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Location: Rue de la Violette 22, 1000 Bruxelles
Venue Type: Late Bar / Pastis Bar / Quirky
Year of Inscription: 2018
Top 100 Bar In Europe 2024
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| EBG Rating: | 9.5/10 |
| Choice/ Quality of Drinks | ❤️❤️❤️ Limited selection of bottled beers. Pastis focus with and compact range of alternatives. |
| Style/ Décor | ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Bunker-like, strewn with ephemera. Books and records nailed to the wall. Candlelit tables, comfortable seating. |
| Atmosphere/ Character | ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Very intimate, consuming atmosphere. Brooding, sometimes buzzing. |
| Amenities/ Events | ❤️❤️ Wurlitzer jukebox, snacks |
| Value For Money | ❤️❤️❤️ Standard for the area (ie. Expensive) |
| Description | There are so many extraordinarily good bars in Brussels that you could spend many visits revisiting them and exhausting them. A lot of these bars are visible, centrally located and on the tourist trail, and with only a few exceptions serve extraordinary selections of gorgeous Belgian ale. It took me 4 visits before I found the bar Goupil Le Fol, but one visit was enough to propel it to the top of the charts and the many occasions I’ve visited since has kept it right up there. A quick map reference confirms Goupil Le Fol is situated very close to the Grand Platz, just not on one of the major tourist thoroughfares. The bar does not look extravagant from the outside, only giving a little hint of what’s to come. Opening the door instantly feels like the entering of a bunker or tunnel, a long windowless and low-ceilinged, and studded with adornments on any bare surface. The man and woman serving appear to be a couple and one of those couples who like both trying to do the same one job. The bar is right next to the door, and with no menu and no beers visible behind them you have to ask for their selection, which is Pastis-focused, with a modest but reasonably well-chosen range of alternatives including a handful of good bottled Belgian beers. You then begin the walk along the passage, deeper and deeper into the bowels of the bar, past an original Wurlitzer jukebox and much jazz and 1950s memorabilia. Carrying on further until finding upholstered bench seating in a very cosy, slightly wider room. There are entire books nailed to the wall and vinyl records on the ceiling. This is where we sit. The crowd are a typically belgian blend of cultures, all of which sit together in an extraordinarily atmospheric environment. The booze is working its magic and the coloured lights in the bar are glimmering off the records and any other surface with shine on it. There is much to look at and talk about in true comfort, exchanging glances across the other side of the room, everyone happy and resolved they have made the right choice of venue for the evening. |
