While a friend of mine thinks very little of Brussels, I’ve found a few convivial places to go, while I’ve been out there. This place is one of them.

The last time I went to Brussels, I wandered over to Le Greenwich, a lovely place with a decent bottled beer selection and a multitude of chess players: and discovered it was closed. I thought this was sad, since it looked pretty permanent: the place has certainly been rather crumbling recently.

Anyway, luckily, the website brusselnieuws used my photograph to illustrate a piece of information which has gladdened the heart: they’ll open again in November. We’ll be able to go into the back room again (which has been closed and in, seemingly, an unsafe condition for a while), and it’ll look newer and spanglier from the outside.

It’s proabably not the best place to go in Brussels, but it’s close to the Grand Place, and therefore nice to spend a bit of time in. When it opens again, make sure you pop in.

Belgium, brussels, le greenwich Hide

Pop into this bar in San Francisco, and you’re in for a treat.

The place started in 1948, and has a peculiarly French feel to it. With awful portraits on the wall (one claims it’s Patrick Swayze, but the only way of telling is to read the sign saying who it is below), it’s certainly a sight to see.

As I walked in, the sight that greeted me from the upstairs balcony were two feet. Whoever it was up there (who, listening to the bar-tenders chatting to themselves, had imbibed a fair amount of Absinthe), had decided to relax a little.

The amusing signs are all over the bar. Some parts are dedicated to people who used to drink there – the John Wilkes Memorial Booth is above the bar to the right; a large portrait of the original owner – Henri Lenior, a stern-looking french man, in a beret. The signs are classy and amusing – even, somehow, the one typeset in MS Comic Sans. No, really.

The gas-lamp chandelier above the bar, and the art-deco mirror, will give you plenty to look at when you choose your beer; however, the range on tap isn’t quite as exciting as the decor, sadly. Here’s what was on tap when I visited the other day…

Anchor Steam (San Francisco, California, USA)
Widmer Hefeweizen (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Chico, California, USA)
Pilsner Urquell (Pilsen, Czech Republic)
Budweiser (St Louis, Missouri, USA)
Stella Artois (Leuven, Belgium)
Amstel Light (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Bass (Burton, UK)
Guinness (Dublin, Ireland)

Amstel Light, Amsterdam, Anchor Steam, Bass, Belgium, Budweiser, Burton, California, Chico, Czech Republic, dublin, England, Guinness, Ireland, Leuven, Missouri, Netherlands, Oregon, Pilsen, Pilsner Urquell, Portland, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, St Louis, Stella Artois, USA, Widmer Hefeweizen Hide