Woke up late with large hangovers, so we quickly went to check out our next café, 't Strijderhuis, which Podge found at Christmas. And very impressed we were too. Its down the street to the right of the Belfort as you look at you look at it.

The staff are very friendly and welcoming. Its got a smart. modern interior with a clever layout - there's separate area with easier chairs for drinks/coffee, then tables for eating. Upstairs there's a non smoking mezzanine level section, and there's a decent beer list of around 50 beers, including all the De Dolle and Strubbe beers. There's a terrace with a fountain which would be lovely in summer. The café has been converted to a very high standard indeed. We had coffee first time, then later returned for a Hoeve Bier and lunch, which was excellent - fresh home cooking, I enjoyed the tomato soup so much I had a second helping! This is certainly a very good addition to the Brugge café scene, and it has loads of potential. All babblers should visit it and lets see if we can encourage them to expand their beer range, after what is a very promising start.

Later it was off to Dickies again, where Oerbier, Achel Blonde - also improving all the time - Kerstpater from van den Bossche and a St Bernardus 8 were all sampled, and then a return to De Koetse for my favourite beefsteak with mushroom sauce - yum.

Our evening was then spent in De Garre, an old favourite, which was on good form all week. Had my first sample of St Bernardus' version of Grottenbier, my first ever Leute Bokbier, and rounded a good, relaxing and very cold day off with a warming Rochefort 10.

Photos: Brugge, Gent, Aalst and De Haan
Photos: De Gans, 't Kroegske and Heeren van Liedekercke
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