Sure. In Gdansk you could get a .5l standard Polish beer in a cafe on the main tourist street from about £1.40/1.50ish. In the brew pubs £1.80 - £2.20. In the supermarket you could get a .5l domestic beer from about 50p. Imported or Polish special beers are a bit more expensive, I had some really good polish porters and ales in the Amsterdam.
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Sure. In Gdansk you could get a .5l standard Polish beer in a cafe on the main tourist street from about £1.40/1.50ish. In the brew pubs £1.80 - £2.20. In the supermarket you could get a .5l domestic beer from about 50p. Imported or Polish special beers are a bit more expensive, I had some really good polish porters and ales in the Amsterdam.
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Cheers. .
Tbilisi, Georgia. Mrs Ted and I are just back from a quick visit to Georgia and Armenia. There was only one brewpub on my hit list, Madliani in Tbilisi and fortunately it was only a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Unfortunately, it was closed and judging by the amount of rubbish around the door, it had closed for good. So that's fcuked up my report I guess. Anyhow, just in case anyone's interested, Mrs Ted and I made the best of it and headed to a nice restaurant in Marjanishvili Square, I've no idea what the restaurant is called because it was in Georgian script with no translation but it's about two doors down from McDonalds. We had delicious Georgian beef kebabs (they come with plum sauce) and huge plate of chips, 5 large beers and a water, the bill came to about £8.50. Local food and drink was incredibly cheap (we looked in McDonalds and a big mac was about 2 quid, I don't know how much they cost here but not as good value as local food and probably tasted sh1te). Local bottled beer in the supermarket started from about 40p, a local draft beer in a bar from about 70p. Restaurants and bars were a bit hit and miss with regards to quality. Near the bridge that leads across to Europe Square and heading back to Freedom Square there are quite a few restaurants that seem to be aimed at tourists, we only ate twice in this area and were not overly impressed but maybe we chose the wrong restaurants. One thing we did like was Georgian cheese bread Khachapuri which we had for lunch one day, I'll have a go at making it at home.
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Wroclaw, Poland. Unfortunately we lost a day due to bad weather. After a 4 hour delay at Liverpool airport we headed off to Wroclaw but to be honest, the jockey didn't sound confident that we would be able to land there. Sure enough, we were diverted to Poznan, had to wait an hour then witnessed a disgusting scramble to get on board the coaches that would take us to Wroclaw airport. Burly adult males trampling women and children to make sure they could get on board first, it was a p1ss poor show. We stopped for a comfort break half way along and the same jackasses got off the bus and lit up right next to a giant propane tank. Unfortunately the bloke from the filling station ran out and moved them away. Anyhow, it took 3 hours to get to Wroclaw airport mainly because most of the way the road was single carriageway.
So to the beer and food. The concierge at our hotel gave us two great recommendations for restaurants for our evening meals. Both are on Rynek, the main square in the old town which was just round the corner from the hotel. Karzcma Lwowska does traditional Polish/Ukrainian food in a traditional setting. The food is delicious, hearty and filling. I'm a right greedy bo11ocks and even I was full at the end. Some decent local beers too. The other restaurant, Zlota does traditional Polish food but with a more modern twist, a less traditional setting but the food was just as tasty. Both restaurants were great value for money too.
We found one brewpub called Spiz, Rynek Ratusz 2. This is in a large cellar complex. It had about 6 different beers brewed on site, I particularly enjoyed the two dark beers. Each customer is given a slice of bread and lard along with the first beer. There is a decent menu, our first visit was at lunchtime and we had a delicious bowl of borscht with meat dumplings. Just around the corner was Bierhalle, Rynek Ratusz 24. This is part of a brewpub chain (I don't think the beer is brewed on site unlike Spiz). They had two beers, they were ok but this place had outside seating which a lot of the other places didn't have. Next was Zaklad Uslug Piwnych, a craft beer bar at Ruska 34. It was supposed to open at 15 hundred but when we arrived at 15:10 the shutter was partially down so Mrs Ted helloed a couple of times and the guys who ran it opened up. There was about 10 taps and quite a few bottled beers in the fridge. The chaps at the bar were knowledgeable, made recommendations for beer choice and let me have a taste before buying. On the way down to Zaklad, a little further up Ruska, Mrs Ted spotted a burger bar/pizza place called BLT that had a about 10 craft beers on the menu. I was a little skeptical but we called in and I had a couple of really decent beers. It was a modern burger type place but the staff were keen and friendly so it was a bonus really and the beer choice was great.
A beer in Spiz half a litre £1.80- £1.90ish. A local beer in a pub £1.30 upwards. A bottle of local beer in the supermarket from .50p upwards.
So to the beer and food. The concierge at our hotel gave us two great recommendations for restaurants for our evening meals. Both are on Rynek, the main square in the old town which was just round the corner from the hotel. Karzcma Lwowska does traditional Polish/Ukrainian food in a traditional setting. The food is delicious, hearty and filling. I'm a right greedy bo11ocks and even I was full at the end. Some decent local beers too. The other restaurant, Zlota does traditional Polish food but with a more modern twist, a less traditional setting but the food was just as tasty. Both restaurants were great value for money too.
We found one brewpub called Spiz, Rynek Ratusz 2. This is in a large cellar complex. It had about 6 different beers brewed on site, I particularly enjoyed the two dark beers. Each customer is given a slice of bread and lard along with the first beer. There is a decent menu, our first visit was at lunchtime and we had a delicious bowl of borscht with meat dumplings. Just around the corner was Bierhalle, Rynek Ratusz 24. This is part of a brewpub chain (I don't think the beer is brewed on site unlike Spiz). They had two beers, they were ok but this place had outside seating which a lot of the other places didn't have. Next was Zaklad Uslug Piwnych, a craft beer bar at Ruska 34. It was supposed to open at 15 hundred but when we arrived at 15:10 the shutter was partially down so Mrs Ted helloed a couple of times and the guys who ran it opened up. There was about 10 taps and quite a few bottled beers in the fridge. The chaps at the bar were knowledgeable, made recommendations for beer choice and let me have a taste before buying. On the way down to Zaklad, a little further up Ruska, Mrs Ted spotted a burger bar/pizza place called BLT that had a about 10 craft beers on the menu. I was a little skeptical but we called in and I had a couple of really decent beers. It was a modern burger type place but the staff were keen and friendly so it was a bonus really and the beer choice was great.
A beer in Spiz half a litre £1.80- £1.90ish. A local beer in a pub £1.30 upwards. A bottle of local beer in the supermarket from .50p upwards.
Hannover, Germany! I didn't get to visit all the bars on my list but one we did get to was Brauhaus Ernst August at Schmiedestraße 13. They had three of their own beers, an unfiltered pils, a wheat beer and a rather sweetish red ale which were OK. We returned later to try the food and although the place was packed with diners, we thought the food was a bit average. There was some outside space, inside was quite large with lots of typical long beerhall style tables and some booths.
Next day we went to Bavarium at Windmuhlenstraße 3. This is a Bavarian themed bar with a large cobbled outside area and plenty of inside space. The beer is mainly Lowenbrau but we enjoyed it here as it has a good atmosphere. The food looked and smelled tremendous but Mrs Ted had already set her mind on having dinner in a Spanish steak house just round the corner. Unfortunately, that was a bad decision ascthey didn't have what Mrs Ted wanted and the steak I had was poor, I'd have rather have dined at Bavarium.
