#65 | Bar Magritte, Brussels, Belgium
Last Visit: Spring 2025
In today's article, let's take a look at the only hotel bar I visited on my last trip to Brussels and, to be honest, the only one that, after much research, seemed halfway exciting and interested in higher-quality drinks. That would be the Bar Magritte in the 5-star Hotel Amigo. It's conveniently located just 50 meters down a street from the central Grand Place in the middle of Brussels, where all the wonderful, classic buildings with the glittering gold elements on the facades are located, including the old town hall.
The hotel is located in a historic building with red bricks, which may not look as grand as some 5-star hotels in Paris, but is representative enough and exudes Belgian character in its architecture. With a glazed entrance area, as well as lots of brightness and fresh colors in the interior, many lighting elements, as well as smart design, the hotel is surprisingly friendly and inviting inside, despite the historically small windows and limited possibilities. Inside, a contemporary, high-quality balance is maintained between historical elements for the time-honored charm and many (tasteful) modern design elements.
As the hotel doesn't look like an absolutely necessary photo stop from the outside, there are also, compared to some Parisian or even NYC hotels, no outside tourists just there to take photos or even just to visit the bar. That means you have a cozy environment and peace. This is also necessary, as the (open) barroom is located directly behind the entrance on the right, less than 10 meters away from most of the action, in a corner of the first floor.
The successfully executed design in the barroom is truly great. It can keep up 1) with the photos online (rarely enough this is the case these days) and 2) with many attractively designed hotel bars in London or other global cities with similar concepts. It's not huge like an Atlas Bar in Singapore of course, but the Magritte-inspired wall colors work really well despite the funky combination, especially with the bronze elements of the counter and back bar, which is also very chic. My absolute favorite element: there is a chess set on the grand piano, with small vintage sherry and port glasses as pieces on the board, fantastic.
Speaking of grand pianos, there is typical live music with a sax once a week, just on the grand piano every evening and as for the chess set on the piano: there is a very cool nod to it in an option on the menu. You can order either 2 signature drinks or 2 high-quality teas from the menu together with a large selection of homemade pralines and chocolates on a mini chessboard for just under €50. I always love little ideas like this that make sense within the concept. The menu itself is inspired by one of Belgium's greatest artists, as you can probably guess from the bar's name: René Magritte. His surreal works each adorn a page in the signature section of the menu. That's nice, but not particularly elaborate; they could have played with the design and layout more than simply showing the complete print of the original work on one page. As is often the case in such well-thought-out and elaborate projects in hotels, the menu doesn't really change as it does in independent bars. For example, I found the exact same menu with the same drinks in it going back as far as 2023 online. But that doesn't really stand out negatively across 1–2 visits during a stay in the city.
Good Faith
| Bourbon infused with Almonds
| Tio Pepe Sherry
| Simple Syrup
| Bitter
| Mezcal
Nice subtle smokiness, not too overloaded, as can otherwise quickly happen with smoked cocktails. Presumably because it was liquid smoke and not a specific, bolder type of wood. You have the smoked almond flavor, with a nice saltiness and slight dryness from the sherry, some wood, and toffee from the bourbon behind it. There are also some candied nuts and a hint of spice. At the same time, it gave you the vibe of a potential top drink, filtered through a "but wait, we're still a hotel bar" filter. Meaning a little more syrup here, a little more water there and less bourbon than I would have liked, smooth and very round. Nevertheless, a successful start that could have been crisper and slightly more intense in terms of ingredients.
Magritte
| Dark Rum
| Bordeaux Red Wine
| Apricot Brandy
| Strawberry Liqueur
| Orange Juice
| Honey Syrup
Unfortunately, this was a bit of a disappointment. Again not a bad drink per se, but even more than the first a simply quite flat and random feeling one, which is a shame considering the exciting combination of aged rum and red wine. Funnily enough, the bartender said that the drink was on the menu because of Magritte's love of red wine. Of course, statements like this are always disastrous when you notice absolutely nothing of this in the final drink, and it feels like it could have been made with anything else. It comes across as a tiki drink that has been thrown together and overlaid with orange juice and a subtle strawberry sweetness that hasn't quite been adapted to modern tastes. It's not cloyingly sweet like some old recipes, but you can't taste anything other than "Ah, nice, fresh fruit juice" and a little strawberry, neither rum nor wine.
Bar Magritte is one of those hotel bars that won't hurt you at all, but apart from its extremely appealing design, it certainly won't make your heart beat faster either. Typical still for many hotel bars, the drinks tend towards the softer and sweeter side, both in terms of their number and the recipes. They are not badly made, but they do not do justice to the very elaborate and appealing photos and staging that can be seen on social media and on the website in particular. The service and ambience, as well as the basic design of the menu, are definitely worthy of the 5-star location.
Due to the pleasant, earlier opening hours (it starts at 11 a.m. at the latest), I can still recommend simply dropping by for an apéritif. Or perhaps a small drink for a day drinking session and enjoying the ambience and the service, as well as perhaps having a bite to eat. But don't expect mixological masterpieces.
/rds
Excerpts from the menu (click for original size):
