Bruxelles, as much of Belgium, is known for many different culinary delights… luscious chocolate pralines, my favorite of comfort foods Mussels and Frites, and of course tons of Trappist ales and fruit-infused beers. It is not necessarily known for it’s cocktails. However, on a weekend quick visit sandwiched into a week in London and visiting loads of pubs, I was getting a bit tired of beer, and found myself jonesing for a cocktail. A quick check of our guidebook pointed us to the Dali’s bar, right in the heart of all the tourist-focused seafood restaurants (35 petite rue des bouchers).

So, after dinner, we headed over to check it out. The bar’s atmosphere is all based on the works of Salvador Dali, with darkly painted walls hung with larger than life reproductions of his work and lip-shaped sofas built into the walls. The specialty cocktail menu is not much to write about, featuring just a few common cocktails like caipirinhas and some larger drink “shakers.” My caipirinha was overly sweet and made with some sort of lime concentrate… but other standard drinks, like a Black Russian or vodka based drinks were fine.The big selling point for Dali’s bar is the music, which was well mixed international trance and electronica. Each night features a different DJ. The lounge opens late… at around 10pm and stays open till 5am on Wednesdays through Saturdays.

A better choice for cocktails and atmosphere is Jesus Paradise (20 Sint-Kristoffelstraat/rue Saint-Christophe), a tiny little cocktail lounge that we stumbled into by accident. A bit removed from most of the action, the best way to describe this bar is shag-a-licious. The music, the decor, the cocktails all transported you back in time to the late sixties early seventies. At any moment, I thought Austin Powers might appear. The lounge serves food as well as drinks, and we had a few little nibblies with our cocktails. The tzatziki and bread was very tasty, and better than the decent but slightly brown guacamole with chips. The drinks were well mixed… again I started with a caipirinha, while others chose the bar’s namesake, Jesus Paradise, and a Kiwi-based cocktail.The Jesus Paradise was a deliciously fruity mix of pineapple and orange juices with vodka. There must have also been some Malibu rum in the mix as well, although it wasn’t mentioned on the menu. The caipirinha was better than Dali’s Bar, but still sweeter than the ones I’ve had in the past and the raw cane sugar in the drink unfortunately didn’t dissolve well. My next round I ordered a Batida de Coco, with cachaça and pineapple and a bit of coconut milk, and it was more enjoyable.

All the while, the music would jump around between loungy French tunes to Sinatra and even a few cocktail-Christmas carols thrown in for good measure. Most of the bar’s seating was living room furniture, and we were told to move it around however we’d like so we’d feel at home. The lounge opens at around 7pm Tuesday through Saturday.