On the Sunday we were having a bit of a wander when we happened upon the Craft Bier Bar at Ballhofplatz 7 which wasn't on my list. Now, I've never encountered this type of establishment in the fatherland before so it was a bit of a surprise find. They had about 25 draft beers and about 100 different bottled beers from around the world and a few from Germany. The barman was very knowledgeable and let me have a taste of the beer before buying. Although the bar was on a nice square there was no outside space. Inside was brick walls and wooden tables, the music was pretty good. I'm not sure if there was food on. We were talking to the barman and he said the bar hadn't been open long and it was a new thing for Germany. He said some Germans we keen to try the different beers but some we a bit suspicious of the foreign beers. Anyway, good luck to him because this was a really good bar.
Next day we went to Bavarium at Windmuhlenstraße 3. This is a Bavarian themed bar with a large cobbled outside area and plenty of inside space. The beer is mainly Lowenbrau but we enjoyed it here as it has a good atmosphere. The food looked and smelled tremendous but Mrs Ted had already set her mind on having dinner in a Spanish steak house just round the corner. Unfortunately, that was a bad decision ascthey didn't have what Mrs Ted wanted and the steak I had was poor, I'd have rather have dined at Bavarium.
On the Sunday we were having a bit of a wander when we happened upon the Craft Bier Bar at Ballhofplatz 7 which wasn't on my list. Now, I've never encountered this type of establishment in the fatherland before so it was a bit of a surprise find. They had about 25 draft beers and about 100 different bottled beers from around the world and a few from Germany. The barman was very knowledgeable and let me have a taste of the beer before buying. Although the bar was on a nice square there was no outside space. Inside was brick walls and wooden tables, the music was pretty good. I'm not sure if there was food on. We were talking to the barman and he said the bar hadn't been open long and it was a new thing for Germany. He said some Germans we keen to try the different beers but some we a bit suspicious of the foreign beers. Anyway, good luck to him because this was a really good bar.
Porto, Portugal. I managed to find a couple of decent places for a beer in Porto. We were based a little bit out of the town centre and I was very pleased that just across the road was a bar/restaurant called Portobeer (Av.da Boavista 1245). They have a fairly extensive range of world beers but they were generally mainstream rather than craft brews. They did have 3 beers from a range called Seleccao 1927 which turned out to be the craft range from the same brewery that makes the mainstream Superbock. I had the blonde and the stout which were very nice but I'm not sure they were worth the 12.90 euros for a 75cl bottle! I also had a beer from Angola called Cacu which was a more reasonable 2 euros for 33cl, it was like a standard Eurolager but I had to try it for the experience. We ate twice here, the first night the food was really good but the second night it was a bit average. There are lots of tables in a fairly modern setting.
More in the town centre there is a brilliant little place which is a bit like a cross between a cafe and a deli called Mecrearia Das Flores (Rua das Flores 110). They had two ranges of craft beer from local brewers Sovina and Ceveja Letre, each with about six different beers in the range. They were mainly for sale in bottles but they had a few of the beers on draft too. It was just about warm enough to sit outside (it's a pedestrianised street) and enjoy a couple of beers though there is also a small amount of seating inside. Around the walls there are traditional Portuguese and gourmet groceries for sale as well as local cheeses, meat and other fresh produce. Light meals are available and delicious cakes etc. The ladies in the cafe were really nice and told us about the beer and the breweries. While we were there a television crew turned up to do a feature on the cafe so me and Mrs Ted made sure we were in shot some of the time. The female reporter was quite nice. Before we left I purchased a few bottles to try back at base.
In Porto a local beer in a cafe was from about 3 euros up for half a litre, a local bottled beer in the supermarket was about a euro.
More in the town centre there is a brilliant little place which is a bit like a cross between a cafe and a deli called Mecrearia Das Flores (Rua das Flores 110). They had two ranges of craft beer from local brewers Sovina and Ceveja Letre, each with about six different beers in the range. They were mainly for sale in bottles but they had a few of the beers on draft too. It was just about warm enough to sit outside (it's a pedestrianised street) and enjoy a couple of beers though there is also a small amount of seating inside. Around the walls there are traditional Portuguese and gourmet groceries for sale as well as local cheeses, meat and other fresh produce. Light meals are available and delicious cakes etc. The ladies in the cafe were really nice and told us about the beer and the breweries. While we were there a television crew turned up to do a feature on the cafe so me and Mrs Ted made sure we were in shot some of the time. The female reporter was quite nice. Before we left I purchased a few bottles to try back at base.
In Porto a local beer in a cafe was from about 3 euros up for half a litre, a local bottled beer in the supermarket was about a euro.
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Szczecin, Poland. I would say that Szczecin is not a particularly beautiful city and not as touristy as some places we’ve visited (quite a few Germans there though). Anyhow, we enjoyed our trip and found some good beer halls there for me and a couple of shopping malls for Mrs Ted.
The first beer hall we went to was Nowy Browar Szczecin on Partyzantow, 2. This was a series of rooms, some with dining tables and some with high stools and tables. There about 4 beers on the menu, I had an unfiltered pils, a dark wheat beer and a Jasny (I’d say the Polish equivalent of a German helles) and they were very good. The food was a bit disappointing though, I had crispy pork knuckle but it wasn’t at all crispy, Mrs Ted had bratwurst but the texture was a bit sloppy.
My favourite was Wysak Browar Rodzinny, Księcia Mściwoja II 2. This was in a large cellar in a very nice old building. There were also tables outside, a few under the cover of some arches. The beer and food were really delicious. We ate here twice during our trip and the food was really good. Beer wise there were 4 on the menu, I tried them all in a taster set, I thought the best were the unfiltered pils and the porter. The staff here were really good.
Another beer hall we tried was Browar Stary Komenda, plac Stefana Batorego 3. There was a smallish bar area but there was more space upstairs and a small beer garden. Again about 4 beers were available, I tried an unfiltered pils and a jasny, both were good. We were going to eat here but a huge party of Germans came in and ordered food, the staff looked a bit rushed and miserable so we went to Wysak to eat.
There was also a good bar called the Office Craft Beer Bar at Osiek 10. Run by an English chap with nice Polish staff. About 8 or 9 craft beers on draft and more in bottles. This was a nice place with a good atmosphere and the beer was good.
Also worth a mention is an offy called Piwa Regionale at aleja Niepodległości 16. Some imported beer but most beer on sale was Polish craft beer and the choice was amazing. The chap who ran the shop gave some good recommendations for a couple of bottles to take back to base.
There is fake brew pub called Browar Polski, Dworcowa 20. It has barrels, brewing coppers etc on display and is set out like a beer hall but I was disappointed to find out it only sells the mainstream Tyskie beer.
A beer in a brew pub or craft beer bar £1.30-1.80ish, good craft beer from the offy from £1.40 upwards. A local beer in a bar about 90p a domestic beer in the supermarket about 50p, all are for half a litre.
The first beer hall we went to was Nowy Browar Szczecin on Partyzantow, 2. This was a series of rooms, some with dining tables and some with high stools and tables. There about 4 beers on the menu, I had an unfiltered pils, a dark wheat beer and a Jasny (I’d say the Polish equivalent of a German helles) and they were very good. The food was a bit disappointing though, I had crispy pork knuckle but it wasn’t at all crispy, Mrs Ted had bratwurst but the texture was a bit sloppy.
My favourite was Wysak Browar Rodzinny, Księcia Mściwoja II 2. This was in a large cellar in a very nice old building. There were also tables outside, a few under the cover of some arches. The beer and food were really delicious. We ate here twice during our trip and the food was really good. Beer wise there were 4 on the menu, I tried them all in a taster set, I thought the best were the unfiltered pils and the porter. The staff here were really good.
