| Introduction |
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Antwerp Pubs
 I
used to think that Amsterdam (with 1,250) was heavily pubbed until I first
visited Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch, Anvers in French). In a city alomost
exactly the same size there are double the number of boozers. Some of the
small squares in the old town seem to house nothing but pubs. It's a heartwarming
sight.
Antwerp's pubs have survived better than those in many large Belgian towns
- especially those in the South, like Liège, totally controlled by
Interbrew. Most of the pubs in the city centre have remained a good deal
of character and been spared the bland renovations that have struck Belgium
like a plague.
The only slight downside to all of this, is that, for those arriving by
train, the good pubs are a very healthy walk away. Almost all the interesting
ones are in the old city, about a mile away from the main railway station.
There are plenty of pubs close to the station, but they aren't exactly the
most salubrious. Entertaining they can certainly be. I have fond memories
of a Sunday afternoon in a café where complete families, from babies
to grandparents, were drinking the day away. But do be warned if you're
after a quiet, civilised few beers that this may not be the part of town
for you.
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 Antwerp
Beer
Antwerp is home to the De Koninck brewery and their beer is found on draught
in most pubs. Unlike the rest of Belgium, where pils is king, the standard
beer here is a pale ale. And very pleasant it is, too. It could be self-deception,
but I've always found the beer to taste best in its home city. Every visitor
should try at least a bolleke or two.
Beer prices are very reasonable, especially in comparison to Holland. De
Koninck and witbier are seen as ordinary draught beers here and priced accordingly:
They are barely more expensive than pils.
Long a single-product brewery, De
Koninck have introduced several new beers in the last decade, with varying
degrees of success and longevity. Between 1996 and 2003 sales
of Belgian Amber - their speciality - dropped from 637,316 hl to just
362,815 hl. They have been forced to look for other markets. I wish them
luck. I really do. But I think they need to come up with a real winner,
pretty soon, if they want a longterm future. |
| Cuveeke |
Vlasmarkt 34,
Antwerp.
Tel.
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| Opening hours: Mon-Sun 11:00 - 03:00
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| Number of draught beers: 2 |
| Number of bottled beers: 25 |
| Regular draught beers:
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| Food: Food: Snacks. |
Cuveeke is a fairly ordinary, tiny pub opposite Rooden Coninck.
It has a very large window, which gives it a rather shop-like appearance.
Inside is a modern wooden bar, an ancient wooden ceiling and castiron tables
with crappy modern tops.
It has great potential, which is not realised. A shame, really. it could
be a very nice little pub with some tweaking.
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| Rating: ** |
Public transport: |
| Kulminator |
Vleminckveld 32,
2000 Antwerpen.
Tel. 03 - 232 4538
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Opening hours: Mon 20:15 - 24:00
Tue-Fri 12:00 - 24:00
Sat 17:00 - 24:00
Sunday closed
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| Number of draught beers: 8 |
| Number of bottled beers: 550 |
| Regular draught beers:
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| Food: Snacks. |
Kulminator is an excellent specialist bar, a pioneer in beer
aging. Tucked away in a obscure street in the city centre, it's easily worth
the effort of tracking it down.
It's a long thin pub, with unspectacular, but cosy décor. On the
way to the toilet you can see through a window into the temperature-controlled
room where beers are ageing. I won't bore you with a long description, because
the physical environment is almost irrelevant here. What's important is
the beer.
The beer selection is outstanding. Just the new beers would make it an excellent
beer pub. What tips it over into the wonderful, is an unrivalled choice
of old beers. Every vintage of Chimay Blue stretching back 10 years or more.
Eldridge Pope Hardy Ale and Gales Prize Old Ale at drinking age (10 years
old). Forgotten beers from long-closed breweries, beers never offically
sold (I've had Westvleteren Green, the beer for the monastery's internal
use, here once), anything you could dream about and more. It would take
several weeks to exhaust the possibilities.
World fame has not been kind to Kulminator's stocks of vintage beer. (Luckily,
the unpoularity of this page leaves me blameless. Phew!) They didn't expect
demand to be so big, when they started cellaring. Mass beer tourism must
have come as a bit of a shock.
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| Rating: **** |
Public transport: |
| 't Oud Arsenaal |
Maria Pijpelincxstraat 4,
2000 Antwerpen.
Tel: 032 - 32 97 45
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Opening hours: Mon - Fri 09:00 - 19:30
Sat - Sun 07:30 - 19:30 |
| Number of draught beers: 5 |
| Number of bottled beers: 50 |
| Regular draught beers:
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| Food: |
 Something
you must visit when in Anterp is the street market on Wapper and Graanmarkt,
just off the main shopping drag Meir. What I like about Belgium is their
mediterranean approach to food. Strolling around this market, you'll find
plenty of evidence of a populatiion healthily preoccupied with what they
eat.
A seconary reason for having a look at the market is Oud Arsenaal, very
handily placed half way along it.
When I first visited Belgium, back in the early 1980's, pubs of this type
were common. The Belgian take on a brown beer cafe - small, dark and cosy.
