Tucked away in a side street in Bruges you will find one of Bruges newest and best cafes, Cafe Rose Red. Ranked as the #2 restaurant on TripAdvisor for Bruges when the food is fairly limited just proves how great this place is! The food they offer i tapas sharer type bar snacks but what makes this such a worldwide huge favorite is its beer list, surroundings and wonderful staff.
Downstairs to their family hotel lies one of the nicest cafes I have ever had the pleasure to drink in in Europe. The building once upon a time belonged to Francois Goudeseune who was Flanders first person to ever fly a hot air balloon, a title that you would think would have put him to a celebrity like status of the time… wrong! Francois ability to fly a hot air balloon actually made the locals dislike him as they believed he was actually a spy for the French!
The all wooden room is candle lit and looked over by many red roses hanging from the ceiling which I thought looked great. You instantly feel comfortable in this plesent little one room cafe and we was greeted by their wonderful staff. I cannot remember the guys name who ran the bar but he was such a nice chap and had amazing customer service. He spoke better English then I can (which is always a plus when over in Europe as it puts you at ease and relaxes you) his knowledge was without doubt huge he clearly had a passion for his work. He was there to chat with you and really talk to you about the beer menu helping you find that perfect brew to have in such wonderful surroundigns.
We took advantage of the 4 glass taster option, where you get a glass of each of the 4 taps that are on at the time, ours included La Chouffes houblon IPA and the yellow Chimay. We ended up spending the whole night in there and having quite a few beers all as wonderful as each other as Cafe Rose Red’s menu has some really hard to find beers as well as cellar-ed beers. I hope one day (not too long away) I will get to return to Cafe Red Rose…