Another beer hall we tried was Browar Stary Komenda, plac Stefana Batorego 3. There was a smallish bar area but there was more space upstairs and a small beer garden. Again about 4 beers were available, I tried an unfiltered pils and a jasny, both were good. We were going to eat here but a huge party of Germans came in and ordered food, the staff looked a bit rushed and miserable so we went to Wysak to eat.
There was also a good bar called the Office Craft Beer Bar at Osiek 10. Run by an English chap with nice Polish staff. About 8 or 9 craft beers on draft and more in bottles. This was a nice place with a good atmosphere and the beer was good.
Also worth a mention is an offy called Piwa Regionale at aleja Niepodległości 16. Some imported beer but most beer on sale was Polish craft beer and the choice was amazing. The chap who ran the shop gave some good recommendations for a couple of bottles to take back to base.
There is fake brew pub called Browar Polski, Dworcowa 20. It has barrels, brewing coppers etc on display and is set out like a beer hall but I was disappointed to find out it only sells the mainstream Tyskie beer.
A beer in a brew pub or craft beer bar £1.30-1.80ish, good craft beer from the offy from £1.40 upwards. A local beer in a bar about 90p a domestic beer in the supermarket about 50p, all are for half a litre.
Bremen! You can't really go wrong in Bremen, there's plenty of decent bars and restaurants and even Becks tastes good there so here's a few places I liked.
I found a brewpub called Shuttinger at Hinter dem Shutting 12. This is in a cellar with long, beer hall style tables. I tried 2 of the 3 beers on offer and had a really good meal of Backfisch (for anyone looking it up I didn’t have a young teenage girl, the term is also used for fried fish) and Bratkartoffeln. The staff were good. There was no outside space as far as I could tell. Close by at Böttcherstraße 3-5 you can get Gaffel Kölsch beer at Standige Vertretung. This is in a massive hall with loads of tables. Some really good pictures of the DDR and cold war days adorn the walls. There is some outside space but it’s in a narrow street and opposite is a clock that has various pictures which change when the clock strikes the hour so you get loads of tourists taking up the tables to watch it. We had two rather different experiences here. The first time we called in during the evening for dinner. The food was really good and the staff were great, however, we called in the next day at lunchtime and the woman serving was really rude so we knocked it on the head and left.
If you walk through the old town to the river there's a bunch of bars on the waterfront, each one also has a Biergarten across a pedestrianised road, most with an additional bar in the Biergarten. My two favourites here were Red Rock, Schlacte 22 and Feldman’s Bierhaus, Schlacte 19. Red Rock has a large beer menu which invites you to drink your way around the world. The world beers from 28 countries on offer are the usual main stream brands but I did have a Banana Beer from Ghana called Dju Dju which I hadn’t seen before. They also have their own Red Rock beer which is a nice malty red. Feldman’s is more traditional with Haake Beck (pils and Krausen) and their own Feldmann’s Dunkel which was very good. I really liked the Krausen too which is a cloudy keller type beer. We had lunch here one day and it was very good. The staff were really pleasant.
On one of our walks we passed a burger place called Biggie B on Knochenhauerstraße 13, it looked so good we decided to try it that night. Really delicious gourmet burgers and a fridge full of German craft beer, it was very good indeed.
Bremer Ratskeller, Am Markt, is in the cellar of the town hall. It also has an outside bar with lots of tables with brollies in the market square so it’s great for people watching and you can also eat al fresco if you wish. It was good weather during our stay so we sat outside a few times and it was very pleasant sipping a Becks. On the last night we went to the inside restaurant where I had the local dish of Labskaus. This is the same as corned beef hash and it’s thought that German sailors took it to Liverpool where it became lob scouse, the national dish of the scousers. In Bremen though, you get it with a fried egg and a herring on top.
The only thing now is I’ve never seen so many people begging and sleeping rough in the fatherland. Every couple of yards someone was asking for money and coming up to your table if sitting outside. I’m not sure if this is just a Bremen thing or if it’s the result of adding a million people to Germany’s population overnight.
I found a brewpub called Shuttinger at Hinter dem Shutting 12. This is in a cellar with long, beer hall style tables. I tried 2 of the 3 beers on offer and had a really good meal of Backfisch (for anyone looking it up I didn’t have a young teenage girl, the term is also used for fried fish) and Bratkartoffeln. The staff were good. There was no outside space as far as I could tell. Close by at Böttcherstraße 3-5 you can get Gaffel Kölsch beer at Standige Vertretung. This is in a massive hall with loads of tables. Some really good pictures of the DDR and cold war days adorn the walls. There is some outside space but it’s in a narrow street and opposite is a clock that has various pictures which change when the clock strikes the hour so you get loads of tourists taking up the tables to watch it. We had two rather different experiences here. The first time we called in during the evening for dinner. The food was really good and the staff were great, however, we called in the next day at lunchtime and the woman serving was really rude so we knocked it on the head and left.
If you walk through the old town to the river there's a bunch of bars on the waterfront, each one also has a Biergarten across a pedestrianised road, most with an additional bar in the Biergarten. My two favourites here were Red Rock, Schlacte 22 and Feldman’s Bierhaus, Schlacte 19. Red Rock has a large beer menu which invites you to drink your way around the world. The world beers from 28 countries on offer are the usual main stream brands but I did have a Banana Beer from Ghana called Dju Dju which I hadn’t seen before. They also have their own Red Rock beer which is a nice malty red. Feldman’s is more traditional with Haake Beck (pils and Krausen) and their own Feldmann’s Dunkel which was very good. I really liked the Krausen too which is a cloudy keller type beer. We had lunch here one day and it was very good. The staff were really pleasant.
On one of our walks we passed a burger place called Biggie B on Knochenhauerstraße 13, it looked so good we decided to try it that night. Really delicious gourmet burgers and a fridge full of German craft beer, it was very good indeed.
Bremer Ratskeller, Am Markt, is in the cellar of the town hall. It also has an outside bar with lots of tables with brollies in the market square so it’s great for people watching and you can also eat al fresco if you wish. It was good weather during our stay so we sat outside a few times and it was very pleasant sipping a Becks. On the last night we went to the inside restaurant where I had the local dish of Labskaus. This is the same as corned beef hash and it’s thought that German sailors took it to Liverpool where it became lob scouse, the national dish of the scousers. In Bremen though, you get it with a fried egg and a herring on top.
The only thing now is I’ve never seen so many people begging and sleeping rough in the fatherland. Every couple of yards someone was asking for money and coming up to your table if sitting outside. I’m not sure if this is just a Bremen thing or if it’s the result of adding a million people to Germany’s population overnight.
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My new local is the Rashliegh Arms in Charlestown. It's position is great being 50m from the old harbour that houses a couple of tall ships if not more most of the year round. It's a St Austell brewery pub so not cheap but Tributes a good pale ale so suck it up buttercups...we like it for the beer garden...when it's warm it's buzzing with that soft multiple conversation buzz and has loads of tables...sometimes you'll get some music in the garden or banter if the gigs have been racing as the crews cone in for a beer...the food is high range standard so posh burgers and such with the chips served in little metal baskets...they do a range of nachos topped with things like pulled pork or chilli which get my financial vote...
The real winner is that you can finish your pint and in one minute you're on the set of Pirates of the Caribean, Poldark and even the Eagle has Landed...and another two pubs overlooking the harbour itself...well worth the short detour from the main road!
http://www.rashleigharms.co.uk/stay...20P3qlI5xmRmXwLP2SYc0HoiuYowQn45JqBoCKrfw_wcB
The real winner is that you can finish your pint and in one minute you're on the set of Pirates of the Caribean, Poldark and even the Eagle has Landed...and another two pubs overlooking the harbour itself...well worth the short detour from the main road!
http://www.rashleigharms.co.uk/stay...20P3qlI5xmRmXwLP2SYc0HoiuYowQn45JqBoCKrfw_wcB
On a trip to Vilnius last week Mrs Ted and I were able to immerse ourselves in Lithuanian culture and sample a few bars in the capital. Be aware that quite a few craft beer places seem to think that death/heavy metal is a suitable accompaniment for beer tasting, fortunately not all though.