What has happened to most of them since, is comparable to Watney's assault
on British pubs in the sixties and seveties. Yet the continued popularity
of places like this shows just how wrong the pub despoilers were and how
little in tune with the public. |
Your main problem is likely to be finding a seat. (I told you these places
were popular). The bar - with a lovely leaded glass screen at one end -
offers only limited standing opportunities. An impressive array of beer
memorabilia hides all the vertical surfaces. Below, a long bench, a succession
of tables crushing in front of it, stretches the length of the wall.
On a sunny day, the seats outside - a great bratwurst stall directly opposite
- are even harder toclaim than those inside.
Think the guy leaning on the bar is looking hostile? About a second after
I took the picture he cracked a joke about "bedrijfsespionage"
(industrial espionage) with me and the barman. Quite a friendly response
to some foreign idiot snapping away obtrusively. But that's Belgium for
you: hospitable and humourous. Most countries only manage one, some neither,
of those qualities. |
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Plenty of Belgian beer pubs have lists that run into hundreds. Arsenaal's
is quite small in comparisn. "Klein maar fijn" (small but good)
as they say in Dutch. The highlight is a selection traditional lambic
beers: Oude Geuze, Oude Kriek. If, like me, you like the proper unsweeted,
uncomprimisingly sour stuff, you won't be disappointed. There's one guest
tap to add some variety. I would tell you what all the draught beers are
but, I was so busy pissing around taking pictures, that I forgot to note
them down. I'm sure you'll forgive me this one lapse. promise not to do
it again.
My favourite pub in Antwerp. A gem without a single fault. Maybe apart
from being loved by too many others.
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| Rating: ***** |
Public transport: |
| Pater's Vaetje |
Blauwmoezelstraat 1,
2000 Antwerpen.
Tel. 03 - 231 8476
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Opening hours: Sun-Thur 11:00 - 03:00
Fri-Sat 11:00 - 05:00 |
| Number of draught beers: 5 |
| Number of bottled beers: 100 |
| Regular draught beers:
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Food: Snacks 3-8 euros, meals 6-8 euros, pils
1.60 euros, Duvel 2.40 euros.
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Pater's Vaetje is nice and easy to find, being right next
to the cathedral (you can't miss it; big building, one spire not quite finished
yet). It's in a typical 17th century Antwerp house and there are plenty
of signs of its age inside. The floor is flagged with red tiles and the
beams are visible in the high ceiling. The bar counter is a lovely carved
wooden affair, with some attractive leaded glass work. At the rear is a
small raised gallery. Continuing the use of traditional materials, the tables
are marble-topped.
The beer list is pretty good, too. Obviously, the bottled beers are mostly
Belgian, but I don't find that a great problem. The draught beers are rather
boring and there is an obvious Alken-Maes tie of some kind.
Overal, a pleasant and initimate café well worth a visit. Really
not bad for the centre of town.
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| Rating: **** |
Public transport: |
| Rooden Coninck |
Vlasmarkt 31,
Antwerp.
Tel.
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| Opening hours: Mon-Sun 11:00 - 03:00
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| Number of draught beers: 3 |
| Number of bottled beers: 35 |
| Regular draught beers:
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| Food: Snacks. |
The Vlasmarkt is an attractive street close to the cathedral
which boasts several decent pubs. Rooden Coninck (Red King), in a 17th century
house, is one of these. It's a long, thin pub with a beamed ceiling, red
tile floor and a modern wooden bar.
A very Dutch touch are the carpets on the tables - something that I normally
associate with a beer selection of draught Heineken and er, draught Heineken.
The walls are festooned with lots of old junk, including photos of the pub
in various periods of the 20th century. Downstairs is an atmospheric vaulted
cellar bar (you could be in Krakow). Classical
music adds to the soothing, relaxed air of the place.
The draught beers are dull, but it's a friendly enough place and the bottled
selection isn't bad. Worth noting are that great Belgian tradition: mixed
toilets.
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| Rating: *** |
Public transport: |
| Stamineeke |
Vlasmarkt 23,
2000 Antwerpen.
Tel. 03 - 231 9672
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Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Thur 16:00 - open
end
Fri 19:00 - open end
Sat-Sun 14:00 - open end
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| Number of draught beers: 8 |
| Number of bottled beers: 120 |
| Regular draught beers:
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| Food: Snacks, meals. |
Of the many pubs on Vlasmarkt, Stamineeke is the one true
specialist beer café. It's a two-storey affair, in another 17th century
house in the Antwerp style.
There is a modern, though tasteful, brick bar counter, and the floor is
made from old, patterned tiles. All the decoration - as is fitting for a
beer bar- beer-related: old bottles, posters and enamel signs. The beamed
ceiling has a collection of earthenware beermugs hung from it. Behind the
bar are glass shelves in a brick framework.
The mixture of old and new elements is slightly odd, but it works reasonably
well. The beer list is very good (it included Westvleteren), the draught
selection especially providing some welcome variation.
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| Rating: *** |
Public transport: |
