This is actually for Bruges. Belgium in general has a few “alley” cafes. If you’re walking around town (any town) you would easily pass these by. Because who in their right mind would go down an alley in search for a delicious beer.
Bruges is home to what some refer to as the best beer cafe in the world - Brugs Beertje. Although the beer list here is down right epic, save your last one or two, and if you can handle it your last three of the night for De Garre. It’s off the main square in Bruges down an alley with a sign swaying at the top at the start of the alley that says Tapas. There is a tapas bar down here, but we didn’t make it that far. We went straight to De Garre. They have a house Belgian tripel, standing at a whopping 11%. The locals refer to it “like angels peeing in your mouth”. Or you can just say, it’s one in a million, because it is. We have had our fair share of beer, when we went to Belgium for two weeks (for the sole purpose of drinking beer) we had 114 different varieties of beer. I counted. I logged. I photographed every one of them. One of these varieties was the De Garre tripel which is brewed by brewery VanSteenberge. It gets better. With every De Garre tripel you order, you get the cutest is of cheese. When you get some water (you must stay hydrated after all), they give you a small dish of peanuts. So then, you’re thirsty again.
The cafe opens around noon and closes, well, whenever they want. It’s usually around 11 pm they will close the front door. But don’t worry, you’re good until they play Bolero. If you’re not familiar with this, that’s ok, but it’s a pretty famous tune that was made more famous by British Olympic Ice Dancers. Anyways, stay until closing, you won’t be disappointed!