Craft and Draft, Gedimino pr 5. This is in a cellar complex with lots of seating. On the beer front they had three of their own beers brewed on site, all were quite delicious. Mrs Ted doesn’t usually drink alcohol so she had a craft cola, she said I should have a taste and it was like those fizzy cola bottle sweets, very nice. The food was also good. The staff were great here, very friendly and welcoming. While we were there a German customer ordered a burger but forgot to ask for no cheese on it, the cheeky fcuker complained after eating about three quarters of the meal but the staff apologised, gave him a fresh meal and a free drink each for him and his friend. I’d have thrown them out. This was our favourite bar.
Bambalynė, Stiklių gatvė 7. Another cellar bar but no draft, it’s all bottled craft Lithuanian beer which is in fridges along the back wall, you go along and choose a bottle, go to the small bar and help yourself to a glass, you can either pay each time you choose or pay at the end. The staff will help with choice. I had some excellent beers here. Only food is bar snacks.
A couple of doors down from Bambalynė is Leiciu Bravoras (the two bars may be related as the same staff appeared in both). This is in a large vaulted ground floor room with massive tables. On each table is a beer pump and a meter so you can draw your own beer. On the bar there are about 6 draft beers, all Lithuanian craft, the friendly barmaid said that most of the beers were brewed in the pub. There was also a fridge with bottled beer. They did meals but we didn’t try the food here. Sky Sports on the telly.
Alynas, Jogailos gatvė 6. I was looking forward to this bar because of the wide range of local craft beer for sale but the barman was an ignorant fcuker who was more interested in his phone than his customers so we had one (which was good) and left. This place only sells beer, no soft drinks or coffee etc so no good for non-beer drinkers.
Set in a tremendously brutal Stalinist style shopping parade is Vilnius Beer Museum, Konstitucijos pr 12-4. Not really a museum but a good bar with about 10 or so draft beers (all Lithuanian) and loads in bottles. I tried a couple of decent beers here. Only bar snacks available. It had a fusball table and footy on the telly.
Just opposite the Beer Museum is the smallish V Cup shopping mall, in the lower basement is a beer shop called Vilniaus Alus. It has beer taps with a bottle attachment so will bottle their own draft craft beers for you, there’s also a choice of other bottled Lithuanian craft beers in the fridge so I purchased a couple to try back at base. On the other side of town there is a small bar with the same name at Pilies gatvė 6. Here you can have a draft beer bottled or buy it by the glass, unfortunately the two beers I had were a bit sour so we didn’t stay long. The beers I got from the beer shop were good though.
Baras Šuo, Ankštoji gatvė 1, this is a tiny pub with about half a dozen Lithuanian draft beers and bottles in the fridge. The scary biker looking gentleman who ran it was actually a very nice chap and helped with beer choice. Only bar snacks available.
Būsi trečias, Totorių gatvė 18. Lots of locals in this beer hall style brew pub. We visited at lunchtime so had some nice potato pancakes and a couple of good beers. The menu was mainly traditional Lithuanian and lots of people enjoying the food. The staff were very good and it was a friendly place.
A restaurant we liked was the German themed Bunte Gans. German style food and actual German beer, really good staff. Quite a few families dining here, we enjoyed it.
A 0.5l craft beer in one of the above establishments from around 2 to 3 euros. A domestic beer in the supermarket about 80 cents. Food and public transport are also quite inexpensive.
Craft and Draft, Gedimino pr 5. This is in a cellar complex with lots of seating. On the beer front they had three of their own beers brewed on site, all were quite delicious. Mrs Ted doesn’t usually drink alcohol so she had a craft cola, she said I should have a taste and it was like those fizzy cola bottle sweets, very nice. The food was also good. The staff were great here, very friendly and welcoming. While we were there a German customer ordered a burger but forgot to ask for no cheese on it, the cheeky fcuker complained after eating about three quarters of the meal but the staff apologised, gave him a fresh meal and a free drink each for him and his friend. I’d have thrown them out. This was our favourite bar.
Bambalynė, Stiklių gatvė 7. Another cellar bar but no draft, it’s all bottled craft Lithuanian beer which is in fridges along the back wall, you go along and choose a bottle, go to the small bar and help yourself to a glass, you can either pay each time you choose or pay at the end. The staff will help with choice. I had some excellent beers here. Only food is bar snacks.
A couple of doors down from Bambalynė is Leiciu Bravoras (the two bars may be related as the same staff appeared in both). This is in a large vaulted ground floor room with massive tables. On each table is a beer pump and a meter so you can draw your own beer. On the bar there are about 6 draft beers, all Lithuanian craft, the friendly barmaid said that most of the beers were brewed in the pub. There was also a fridge with bottled beer. They did meals but we didn’t try the food here. Sky Sports on the telly.
Alynas, Jogailos gatvė 6. I was looking forward to this bar because of the wide range of local craft beer for sale but the barman was an ignorant fcuker who was more interested in his phone than his customers so we had one (which was good) and left. This place only sells beer, no soft drinks or coffee etc so no good for non-beer drinkers.
Set in a tremendously brutal Stalinist style shopping parade is Vilnius Beer Museum, Konstitucijos pr 12-4. Not really a museum but a good bar with about 10 or so draft beers (all Lithuanian) and loads in bottles. I tried a couple of decent beers here. Only bar snacks available. It had a fusball table and footy on the telly.
Just opposite the Beer Museum is the smallish V Cup shopping mall, in the lower basement is a beer shop called Vilniaus Alus. It has beer taps with a bottle attachment so will bottle their own draft craft beers for you, there’s also a choice of other bottled Lithuanian craft beers in the fridge so I purchased a couple to try back at base. On the other side of town there is a small bar with the same name at Pilies gatvė 6. Here you can have a draft beer bottled or buy it by the glass, unfortunately the two beers I had were a bit sour so we didn’t stay long. The beers I got from the beer shop were good though.
Baras Šuo, Ankštoji gatvė 1, this is a tiny pub with about half a dozen Lithuanian draft beers and bottles in the fridge. The scary biker looking gentleman who ran it was actually a very nice chap and helped with beer choice. Only bar snacks available.
Būsi trečias, Totorių gatvė 18. Lots of locals in this beer hall style brew pub. We visited at lunchtime so had some nice potato pancakes and a couple of good beers. The menu was mainly traditional Lithuanian and lots of people enjoying the food. The staff were very good and it was a friendly place.
A restaurant we liked was the German themed Bunte Gans. German style food and actual German beer, really good staff. Quite a few families dining here, we enjoyed it.
A 0.5l craft beer in one of the above establishments from around 2 to 3 euros. A domestic beer in the supermarket about 80 cents. Food and public transport are also quite inexpensive.
Last weekend Mrs Ted and I popped over to Germany to watch Borussia Monchengladbach play Eintract Frankfurt on the Friday evening. The match itself was the dullest of 0-0 draws, however, the atmosphere at the ground was tremendous and it was well worth going. Fans mingling peacefully, beer on sale during the match and raucous singing made it a marvellous event.
