Le Cercueil

Le Cercueil is French for ‘coffin’ and the name of one of Brussels’ quirkiest bars situated just off Grand Place. The façade featuring a skeleton on a broom already hints that there’s something weird to be discovered here. Feeling intrigued? Walk in through the dark and somewhat creepy corridor leading into the bar.

In the absence of windows, the entire bar is quite dark and dimly lit by ultraviolet neon lights. At first, when your eyes are adjusting to the darkness, you’d hardly notice that your table isn’t actually a table… but a coffin. Most of them are closed with a wooden top panel, except for one. Through the glass coffin lid functioning as tabletop you can see a skeleton staring back at you.

Le Cercueil opened in 1974 after the release of the horror movie ‘The Exorcist’, which helps to explain the inspiration behind the macabre decor. The dark setting and morbid elements create a gruesome ambience, which is underlined by the hard rock music blasting through the speakers.

If the Halloween-inspired setting hasn’t given you the chills yet, the nomenclature of the cocktails will. It’s hard to restrain your imagination from picturing things with cocktail names like devil’s sperm, vampire blood, sex in the coffin… The specialties of the house are served in skull-shaped beer mugs and contain a flambé liquor diluted with Belgian beer. It’s interesting to watch the flames created in the process when the waiter prepares this homebrew in front of you. Beware though, it’s pretty strong!

Practical information

• Cocktails cost between 7,50 and 12 EUR, but you can also get 10 cocktails for 50 EUR ;-)
• The beer cocktails in a skull-shaped mug cost 10 EUR.
• Standard Belgian beers are rather expensive at prices ranging between 3.5 and 8 EUR.

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