is something they do superbly well. While I have written about a number of great Belgian restaurants with world…

  • Gebrande Winning’s ‘Circus’ Edition Beer Festival: Lambic (and more) Beer Heaven

    Gebrande Winning’s ‘Circus’ Edition Beer Festival: Lambic (and more) Beer Heaven

    De Gebrande Winning, a beer bar and restaurant in Sint-Truiden, Limburg Province, is rapidly becoming one of Belgium’s premier beer destinations. While located a bit off the beaten path, 64 kilometers (40 miles) east of Brussels, the fantastic beer selection, gourmet food, and warm atmosphere of De Gebrande Winning are a big draw for beer…

  • Savoring Vintage 1983 and 1989 3 Fonteinen lambics: Oude Geuze and Framboos

    Savoring Vintage 1983 and 1989 3 Fonteinen lambics: Oude Geuze and Framboos

    The purpose of this article is to discuss a couple of amazing vintage 3 Fonteinen bottles that I was graciously offered to taste recently, as well as to tell you about the superb Restaurant 3 Fonteinen in Beersel. The 3 Fonteinen cafe was opened in 1962 at Herman Teirlinckplein 3 in Beersel, and is now…