Things didn’t really get off to the best of starts when I received a text eleven hours before we were due to fly to tell us our outbound flight to Dusseldorf was cancelled! I’m afraid Eurowings are a fcuking sh1te airline! They said I could re-book my flight but it was impossible to do it on their website, phone numbers for the call centres in the UK and Germany were out of service and an email to them brought an automatic reply that they would deal with my request in six weeks! So, I immediately went on the Flybe website and booked two of the four remaining seats on a flight that went out half an hour before the cancelled Eurowings one. Unfortunately it cost me 265 quid for the flights but a claim has gone in for a refund of the Flybe fare plus I have reminded Eurowings that under EU Regulation 261/2004 I am entitled to 250 Euros additional compensation for each passenger so let’s see what those t0ssers at Eurowings say.
Anyhow, thanks for bearing with my rant and now we finally get to the beer and food. We stayed one night in Monchengladbach, three in Dusseldorf plus a quick trip to Wuppertal on the Sunday to have a ride on the suspension railway which, by the way, is a magnificent piece of engineering and I would recommend a ride on it.
In Monchengladbach we went to St Vith, Alter Markt 6, which sells the locally brewed Bolten beers. The bar is beerhall style inside and has some tables outside too. I sampled their Alt, the Helles and the Ur-Alt (an unfiltered Alt beer), all were very good. We had an early dinner there and the food was delicious, the staff were also very nice. For old times sake I had a walk down the street of a thousand bars but it was disappointing, not how I remembered at all and it seemed a bit seedy. I went into a local Rewe where I purchased a couple of Bolten beers to have after the match, I got the Alt again and a Landbier which was very nice.
In Dusseldorf all the places we visited had multiple rooms set out in beer hall style on the inside. All had outside space, some with tables and chairs while others just had high tables to stand at. I only drank Alt in the bars and it was good to see that in some the beer was brewed on site, drawn directly from the barrel and served in .25l glasses, the speed at which the barmen could fill glasses for a large order was amazing. Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei, Berger Straße 1, really delicious beer and friendly staff who seemed to enjoy their work, joking with customers. The Uerige had most outside space with a section across a pedestrianised street with an additional outside bar. Some scenes in series 1 of Auf Wiedersehen Pet were filmed in this bar. Next is Zum Schiffchen, Hafenstraße 5, this isn’t a brew pub as it sells Schlosser Alt but it was good beer. Staff were very nice. We had lunch here one day and the food was really good. On to Brauerei Kürzer, Kurze Straße 20, this bar only sells its own Alt beer, nothing else. It seems to have a younger crowd in here, the bar has bare brick walls with pipes and services visible and to my mind was not as inviting as the other bars. The beer was excellent but we didn’t stay long as there was nothing for Mrs Ted to drink. So to Brauerei Zur Uel, Ratinger Straße 14, this is no longer brewing its own beer but serves the delicious Fuchschen Alt, very nice beer and a friendly crowd here including the staff. Next is Schumacher im Goldenen Kessel, Bolkerstraße 44, they had two Alt beers here, a traditional one and another called 1838, the traditional one was delicious and the 1838 was ok but tasted like it was made with citrussy new world hops and was a bit too grapefruity for me. We ate here once and I mistakenly ordered a boiled pork knuckle rather than a crispy one, I was a bit disappointed but it was still very tasty. In the gents there was a tremendous diorama in a glass insert in the wall above the p1ss stones, it was really good. Opposite Schumacher is Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel, Bolkerstraße 43, great beer, good staff and it was here next evening I finally got my crispy pork knuckle, it was food heaven! The beer was great too and again the staff liked to have a joke with the customers. Onto Brauerei im Golden Ring, Burg Pl 21. It was nice to sit outside here in a large area under the trees. It’s no longer a brew pub as it serves Frankenheimer Alt which, nonetheless, was good. The service was a bit slow here though and the waiters not as friendly as other places. A bonus for us was that a couple of doors down from our hotel was the Frankenheim Brauereiausschank, Wielandstraße 14-16, this is the Frankeheim brewery tap and the beer was very good as were the staff. There was a friendly crowd here and we usually called in for one or two Alts on the way back to the hotel. The only food we had from the extensive menu was a sandwich (bierhappen) but it was tasty enough.
On our day trip we reached Wuppertal to discover that Mrs Ted had forgotten the map with the Wuppertaler Brauhaus details on. Undeterred we headed to the suspension railway to see if the line map would jog our memory as to where we should be heading. We both thought that Brucke sounded familiar so we went there. We weren't even sure of the name of the Brauhaus so when we arrived in Brucke and asked a number of locals about it we drew a blank. Dejectedly we headed back to the town centre and as most places were shut with it being Sunday we ended up in Starbucks. Mrs Ted asked the young lady behind the counter if she knew of a Brauhaus and in perfect English she told us where it was and wrote down some details and directions. After a quick coffee and many thanks to the young lady we got back on the suspension railway and headed in the other direction to Werthier Brucke. We followed the directions and finally arrived at the Wuppertaler Brauhaus, Kleine Flurstraße 5. It’s set in an old swimming baths (obviously the pool has now been drained) and there are some tall stools and high tables in the former pool area. Surrounding and overlooking the former pool area are two or three gallery levels with beer hall style tables. There is also some outside space. Here I had a Dunkel, a Helles and an Amber beer, all were delicious and the Helles was the best beer I had all holiday. We had lunch of exquisite currywurst. The staff were very nice. They also did take away beers so I purchased a bottle of Helles and a Pilsner to have back at base, delicious!
Things didn’t really get off to the best of starts when I received a text eleven hours before we were due to fly to tell us our outbound flight to Dusseldorf was cancelled! I’m afraid Eurowings are a fcuking sh1te airline! They said I could re-book my flight but it was impossible to do it on their website, phone numbers for the call centres in the UK and Germany were out of service and an email to them brought an automatic reply that they would deal with my request in six weeks! So, I immediately went on the Flybe website and booked two of the four remaining seats on a flight that went out half an hour before the cancelled Eurowings one. Unfortunately it cost me 265 quid for the flights but a claim has gone in for a refund of the Flybe fare plus I have reminded Eurowings that under EU Regulation 261/2004 I am entitled to 250 Euros additional compensation for each passenger so let’s see what those t0ssers at Eurowings say.
Anyhow, thanks for bearing with my rant and now we finally get to the beer and food. We stayed one night in Monchengladbach, three in Dusseldorf plus a quick trip to Wuppertal on the Sunday to have a ride on the suspension railway which, by the way, is a magnificent piece of engineering and I would recommend a ride on it.
In Monchengladbach we went to St Vith, Alter Markt 6, which sells the locally brewed Bolten beers. The bar is beerhall style inside and has some tables outside too. I sampled their Alt, the Helles and the Ur-Alt (an unfiltered Alt beer), all were very good. We had an early dinner there and the food was delicious, the staff were also very nice. For old times sake I had a walk down the street of a thousand bars but it was disappointing, not how I remembered at all and it seemed a bit seedy. I went into a local Rewe where I purchased a couple of Bolten beers to have after the match, I got the Alt again and a Landbier which was very nice.
