Latest reviews from Schepdaal

“Classic Pajots restaurant annex pub - that is to say, the front room is like an old-fashioned ’volkscafe’ forgotten by modern times, whereas at the back, there is a spacy hall where the restaurant part of this business takes place. We were enthusiastically served a Rare Vos from the house upon entering and immediately felt welcome. The place is old-fashioned, but spacey and pleasant, child friendly, with a fair selection of beer, though no special offerings apart from Rare Vos itself and Ghulden Cop which they just happened to have in stock. Food was old school as well: simple, but of good quality and in copious portions, well taken care of and clearly made with devotion - the horse steak was memorable enough. Recommended, if you happen to be in the vicinity and want to have a decent, restorative meal, but not so much a beer place per se.“

Alengrin 3222 days ago

“visited this cafe to tick some beers and have snacks after a long day. The food was just okay, the beer was also just okay and service was okay. Friendly people, nice menu but if you are coming for food, you need some time to get things going. The tap and bottle list seemed okay. very much a local cafe for community, not for tourists.“

AdamChandler 3278 days ago

“Short drive from other lambiek destinations as is the case with every other place in this area. Whilst I didn’t check, it is likely impossible to hit with public transport. Front of the place is a neat very local old school BE pub full of locals. In the back there is a surprisingly big restaurant area which is totally soulless. Plastic, cheap etc. Beer-wise they have obv. the Girardin house beer & nothing else noteworthy, bunch of stuff you will find everywhere else and some very basic lambiek options. Service was very nice. All food options except possibly the fries and side salad had either huge quantities of cheese and/or meat. There was nothing here that I could force myself to eat, I was really hungry at that point. Which honestly frustrated me. Whilst I was happy to finally to try their house beer, I didn’t care at all for this place. Barely worth visiting nearby just for the house beer which is just okay.“

77ships 3291 days ago

“Awesome place! Located close to Brussels and all lambiek blenders, this is a must stop for lambiek lovers! Very old, authentic interior. Atmosphere is nice and the service very friendly. The home beer: Rare Vos from Girardin (blend of lambiek and their Kriek) isn’t overly impressive, but a must taste! Also young lambiek from Girardin on draught. The food is very good. I had the rabbid in geuze... wow! Even better than the one in the Nuetnigenough! Awesome home-made french fries as well! Value for the food is along Belgian prices, drinks are cheaper. Overall, get your ass over there, it’s fun!“

Mathieu87 3369 days ago

“Visited on a Sunday early afternoon. Went for lunch: I had a few garnalencroquetjes -shrimp croquette - with some glasses of the Girardin Rare Vos.
More than decent restaurant with a nice lambic selection. Outside terrace in the back with a nice view over the garden. Friendly service. Lots of locals in the pub area in the front, didn’t linger there myself - seemed like fun though, might have to come back for it. Nice with a distinctly old fashioned feel to it. For the ticker there is the Rare Vos tick (only blended for this place).“

Martinus 3545 days ago

“I sat in the small cafe, but there is also a somewhat larger restaurant out back. I came here to try their own unblended lambic on tap, which is a major plus to this place. The friendly bartender spontaneously gave me a sample of it as we sat down at the table. Their selection of lambic is good without being fantastic. Prices are low.“

Rasmus40 3573 days ago

“Small little place for mostly locals it seems, with a spacious interior. Servers barely spoke English so communication was sparse. Their house beer made by Girardin is really weak and not worth the trek unless you really want the tick. Bottle list is pretty standard too, but nothing to scoff at. Just off the N8 highway with the 128 bus - takes 5 minutes from Grote Dorst, then a 7 minute walk.“

mcberko 3615 days ago

“Restaurant behind the old bar. Not the nicest place to sit but the service is very friendly. Also very good no nonsense food. Very large portions, nice meat, nice fish, very good fresh made fries. Friendly service. A nice selection of geuze and lambic.“

JefVerstraete 3629 days ago

“Visited October 2012.

