82.
Behollux,
It amazes me that people persist in
referring to
Things were looking up when we went
airside and to the Bridge at Terminal 1 where a barmaid served up a decent half
of Murphy's. After a delayed and choppy ride on the plane (I had tea, not beer
for a change), we arrived at Schipol and got a double-decker train to
Simon encouraged us to visit some Brown
Cafes where the best beer was to be had. After having a quick look at some
canals and dykes and bikes, we found one called Cafe Hegeraad, where there was
a small bar and an old man singing to himself. We found a table in the back
room which was pleasant - the middle room was full and the tables had carpets
on them. The place was quite old fashioned inside with all sorts of tat over
the place, and the beer selection was better, if a little pricey. They had De
Koninck, Wieckse Witte, Pilsner Urquell and Amstel, and there were some
particularly small drinking vessels available. Things were looking up as we
walked through a rain shower to Cafe Baffende. We stayed for a few beers in
this lively place, upstairs in the gallery area which afforded views of down
below. The beer selection was quite good - Amstel Bock, Heineken, Wieckse
Witte, Affligem and De Koninck.
Across the road was the Cafe t'Smalle, a
very old fashioned Brown Cafe, quiet, but very atmospheric. There were a few
groups of people enjoying their beer, some of whom were atop a gallery accessed
by some very precarious but stylish stairs. Simon guided us through the wonders
of the Dutch language on the snacks menu, and we sat in the corner to consume
our glasses of Gouden beer (Dubbel and Tripel). Rob wasn't too keen on his
though. They also had De Koninck (regular and Bock), Affligem and Wieckse Witte
(or whatever it is called). Seeing as we were in town, we decided to have a
look at some
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The following day, we were to kick off on
an International pub crawl, by getting the train in a most civilised
manner to Antwerp which is in nearby Belgium, passing some windmills on flat
land, as is to be expected in this neck of the woods. The railway station in
Antwerp is well worth a look on its own, so here is a picture of it.
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Antwerp was bloody cold on that day, and
we braved the icy wind crossing a shopping precinct to make it to the Oud
Arsenaal, a highly regarded bar. As to be expected in Belgium, the selection of
beers was first rate. Not only did they have De Koninck, Stella, Westmalle,
Rodenbach and Delirium Noel on tap, but they had a very great selection of
bottles, and the choice was displayed on a menu on the wall. We kicked off with
some of the slightly more pedestrian ale (Westmalle at about 7%), but it soon
transpired that some good old boy from Liverpool had realised that we were
English, so we got talking to him for a bit. In the end he decided to show us
what was good with Belgian ale, so proceeded to buy us a round of Delirium Noel
at 10%, which amazingly was on draught. We thought it would be a bit rude to
pinch the glasses, but let the record show that each beer has its own glass -
the Westmalle being an ornate glass goblet rather like the Holy Grail, the
Delirium Noel having a snifter shaped glass, embellished with pink elephants
wearing Santa hats. Our only slight gripe was that the pub was very packed, but
the decoration was classic both
inside and out, and it would have been a magnificent place to have lingered. There
was quite a nice young lady behind the bar.
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The Delirium had had an effect, so we
decided to get some solid matter for lunch in a measure to prevent accidents.
On the way it started to sleet, however, I still managed to get a picture of a
bus-like vehicle selling cheese, and a shop going by the name 'Quality Dogs'.
We also got waylaid in an off-licence where a request had previously been made
by Ed Lewis to purchase some Westveleteren (8%), which we duly did. I also
picked up another seven bottles for personal consumption, at a bargain price.
Lunch was had in a restaurant (with valid bar area) in a square near the
cathedral called Castellino. Unfortunately the mussels were not on, so I
resorted to a steak, and very good it was too, washed down with some Westmalle
or similar quality beer.
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The good old Scouser had recommended a
trip to a pub called the Pelican. We perambulated there soaking up the
continental atmosphere and seeing the sights as the weather had improved a
little. Some of the sights are recorded below. Antwerp Cathedral was amongst
them, but it is too large to fit on camera satisfyingly. The Pelican was at
least cheap, EUR 5.90 for four drinks, and had Stella, De Koninck and
Hoegaarden on draught. There was sadly a bloke behind the bar and not a great
deal of space, and all in all a little average and not as fantastic as Oud
Arsenaal. Good for a quick scoop though.
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After a little further walking, the
weather soured, so we decided to go for a drink in Paters Vaetje. This was a
very crowded bar, annoyingly so at first, but we found quite a nice niche near
the bar that a previous occupant had vacated. The beer selection was on a menu
on the wall. Each beer had its own glass, and to kick off we all had different
ones; I selected Kasteel beer which was a dark one. Draught selections were
Juliper, Leffe Dark (excellent), De Koninck, Belle Vue Kriek and Hoegaarden. We
stayed for a second round and Rob and I decided to do the touristy thing and
have bottles of Kwak, served in ridiculous glasses with wooden frames as the
glass part has a round bottom. The beer is obviously made for the tourist,
because it is not that wonderful to taste. One of the reasons that we stayed
for so long was that there were a couple of good barmaids. Alas, the sky was
becoming dark and we had to leave.
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On the way back to the station, we popped
into Oud Arsenaal again for a quick one before getting on the train - the cute
barmaid was still serving. Westveleteren was on the menu this time as was
Rochefort and was damned fine. We had a conversation with a bird and her bloke.
Last orders at the Oud Arsenaal is at 7.30 for some reason, but was ideal for
us getting the last train. We stopped for takeaway at McDonalds, which also
dispenses beer which was useful for the train ride home. Getting out in The
Hague, it was still moderately early, so we popped into a bar called Boomers,
and had a couple of glasses of Hoegaarden rather than the Pils. The bar itself
is quite dark and slightly trendy in decor, and has a tree in the middle. It is
near the gay district, so there were a few camp guys about.
We then traipsed a little further on to
Simon's flat to catch the end of Match of the Day 2. Dave and I had
decided to have a little refreshment whilst watching, so had purchased a
six-pack of Witte Weise or similarly titled wheat beer, which we ploughed
through in about 45 minutes whilst shouting obscenities at Cristiano Ronaldo
(whose smug chops I'd love to punch the grin off of) and then watching some
sort of satellite jukebox with 80s music. Both of these activities are thirsty
work.
We didn't feel dreadful the following day,
so after bidding farewell to Rob who was getting the early 'plane, we had a
look around The Hague which was an OK though not that scenic city. This is also
thirsty work, so we stopped at a very large bar, der Boterwaag, for a drink.
The Leffe Bruin is extremely good, though Dave had Chouffe, and Simon had Coke
for some inexplicable reason. They also had Leffe Blond, Jupiler, Weisbier,
Palm, Pilsner Urquell and other typical beverages. Very roomy and a little
cooler than ideal, it was nonetheless a magnificent bar to spend a leisurely
afternoon. Amazingly, the only other beer consumed that day was a Heineken on
the flight back. I look forward to repeating this kind of crawl in the not too
distant future...
Dan
Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com
Last updated 27th February 2005.