In Dusseldorf all the places we visited had multiple rooms set out in beer hall style on the inside. All had outside space, some with tables and chairs while others just had high tables to stand at. I only drank Alt in the bars and it was good to see that in some the beer was brewed on site, drawn directly from the barrel and served in .25l glasses, the speed at which the barmen could fill glasses for a large order was amazing. Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei, Berger Straße 1, really delicious beer and friendly staff who seemed to enjoy their work, joking with customers. The Uerige had most outside space with a section across a pedestrianised street with an additional outside bar. Some scenes in series 1 of Auf Wiedersehen Pet were filmed in this bar. Next is Zum Schiffchen, Hafenstraße 5, this isn’t a brew pub as it sells Schlosser Alt but it was good beer. Staff were very nice. We had lunch here one day and the food was really good. On to Brauerei Kürzer, Kurze Straße 20, this bar only sells its own Alt beer, nothing else. It seems to have a younger crowd in here, the bar has bare brick walls with pipes and services visible and to my mind was not as inviting as the other bars. The beer was excellent but we didn’t stay long as there was nothing for Mrs Ted to drink. So to Brauerei Zur Uel, Ratinger Straße 14, this is no longer brewing its own beer but serves the delicious Fuchschen Alt, very nice beer and a friendly crowd here including the staff. Next is Schumacher im Goldenen Kessel, Bolkerstraße 44, they had two Alt beers here, a traditional one and another called 1838, the traditional one was delicious and the 1838 was ok but tasted like it was made with citrussy new world hops and was a bit too grapefruity for me. We ate here once and I mistakenly ordered a boiled pork knuckle rather than a crispy one, I was a bit disappointed but it was still very tasty. In the gents there was a tremendous diorama in a glass insert in the wall above the p1ss stones, it was really good. Opposite Schumacher is Hausbrauerei Zum Schlüssel, Bolkerstraße 43, great beer, good staff and it was here next evening I finally got my crispy pork knuckle, it was food heaven! The beer was great too and again the staff liked to have a joke with the customers. Onto Brauerei im Golden Ring, Burg Pl 21. It was nice to sit outside here in a large area under the trees. It’s no longer a brew pub as it serves Frankenheimer Alt which, nonetheless, was good. The service was a bit slow here though and the waiters not as friendly as other places. A bonus for us was that a couple of doors down from our hotel was the Frankenheim Brauereiausschank, Wielandstraße 14-16, this is the Frankeheim brewery tap and the beer was very good as were the staff. There was a friendly crowd here and we usually called in for one or two Alts on the way back to the hotel. The only food we had from the extensive menu was a sandwich (bierhappen) but it was tasty enough.
On our day trip we reached Wuppertal to discover that Mrs Ted had forgotten the map with the Wuppertaler Brauhaus details on. Undeterred we headed to the suspension railway to see if the line map would jog our memory as to where we should be heading. We both thought that Brucke sounded familiar so we went there. We weren't even sure of the name of the Brauhaus so when we arrived in Brucke and asked a number of locals about it we drew a blank. Dejectedly we headed back to the town centre and as most places were shut with it being Sunday we ended up in Starbucks. Mrs Ted asked the young lady behind the counter if she knew of a Brauhaus and in perfect English she told us where it was and wrote down some details and directions. After a quick coffee and many thanks to the young lady we got back on the suspension railway and headed in the other direction to Werthier Brucke. We followed the directions and finally arrived at the Wuppertaler Brauhaus, Kleine Flurstraße 5. It’s set in an old swimming baths (obviously the pool has now been drained) and there are some tall stools and high tables in the former pool area. Surrounding and overlooking the former pool area are two or three gallery levels with beer hall style tables. There is also some outside space. Here I had a Dunkel, a Helles and an Amber beer, all were delicious and the Helles was the best beer I had all holiday. We had lunch of exquisite currywurst. The staff were very nice. They also did take away beers so I purchased a bottle of Helles and a Pilsner to have back at base, delicious!
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You need to do a travel programme on bbc 4. You seem to enjoy your little brewery trips. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Justin. Now that's a job I'd come out of retirement for...
I got an email from Eurowings giving me £117 quid back for the cancelled flight (see above). I emailed back reminding them that under ECR 261, in the event of a cancellation it's the airline's responsibility to get their passengers to their destination at the earliest possible opportunity. As Eurowings failed in this duty by not providing an alternative flight and by failing to provide a working method of communication with their offices, it was my right to get myself to the destination at the earliest opportunity so they owe me the balance of the £265 for the alternative flight I booked. I also reminded them that I am entitled to 250 euros per passenger as laid out in the compensation scale in the same regulation. Let's see what they say about that.
Thanks Dessp, the trip evoked some memories for me too, I loved my time at Bruggen. Yes, those Saturday decisions were tough, both great places to go.
Last weekend Mrs Ted and I made a return visit to Warsaw. Traditionally for my birthday weekend treat we book into a nice hotel in Bowness in the beautiful Lake District, however, this year prices for anywhere decent were horrendous. A quick search on the internet found us flights to Warsaw and three nights B&B in the Radisson for cheaper than we could go to Bowness! So off to Warsaw, about two and half years since our last visit.
Last time my favourite Warsaw bar was Browarmia, Ul Krolewska 1 but as I stood outside it this year I was horrified to see that it had been taken over by brew pub chain, Bierhalle. Although it has retained a measure of independence from Bierhalle and still brews beer on site, I couldn’t bring myself to go in. Don’t get me wrong, Bierhalle make some good beer but I was just too disappointed. Just down the road a couple of hundred yards there is another Bierhalle at Ul Nowy Swiat 64 but I didn’t go in there either. A Bierhalle I did go in, however, was the one at the Arkadia Shopping Mall. I spent a morning dutifully following Mrs Ted around the mall and then when it was time to leave we popped into the Bierhalle. As it was around lunch time we both had some delicious, warming goulash soup. They had four beers on draft (there are more on the menu but they rotate them) so I had a taster tray of all four. All of the beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. The pils was ok I guess, then there was a bananary tasting wheat beer which was very good, next I tried the Rosalina which was a delicious red lager and finally the best was the excellent Marcowe which is the equivalent of a German Marzen/Oktoberfest beer. There is lots of seating inside the bar, the staff are nice and the waitresses are in Bavarian costume. Last time when we there in the summer there was outside seating but as it was brass monkey weather there was none this time.
The disappointment of Browarmia was forgotten when I discovered my new favourite bar in Warsaw which is Hoppiness, Chmielna 27/31, a multi tap rather than a brewpub. The bar is quite small but there are around 12 taps of mainly Polish craft beer with the odd non-Polish, there is also a range of bottled craft beer in the fridge. The beer menu changed by a couple of beers each day. Unfortunately, the Poles have taken up the American fad of putting a million tons of new world citrussy hops into each brew making them taste of grapefruit and rather similar to each other, however, by working my way through the menu I did taste some excellent beers in Hoppiness, the best being Palatum Russian imperial stout. The staff are really good, very friendly and help with beer choice. It’s a fairly young crowd in here and there is a good atmosphere. Hot food is on offer but we had decided to eat elsewhere as it was mainly burgers, Mexican, fish and chips etc. The only minor negative was that on leaving a slight smell of cooking remained on our clothes. Next door to Hoppiness is Belgian Beer & Chocolate. Here they have a couple of draft Belgian and loads of bottled Belgian beers, it was good to see that the correct glass was used for the beer. There are also some bottled Polish craft beers so I tried some of those, including a delicious Kormoran coffee stout. Lots of people were coming in just for coffee, it’s a nice bar with a relaxed atmosphere.
On a walk round the old town I was pleased to discover another multi tap bar, or maybe I should say two bars both called Same Crafty, Ul Novomiejska 10. On one side of the street is Same Crafty, here they have about 10 taps of mainly Polish craft beer and a choice of bottled beer in the fridge. It’s quite a small bar with high tables and stools, a small area to one side has comfy chairs. Food is just pizza and snacks. The barman was good and helped with beer choice. Directly opposite is also Same Crafty but this is more restauranty in appearance, selling gourmet burgers, salads etc but with the same multi tap set up as across the street.