Oh man. Service in Belgium sucks and this really exemplifies that. Granted we stopped in the middle of the day, after getting shut down at de Heeren (they were on vacation for the two weeks that we were in Europe, ugh), but there were only a couple of other patrons in the restaurant and we still couldn’t get any service. I can’t hold it against the server for not speaking much English but he understood what we were saying and was just pretending to not understand. He ignored us for a while, took forever with the food, and wouldn’t bring a bill. I got to try the house beer made by Girardin and the Girardin lambik (which tasted like a hoppy homebrew by the way) and after 30 minutes of waiting for the little 3 euro side dish that was ordered by one person in the group I really wanted to leave. Seriously, just go to the pot in the back, scoop some of it into the bowl and be done with it. I put my money on the table but those guys didn’t want to be improper, or what ever the hold up was. Screw this place and screw this country. The upside is that this is in a nice town and on the way between Brussels and Poperinge. They also seem to have some connection to Girardin which is a good thing.“

t0rin0 3808 days ago

“Stopped there on my way back from my bike tour of Grote Dorst + In Den Haas + De Cam Volksafe. This pub is in the middle of nowhere. An charming old beaten up big white house located on a small steep street. Inside you will find a very warm old fashion pub-tavern style. The type of places that you can only find in small villages. No music. Patrons are in the 35 to 60 year old range. Far from touristy, this is local hangout only. Not a party place either, this is a traditional village pub. We just made a quick pit-stop when biking our were back to Brussels so we didn’t eat there but I think they have food. Very friendly service even though you can’t help but to feel like everybody is staring at you with the “who’s that stranger?” look. As for beer selection, you’ll find a usual array of lambics with special attention to draught Girardin. They have a “house beer” which I now believe is the very same thing as the Girardin Dominicus, at least they really tasted the same to me. All in all for the beer geek it is only worth a pit stop between Brussels and de Grote Dorst. The place is charming but not a place I would spend a full day or night. The Girardin tick is nice although I suspect that investigation would eventually reveal that this is the Girardin Dominicus. So if you can find a bottle a Dominicus (although admittedly pretty rare) then there is not really any reason to stop at De Rare Vos.“

Glouglouburp 4113 days ago

“Surprisingly large restaurant with a small bar area near the entrance. Came here to try the house beer. We ordered just a quick appetizer, but that turned out to not be so quick and took nearly 30 minutes of waiting around with no attention being paid to us by the waiter. Not much English spoken by the one waiter that seemed to be taking care of all the tables.“

brokensail 4217 days ago

“De Rare Vos is a local institution. For your information it seems to open at 11am most days (in October anyway!). We stopped past here to try the house beer by Girardin, which we rather enjoyed. They also have a fairly extensive selection of lambic in bottle. Loved the old-school interior with lots of old Gueuze signage including stuff from the now defunct De Neve brewery, which is now converted into flats….. The guy running the place didn’t speak English, but that didn’t stop him providing good service. Worth a stop if you are in the area.“

Scopey 4224 days ago

“Finally I got a chance to visit. Close to Eizeringen. Small and local. Very friendly locals and a good atmosphere. The house beer was fine. If you have a car go for the Rare Girardin otherwise if going with bus and such it’s not worth it. Selection is 20-30 with no other gems.“

Dedollewaitor 4263 days ago

“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!!!“

cpetrone84 4500 days ago

“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.“

Rastacouere 4565 days ago

“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.“

MrChopin 4567 days ago

“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.“

sinjoor41 4674 days ago

“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.“

SrSilliGose 4710 days ago

“I made several visits to the local cafe-restaurant. The house beer(Girardin Rare Vos) and horse steaks should be tasted.“

BriSava 4768 days ago

“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.“

Jerre 5023 days ago

“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.“

JoeinDahlem 6268 days ago

“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.“

3fourths 6532 days ago

“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.“

mullet 6682 days ago

“Visited this local bar/eating place in march 2002. Good food, great beer (Girardin lambic and kriek from cask). Essential if you are visiting Schepdaal.“

bierkoning 6732 days ago