Delirium Cafe
Impasse De La Fidelite , Brussels, 1000, Belgium
Overall: 4.0
Food: NR
Drink: 5.0
Atmosphere: 4.0
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At some point in the evening we calculated that you could easily try every beer in Delirium Cafe in just 2 years. All you would need to do is have 10 beers, 2 nights a week for 2 years. Not an unpleasant task given the quality of some of the beers available, and the place you have to drink them in.
Delirium Cafe has a small upstairs area in a narrow alley containing the other - not so famous - Brussels urinating statue, but the majority of it is downstairs in a pretty large cellar. There's not much from the outside that suggests this is anything special. Sure, when you go down the steps you notice that the walls and ceiling are covered in different beer trays from around the world but it’s only when you notice the certificate from the Guinness Book of Records that you realise something is up. It turns out that Delirium Cafe holds the official world record for the greatest selection of beers available. All told they guarantee you a choice of 2004 from a total of over 2500. As you might expect this means you spend a lot of the night choosing the next one and it is strongly recommended that you ask for the book which lists them all.
Unlike the majority of Belgian bars there is no table service and you must go to the bar to be served. If there is a large crowd it can make it a little difficult to order the more unusual beers. Service is not too slow but cannot be said to be rushed either.
Once you get over the shell-shock of choice then next question becomes whether Delirium Cafe would be worth visiting even if it hadn't such a selection. If you like lively, slightly raucous places then the answer is yes. This is a bar which doesn't stand on ceremony. It is happy to see people enjoying themselves – a maybe not unusual occurrence when some of the beers are over 12% in strength. This particular night the place was full and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Along the back wall a group of international students were making enough noise to fill 4 bars alone. But at no point was there any feeling of threat or any reason to think anyone in the bar would be anything other than friendly. Perhaps the biggest problem is that given the range of nationalities present getting chatting to people is a bit hit and miss.
The toilets are at the back of the room and while they are generally clean the dodgy looking hand towel lying on the sink in both the ladies and gents meant that everyone in our group let their hands dry the way nature intended.
Music selection included a lot of 80s and was played at a loud enough volume to keep things lively but not too loud to drown out conversation - a trick a lot of bars could do with emulating. While there was no live music tonight the famous book of beers did mention a weekly jam session on Thursdays. And a 20% increase in prices when it was on!
"I have another 1,993 beers to drink" is possibly the best excuse ever to return to a bar. But if you like informal, lively party pubs you won't need an excuse to revisit Delirium Cafe anyway.
March 2009
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We went to the Delirium Cafe, highly excited and encouraged about its beer. The service was worse than bad. The environment is vibrant. The service is: you are a bother. One waitress in particular ran us off. When we asked for different beers off of the menu, she didn't want to oblige. They just want to serve what is on tap, or is easy to serve. So, what is the point of visiting a place that brags on its assortment of beer? She told us to choose something else. When we asked why, suddenly English became an issue. So, we asked for another waitstaff, and they made excuses for her rudeness, and then they became too busy to retrieve our beer from the menu that we ordered. After being totally ignored by the French female waitress, and the rest of the waiters after we complained about her, we left. Brussels has a lot of nice places to get a beer. This place almost ruined our trip, and they don't have the beer in stock, or they do, but they don't have the staff willing to accommodate you. Go somewhere else and enjoy yourself and not be treated like a piece of dirt. - highm, USA
Anonymous, Mar 17, 2008 |
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Very lively spot that claims to have 2500 beers of which they guarantee 2004 are in stock at any one time. I doubt they get challenged on that claim too often! It's in a small lane and easy to miss but worth visitng. Upstairs is small but the main part is down in the cellar which is pretty big. Music is 80s and the volume is low enough to chat. It attracts a lot of tourists and has a good friendly party atmosphere. Very easy to call in for a drink and end up staying the night.
Duffman, Jun 14, 2005 |
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