On our final day we went to Kufle i Kapsle multi tap bar, Nowogrodzka 25. The bar is in a fairly large room with high tables and chairs and through the back of the bar is an area with easy chairs and sofas. They have around 16 taps of mainly Polish craft with more bottled. The barmaid was friendly enough and I had a couple of very good beers here, in particular a Belgian style golden ale (unfortunately I can't remember the brewery name).
Walking around Warsaw, the multi tap bar is really popular. We passed a few that were either closed or we didn’t fancy going in. If you can dodge the American style IPAs there are some terrific Polish craft beers to be tasted.
A craft beer ranges from about £2.10 to just under 4 quid for 0.5l depending on strength and style. A standard 0.5l Polish beer in a bar about £1.60, a half litre bottle of local beer in a supermarket is about 55p.
Last time my favourite Warsaw bar was Browarmia, Ul Krolewska 1 but as I stood outside it this year I was horrified to see that it had been taken over by brew pub chain, Bierhalle. Although it has retained a measure of independence from Bierhalle and still brews beer on site, I couldn’t bring myself to go in. Don’t get me wrong, Bierhalle make some good beer but I was just too disappointed. Just down the road a couple of hundred yards there is another Bierhalle at Ul Nowy Swiat 64 but I didn’t go in there either. A Bierhalle I did go in, however, was the one at the Arkadia Shopping Mall. I spent a morning dutifully following Mrs Ted around the mall and then when it was time to leave we popped into the Bierhalle. As it was around lunch time we both had some delicious, warming goulash soup. They had four beers on draft (there are more on the menu but they rotate them) so I had a taster tray of all four. All of the beers are unfiltered and unpasteurised. The pils was ok I guess, then there was a bananary tasting wheat beer which was very good, next I tried the Rosalina which was a delicious red lager and finally the best was the excellent Marcowe which is the equivalent of a German Marzen/Oktoberfest beer. There is lots of seating inside the bar, the staff are nice and the waitresses are in Bavarian costume. Last time when we there in the summer there was outside seating but as it was brass monkey weather there was none this time.
The disappointment of Browarmia was forgotten when I discovered my new favourite bar in Warsaw which is Hoppiness, Chmielna 27/31, a multi tap rather than a brewpub. The bar is quite small but there are around 12 taps of mainly Polish craft beer with the odd non-Polish, there is also a range of bottled craft beer in the fridge. The beer menu changed by a couple of beers each day. Unfortunately, the Poles have taken up the American fad of putting a million tons of new world citrussy hops into each brew making them taste of grapefruit and rather similar to each other, however, by working my way through the menu I did taste some excellent beers in Hoppiness, the best being Palatum Russian imperial stout. The staff are really good, very friendly and help with beer choice. It’s a fairly young crowd in here and there is a good atmosphere. Hot food is on offer but we had decided to eat elsewhere as it was mainly burgers, Mexican, fish and chips etc. The only minor negative was that on leaving a slight smell of cooking remained on our clothes. Next door to Hoppiness is Belgian Beer & Chocolate. Here they have a couple of draft Belgian and loads of bottled Belgian beers, it was good to see that the correct glass was used for the beer. There are also some bottled Polish craft beers so I tried some of those, including a delicious Kormoran coffee stout. Lots of people were coming in just for coffee, it’s a nice bar with a relaxed atmosphere.
On a walk round the old town I was pleased to discover another multi tap bar, or maybe I should say two bars both called Same Crafty, Ul Novomiejska 10. On one side of the street is Same Crafty, here they have about 10 taps of mainly Polish craft beer and a choice of bottled beer in the fridge. It’s quite a small bar with high tables and stools, a small area to one side has comfy chairs. Food is just pizza and snacks. The barman was good and helped with beer choice. Directly opposite is also Same Crafty but this is more restauranty in appearance, selling gourmet burgers, salads etc but with the same multi tap set up as across the street.
On our final day we went to Kufle i Kapsle multi tap bar, Nowogrodzka 25. The bar is in a fairly large room with high tables and chairs and through the back of the bar is an area with easy chairs and sofas. They have around 16 taps of mainly Polish craft with more bottled. The barmaid was friendly enough and I had a couple of very good beers here, in particular a Belgian style golden ale (unfortunately I can't remember the brewery name).
Walking around Warsaw, the multi tap bar is really popular. We passed a few that were either closed or we didn’t fancy going in. If you can dodge the American style IPAs there are some terrific Polish craft beers to be tasted.
A craft beer ranges from about £2.10 to just under 4 quid for 0.5l depending on strength and style. A standard 0.5l Polish beer in a bar about £1.60, a half litre bottle of local beer in a supermarket is about 55p.
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Again another excellent travel report.
Cheers Justin.
Mrs Ted and I are back from a trip to Sofia in Bulgaria. First a word of advice, the state of repair of the streets in Sofia may pose a risk to anyone intending to perambulate so keep an eye out for missing or broken paving stones, missing or broken grids, manhole and inspection covers, then there are various obstacles including rocks, discarded building materials, dog dirt, vehicles, bollards or parts of bollards all placed randomly on the footpath. Other than that, Sofia is great.
My favourite bar in Sofia was The Ale House, ulitsa "Hristo Belchev" 42. It doesn’t look an inviting place to visit, inside the entrance is a security guard sat by his or her own beer pump but as you go in the security guard will invite you to take the stairs down to a number of rooms in the cellar where there are booths and tables. Each table has a beer pump and meter. On the beer menu are lots of well known brands, mainly from the UK, Belgium, Czech Republic and Germany, a couple of them on draft and the rest bottled, however, all I drank here was their own unfiltered, unpasteurised house beer drawn from the tap at the table and it was really delicious! We ate here a couple of times and the food was very good. The meals didn’t always arrive at the same time though, for example, Mrs Ted’s mozzarella salad starter arrived 15 minutes before my game meatball starter, the second time we ate there the mains were similarly out of sync, no problem though as I managed to keep myself occupied with the beer tap. The staff were really nice. The music being played was tremendous as it was all from the late 70s and reminded me of Bruggen.
We visited the 1516 bar, ulitsa “Tsar Asen” 2a, as I was lead to believe they served their own house beer but all they had was a few Bulgarian mainstream brands on tap and some “international brands” in bottles so it was a bit of a disappointment. This bar is in a large cellar with sport or music on the telly. I tried some kebabs for lunch but they weren’t all that good really.
So on to the Bitburger Pub ulitsa "Stefan Karadzha" 20. This bar is in a massive cellar and is set out beer hall style. The menu looked really good and the Bitburg was delicious and refreshing so it was a contender for dinner but the atmosphere in there was really flat and we decided to dine elsewhere. Maybe on another evening the atmosphere would have been better.
Vitamin B, ulitsa "Angel Kanchev" 8. This is in a large ground floor room with ultra-modern décor which I found a bit soulless, however, the beer menu was large and had some interesting brews on offer. There were about 6 beers on draft and the rest in bottles. In addition to Bulgarian craft beers there were quite a few beers from other countries including a good number from the Danish Mikkeller brewery. This bar was comparatively expensive to other places in Sofia, I’m not sure if food was on offer, it didn’t look like it. It was run by an American chap from Los Angeles who was nice enough and helped with beer choice.
A bar I really enjoyed was Halbite Pub, ulitsa "Neofit Rilski" 72. There was a small room near the bar where we usually sat, there was also another room in the cellar and an outdoor area housed within a fully enclosed plastic awning like structure with gas heaters inside (smoking was allowed in the awning). They had about 10 draft beers including a very tasty, dark house beer and a Bulgarian craft ale by Glarus which was also very good. There was a huge range of bottled beers which included a good number of Bulgarian craft beers of which I sampled a few. The food menu looked good and we were tempted to eat there once but had already decided to return to The Ale House.
