January 12, 2012
Wanted to review this most of all places visited. Worst experience of my life. We were obviously not from the area and they let us know that. Requested mussels and were told they were out. After about 90 minutesof waiting for our food it finally arrived, most of which was under cooked. During that 90 minute wait we got to watch others come in, sit down, order mussels, and get served prior to us getting served. The food was weak, the beer was too cold and aweful even when warm, the place itself was ugly, and the temperature was intolerably hot. Never again!!!

November 8, 2011
Down a small square, the Café Rare Vos does not look like much from outside, but is actually a very large place inside. The numerous rooms are all fairly different one from the other and interestingly decorated. The place is old and clearly beer-oriented. The main draw, apart from the authenticity, is definitely the Girardin special, a weird half-lambic, half-faro, half-flanders red ale that I adored and obviously bumped my love of the place. They have a solid lambic selection, said to be one of the best in Payottenland, but I would not call it an absolute must. On our afternoon visit, there were more waiters than patrons and they seemed very busy, walking quickly from one room to another and not giving us much attention. They reacted when we needed them though. Solid Payottenland café.

November 6, 2011
Odd place situated in the center of the small town divided between a small old-world entrance, beautiful patio overlooking fields, and a banquet hall-type sterility unseen in Europe, sea green(?) walls with bland tables and furniture. The heat was unbearably high. The service was noticeably poorer for us tourists than anyone else: we received our food well after others that arrived before us (1-1.5 hours after ordering), our horse was undercooked - cold. Worst of all, everyone in the restaurant was eating mussels, even those having arrived after us, despite our request for them being denied because "we are out of mussels". The beer was served way too cold as well. This could have been great, maybe next time, but in fact was one of the most disappointing experiences of our trip. Given its remote location, I’m not sure there will be a next time.

July 22, 2011
A typical Belgian pub with lots of old stuff on the walls. The house beer Rare Vos is made by brewery Girardin. It is not a lambic but a mixture of a lambic and high fermentation beer. I guess this is what they used to call a meerts. We ordered a main dish and were offered a soup for free. Friendly and humourous service. Good address to remember.

June 16, 2011
quiet place up on a hill. only locals inside. back patio has trees, birds chirping, flowers, wood tables, stone floors, brick walls, and some cigarette smoke from the old broads a table over. had a girardin rare vos and jonge lambic on tap. tried the rare vos omelet for breakfast- served in the frying pan with bacon, tomatoes, sausage, herbs, onions, tomatoes, etc. good! enjoyable meal. worth the trip for the experience, beer, food combo. service was really good.

April 19, 2011 [ Updated May 11, 2011 ]
I made several visits to the local cafe-restaurant. The house beer(Girardin Rare Vos) and horse steaks should be tasted.

August 7, 2010
Wonderfull characterful place. Chramant people ! We had pretty serviceable stoofvlees, but other people next to us had one great fish meal ! We drinking the Rare Vos and great bottles off Gueuze black laberl Grirardin. NICE place.

March 11, 2007 [ Updated March 19, 2007 ]
A well-kept secret about this place is the from-scratch frites, among the best I’ve had in Belgium. Worth the drive, IMO, to try the house beer on tap--a fruity, mellow, thirst-quenching lambic that tastes like a blend of kriek and faro. Selection includes several of the region’s lambics, including 3 Fountains. The Flemish fare is also excellent. The owner is friendly. Update 3/19/07: Try the kriek stoofvlees (carbonnade). Awesome.

June 20, 2006 [ Updated December 1, 2011 ]
Had a nice lunch visit to Rare Vos while I was in Brussels for four days. The reason I visited was to try the Girardin Rare Vos (draught) and to try the horse steak. Mission accomplished. The horse was a little spongy, but otherwise tasty, served with a mushroom sauce and frittes. The beer was interesting, unique I would say, but not exactly something stellar. Schepdaal is a bit hard to get to if you’re taking public transit, but it’s a nice experience of Belgian (or Dutch??) life outside of the city.

January 21, 2006
Immensely characterful building. Really beautiful stuff with loads of cool decorations. I found the house beer to be a bit weird, and the young Girardin lambik was like a fungus milkshake but they had loads of good beers too. I had pretty serviceable stoofvlees, but the people next to me had one of the more crazy meals I’ve ever seen - a mixed grill which was enough for about six-eight people between two. Service was kind of aloof but they brought my stuff and left me alone so you can’t really fault it. A handful of regulars were drinking a lot of lambik rather early in the day.