It’s a classic old boozer that’s been around for quite a few years, yet it still beckons with Bruxellois charm, as well as friendly, knowledgeable staff, and a fine beer selection. Not to mention good, inexpensive food. Café La Brocante is located on a corner next to Place du Jeu de Balle, where a daily…

It’s one of the great lambic cafes of Belgium, and it’s barely two years old. Herberg De Zwaan just opened on October 1, 2011, yet it has already made a big impression on local beer lovers and with International visitors. I’m one of them. I first paid a visit to the cafe the day before…

It’s almost 2014, but there’s a great café that’s deserves some attention for its accomplishments in 2013. Irish Pub Dubh-Linn, located at a crossroads in Wolfsdonk, Flemish Brabant, between Aarschot and Diest, is the number one Orval Ambassador café for 2013. It was awarded the “Magna Cum Laude” distinction by the Trappist brewery in late…

The outskirts of town east of the historic city of Halle, a rail hub with 35,000 inhabitants about ten miles south of Brussels, has a new lambic beer-focused cafe. Cafe De Kluis, at Nachtegaalstraat 128, Buizingen, opened this spring. De Kluis (“The Cloister”) has a good beer list, and focuses on the lambic, geuze, and…

The Payottenland-Belgium’s lambic country, to the southwest of Brussels-is full of atmospheric cafes, serving up great brews. Some stock a hundred beers, and others, just a handful. Perhaps variety is the area’s greatest asset. One of these places is Café De Welkom, located at a crossroads between Schepdaal and Dilbeek. There are only 17 beers…

Not every beer bar has to have loads of great beer on its menu to make it a worthwhile stop. Sometimes, just a few will do. One, even. That’s the case with La Nouvelle Hostellerie d’Orval, which is the “other” café/restaurant near the famous Trappist abbey. While many tourists who visit the Orval abbey only…

I have an article in the October/November issue of Celebrator Beer News called “Five Fabulous Meals with Belgian Beer” which you can read for free here Photo, above: a superb meal at Improvisio, Leuven. Paired with Vicaris Winter ale 2012. The Oct/Nov issue of Celebrator is always the “Beer and Food” issue. White Asparagus topped…

When you visit Trappist abbeys and breweries, eating and drinking must be on your agenda. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be taking a drive out to Bourlers, Hamont-Achel, Villers-devant-Orval, Westmalle, or Westvleteren, would you? All of the Trappist abbeys with breweries in Belgium, except Brasserie Rochefort/Abbaye Notre Dame de St-Remy, have one café/restaurant that is owned by…

There has been a wave of new cafes opening in Belgium in the last several years. It’s clear that young, enthusiastic, energetic Belgians have decided that the future is now, and the time is theirs to promote and enjoy Belgium’s great beer heritage, while educating their countrymen at the same time. One of these great…