November 26, 2011
Nice old fashioned typical Belgian looking cafe. Solid if slightly uninspiring selection but there will always be something to have. Visited on a Saturday lunchtime and it was quiet enough for my group to get a good seat. Prices were ok, not cheap, but not expensive. Definitely a good stop on a Ghent tour. Didn’t try the food, but it looked quite nice.

November 22, 2011
You average Belgian bar. The beer list is maybe a bit longer, but nothing very thrilling or original. Usually the place to go after a movie if the boat café opposite the theatre is closed. Last time we went there, I ordered a beer which was listed cheaper than you would expect. When the check came, the price was higher. After arguing with the waiter, he would not lower the price, "because it has been manually changed on all the menus" and he showed us some menus where the price was indeed changed with ball point. Except on our menu, and as they always have to charge the lowest price advertised, they should charge us that one. The waiter however did not want to do this. Afterwards I went to see if there was a manager, but there wasn’t. So I decided to take the menu with me and mail the place. Only then the waiter was prepared to accept the price on the menu. So: service was bad. Alas.

August 28, 2011
Brouwzaele is a lovely, homely traditional café bar near Kinepolis and a few steps away from the trendier De Planck in the leafy canalside Ter Platen. It’s not the kind of place to go for a wild night out but rather a relaxed and comfortable neighbourhood sort of place, light and airy, with tables for four arranged around the windows on three sides and one high top table to the right of the bar next to strange clock contraption. The bare floorboards are always salted and there are candles, pretty lace curtains on brass poles, copper lampshades, hops on the beams, delicate trailing ivy and a few cacti. The pièce de résistance, however, is the wonderful bar, made from an enormous copper, with a base and lid. The menu has some titbits of brewing history and, I think, some background to Brouwzaele, which opened in 1986. As it’s in Flemish I couldn’t pick up much more except the facts that in 1900 the centre of Gent had more than 100 breweries and Belgium had more than 4,000; now there are around 80 in the country as a whole. Nibbles are served with beer and other food is also served – spaghetti bolognaise (not the best I’ve ever tasted but satisfying, nevertheless), steaks, scampi, croques and salads as well as the ubiquitous cheese and sausage snacks. Specials are listed on a blackboard. There are 10 taps and c.100 bottles – nothing unusual but the requisite range of lambics and other Belgian brews. The beer of the month when we were there in June was Tempelier at E3.10. Service has always been welcoming and efficient. (Last visited 10 June 2011).