Bar Brouw | Tripel

BAR BROUW

New rough hipster hotspot in Amsterdam West.
Off Ten Kate markt,  in a quiet neighborhood there's a new bar/restaurant offering more intriguing food and drinks options in Amsterdam. Smoked meat and beer. Think bio meat and specialty beers. But don't worry, word has it that vegetarians dine in a good way as well.

The menu states: black angus burgers, pork belly and pulled pork!

The meat is smoked and slowcooked for over 12 hours. 5 minutes after your order is places food is on the table. (Eat that Mickey D's or BK...) Mains come with 2 sides. Good stuff, the pork is delicious, absolutely tender. Tried the pulled pork and the pork belly. The flavour of the pork belly was so intense, it blew me off my feet.

Bar Brouw specializes in beers, and refreshingly enough, no Belgian beers. Obscure dutch, american and international beers, a wide variety of IPA's (India Pale Ale) and there aren't many places in the lowlands where you can find IPA on draft. They also have a lot of whiskey.

The wines they serve are excellent as well, my preference however is their merlot.

The interior is new rough. Industrial, natural products. Sober. Edgy.
Good alternative music. Could be more obscure.
Hip artsy crowd.

Relaxed atmosphere, refreshing on a saturday night.

No groups of drunk English!

Ten Katestraat 16, Amsterdam
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TRIPEL

A new Belgian bar, from the same owners of Van Mechelen and de Zotte.

It's brand new, but it looks old.

Very basic set up, but it's spacious, pretty cosy and very functional.

Those qualities are missing in the cramped bar de Zotte.

The collection of beers is extensive, creative and not what you would expect.

Something I appreciated a lot is that the beers are poured for you in the original specific glass.

Passchendaele, Pater Lieven, Oerbier, Ename... it feels like home!

This could very much become the extension of my living room.

Things to improve: the music. Mainly punkrock, not very inventive. It gives the place the feeling of a tourist trap. No Belgian bands (apart from Plastic Bertrand). With the Belgian music flourishing nowadays it would make sense to play Belgian bands in a Belgian bar. (well, it's what I would do)

Dare to stand out.

Lijnbaansgracht 94