A pub I missed out on was Kanaal, bulevard "Madrid" 2. Mrs Ted had expressed a wish to visit the Serdika Center shopping mall, a little out of the centre of town. Fortunately, a direct tram ran from outside the hotel and even more fortunately, the mall is only a 10 minute walk from Kanaal. And even more fortunately than that, the mall was about a 5 minute walk from the National Museum of Military History, ulitsa "Cherkovna" 92. So, I had a very pleasant morning wandering around the museum. Outside they have tanks, artillery, missiles, armoured vehicles, aircraft and (strangely) a Trabant car. The aircraft included the MiGs from 15 to 23, an SU22, an ex-Luftwaffe Tonker, Mi 2, 8 and 24 helicopters. The inside display has 4 floors of weapons, uniforms, gongs and other military equipment, it’s all very well laid out with screens describing the exhibits in Bulgarian and English. The museum had several examples of the Czech ZB26/28, the forerunners of the Bren gun and later the tremendous LMG, with which I was allowed to arm myself at Binbrook and Bruggen, they also had some SLRs/FN FALs, it almost brought a tear to my eye. After the museum, I followed Mrs Ted round the mall then we headed to Kanaal craft beer bar but it was shut which was a bit of a disappointment but a tram ride back to Halbite cured that.
An ordinary draft Bulgarian beer in a bar from about £0.65, a bottle of domestic beer from the shop from about £0.40, both for 0.5l. In The Ale House the house draft was around £2.55 but that was for 1 litre! A 0.5l craft beer in Halbite from about £1.40 to £2.60. A craft beer in Vitamin B around £2.60 to £4.30 for 0.33l. Things were incredibly cheap in Sofia, a decent meal for two with drinks was about 20 quid. A ticket on any public transport system was £0.70. We had a day trip to Koprivshtitsa, it’s up in the mountains about 110Km from Sofia, the return train fair was about £4.25 each. Mrs Ted wanted to buy a pack of baccy as a Christmas present for a friend and was going to buy it in duty free, however, we ended up getting it from the offy near the hotel as it was only £4.25 for a 40g pack of Golden Vadge. On returning to Manchester Airport, about 30 or so customs officers were waiting for our flight, we were asked about our purchases and we explained that we had a pack of baccy and a bottle of wine, nevertheless, they still x-rayed our bags. I asked the customs person about the heavy presence and he said that fags were so cheap in Bulgaria they were expecting a large number of passengers to exceed the 800 limit that would trigger a bit of a grilling.
My favourite bar in Sofia was The Ale House, ulitsa "Hristo Belchev" 42. It doesn’t look an inviting place to visit, inside the entrance is a security guard sat by his or her own beer pump but as you go in the security guard will invite you to take the stairs down to a number of rooms in the cellar where there are booths and tables. Each table has a beer pump and meter. On the beer menu are lots of well known brands, mainly from the UK, Belgium, Czech Republic and Germany, a couple of them on draft and the rest bottled, however, all I drank here was their own unfiltered, unpasteurised house beer drawn from the tap at the table and it was really delicious! We ate here a couple of times and the food was very good. The meals didn’t always arrive at the same time though, for example, Mrs Ted’s mozzarella salad starter arrived 15 minutes before my game meatball starter, the second time we ate there the mains were similarly out of sync, no problem though as I managed to keep myself occupied with the beer tap. The staff were really nice. The music being played was tremendous as it was all from the late 70s and reminded me of Bruggen.
We visited the 1516 bar, ulitsa “Tsar Asen” 2a, as I was lead to believe they served their own house beer but all they had was a few Bulgarian mainstream brands on tap and some “international brands” in bottles so it was a bit of a disappointment. This bar is in a large cellar with sport or music on the telly. I tried some kebabs for lunch but they weren’t all that good really.
So on to the Bitburger Pub ulitsa "Stefan Karadzha" 20. This bar is in a massive cellar and is set out beer hall style. The menu looked really good and the Bitburg was delicious and refreshing so it was a contender for dinner but the atmosphere in there was really flat and we decided to dine elsewhere. Maybe on another evening the atmosphere would have been better.
Vitamin B, ulitsa "Angel Kanchev" 8. This is in a large ground floor room with ultra-modern décor which I found a bit soulless, however, the beer menu was large and had some interesting brews on offer. There were about 6 beers on draft and the rest in bottles. In addition to Bulgarian craft beers there were quite a few beers from other countries including a good number from the Danish Mikkeller brewery. This bar was comparatively expensive to other places in Sofia, I’m not sure if food was on offer, it didn’t look like it. It was run by an American chap from Los Angeles who was nice enough and helped with beer choice.
A bar I really enjoyed was Halbite Pub, ulitsa "Neofit Rilski" 72. There was a small room near the bar where we usually sat, there was also another room in the cellar and an outdoor area housed within a fully enclosed plastic awning like structure with gas heaters inside (smoking was allowed in the awning). They had about 10 draft beers including a very tasty, dark house beer and a Bulgarian craft ale by Glarus which was also very good. There was a huge range of bottled beers which included a good number of Bulgarian craft beers of which I sampled a few. The food menu looked good and we were tempted to eat there once but had already decided to return to The Ale House.
A pub I missed out on was Kanaal, bulevard "Madrid" 2. Mrs Ted had expressed a wish to visit the Serdika Center shopping mall, a little out of the centre of town. Fortunately, a direct tram ran from outside the hotel and even more fortunately, the mall is only a 10 minute walk from Kanaal. And even more fortunately than that, the mall was about a 5 minute walk from the National Museum of Military History, ulitsa "Cherkovna" 92. So, I had a very pleasant morning wandering around the museum. Outside they have tanks, artillery, missiles, armoured vehicles, aircraft and (strangely) a Trabant car. The aircraft included the MiGs from 15 to 23, an SU22, an ex-Luftwaffe Tonker, Mi 2, 8 and 24 helicopters. The inside display has 4 floors of weapons, uniforms, gongs and other military equipment, it’s all very well laid out with screens describing the exhibits in Bulgarian and English. The museum had several examples of the Czech ZB26/28, the forerunners of the Bren gun and later the tremendous LMG, with which I was allowed to arm myself at Binbrook and Bruggen, they also had some SLRs/FN FALs, it almost brought a tear to my eye. After the museum, I followed Mrs Ted round the mall then we headed to Kanaal craft beer bar but it was shut which was a bit of a disappointment but a tram ride back to Halbite cured that.
An ordinary draft Bulgarian beer in a bar from about £0.65, a bottle of domestic beer from the shop from about £0.40, both for 0.5l. In The Ale House the house draft was around £2.55 but that was for 1 litre! A 0.5l craft beer in Halbite from about £1.40 to £2.60. A craft beer in Vitamin B around £2.60 to £4.30 for 0.33l. Things were incredibly cheap in Sofia, a decent meal for two with drinks was about 20 quid. A ticket on any public transport system was £0.70. We had a day trip to Koprivshtitsa, it’s up in the mountains about 110Km from Sofia, the return train fair was about £4.25 each. Mrs Ted wanted to buy a pack of baccy as a Christmas present for a friend and was going to buy it in duty free, however, we ended up getting it from the offy near the hotel as it was only £4.25 for a 40g pack of Golden Vadge. On returning to Manchester Airport, about 30 or so customs officers were waiting for our flight, we were asked about our purchases and we explained that we had a pack of baccy and a bottle of wine, nevertheless, they still x-rayed our bags. I asked the customs person about the heavy presence and he said that fags were so cheap in Bulgaria they were expecting a large number of passengers to exceed the 800 limit that would trigger a bit of a grilling.
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