Le Cirio

Utterly gorgeous Art Deco restaurant near the Bourse where the staff still have uniforms. The interior is a work of art and definitely worth the visit, food seemed classic brasserie. The taps were industrial rubbish tough and the beer list ubiquitous beers at best.

I stumbled across this place while walking by rather than on Ratebeer for a change. It dates back to 1886 they say and i’m sure that parts of this place are original. It really is like a walk-in history lesson! If the toilet didn’t have a Dyson air blade hand dryer, you might think you had gone back 100 years. The beer selection is nothing to write home about, but it’s a cool place to be and the service is great. There’s also a live-in semi friendly fat ginger cat to provide some entertainment! No wifi, but I loved the place and will return. The prices were very reasonable too.

Enda en Art Deco restaurant man bør ha vært innom, selv om ølutvalget er standard og serviccen middelmådig. Det er en kulturopplevelse i seg selv å besøke slike lokaler og ta i øyesyn alle de fine interiødetaljene.

Très beau café à l’ancienne tant pour la déco que pour le service. La carte des bières est tout ce qu’il y a de plus banal mais l’endroit vaut vraiment le détour pour son ambiance...

As many reviewers have stated, the beer list leaves a lot to be desired, but there’s still a decent enough selection to pair with the few food offerings, which themselves are quite good. I’ve been here for lunch twice; had a pasta one day and an open sandwich the next, and enjoyed it both times. I’d go again for the food, but wouldn’t stop by if I were only having a drink.

If anything, stop there for the art-deco atmosphere that is worthy of an old movie. Sit inside is best, outside is just to be on the street looking at a wall with the old Brussels catacombs. Other than that this is just another place that I am not sure why it is even on RB. Typical Belgian brasserie like food with the same big breweries. All the bars/restaurant on the street and around the corner have the same type of beer menu; touristy at best.

First Ratebeer listed place I encountered on my stroll from Cantillon, and I was hungry as balls. Pleasantly kitschy atmosphere, nice open seating, good for people-watching here in the heart of the tourist district. Food menu was perfunctory but solid enough fare. Service was prickly and at times irritating. Dear Le Cirio: don’t put a fucking ketchup bottle on the table just because I’m American, you dilds. Oh yeah, the beer. Really only a few offerings, a couple Trapists, a couple blondes. I was out quickly.

I like this place. It is like stepping back in time, no rush, no noise, just a clean, pleasant experience. My wife and I always have cheese and a bottle of ’Forbidden Fruit’ each, when we visit this lovely old cafe. We always sit inside, there is so much to admire within, compared to outside. Art Nouveau was invented in Brussels and this cafe is a fine example of how all ’well-too-do’ central Brussels cafes would have looked back then. It is a must visit cafe if you are in Brussels, trust me. It may not have a great beer list, but the decor is worth seeing, even if you only have a coffee!

This is a short walk from Becasse and in fact a multitude of other pubs in this area that are worthy of a stop off on the city centre bimble. I’ve been here a few times, though it has usually been in better weather and so to the best of my recollection I have only ever sat outside. So it has to said that the gloomier winter months can also offer the added advantage of seeing bars/cafes like this from the inside. This is great when the weather is bloody miserable outside and where a few dozen wooden garden sheds masquerading as a ’German Christmas Market’ sell authentic German Christmas Market tat to the masses, though the neglected and rather forlorn looking Christmas Garden Shed that was serving (or more to the point not serving) Belgian Wine, suggested that they had somehow rather missed the point spectacularly. Anyway back to the bar, it was busy but service was brisk. I asked for Rochefort 8 but they didn’t sell it so had to settle for an Orval with Loz having a Rochefort 10. This place looked grand and had an air of grace about it, the customers however were a mixed bunch, some looked the part, others like me and Loz looked the part of two drowned rats sheltering from greyness and dampness of a miserable Brussels December day. This place is well worth popping into, the gents toilets as I had read about were quite magnificent, maybe not quite up to the splendour of the Philharmonic in Liverpool but still impressive.

Again an odd place for RateBeer. A restaurant across from the Bourse (stock exchange.) Nice art deco look and food robably okay but didn’t hang around much as beer menu unremarkable.