By Michael Ibrahim

There are many great beer bars in The City and some of my favorite happen to be Belgian.

There are spots all over the city that serve Belgian beers. My favorite Belgian beer night is def a tour of the East Village which I always do in the following order:

1) d.b.a (41 first avenue new york) between 2nd and 3rd St: This bar has a great selection of Belgian beers along with a great selection of Belgian style brewed beers from France, Holland and some rare beers from Europe/Canada/USA.  They also have a great range of rare beers on tap along with bottles..  I have never eaten there but never really wanted to either.  I personally recommend you try one of the rare beers on tap or Lucifer in a bottle.

2)  Belgian Room 125 St Mark’s Pl (between Avenue A & 1st Ave): The Belgian room is just great.  You can have a full night there including dinner or a snack but the main feature is the excellent list of Belgian beers.  They have most of the Trappist beers along with a list of beers brewed here in the US.  This bar doesn’t get too busy and it a bit on the pricey side but def a great choice for a fun night of drinking. I recommend the Horny Devil which is an American beer brewed Belgian style.  Also, the nachos and fries are to die for.

3) The Tuck Shop 68 east 1st street (between 1st and 2nd avenue).  This place has no Belgian beers, however I always sneak in every time I am in the East Village for two great reasons.

 – James Boags beer:  This is one clear easy drinking refreshing lager.  There is also an Australian beer and I have a soft spot for those.

– Sausage Roll:  If you haven’t had one make your way down there today.  The sausage roll is made in house from scratch on a big table in the middle of this hole in the wall place.  BTW, the sausage roll is not a traditional sausage and to be honest I am not sure what it is made from but it is delicious!

4) The Burp Castle 41 E 7th St (between 2nd Ave & Taras Shevchenko Pl).  This is the fourth place and usually after a heavy night of drinking Belgian beers which usually are 9-10% strong a great way to end the night.  The fun thing about The Burp Castle is the ambiance.  The walls are painted with scenes from a Trappist brewery, the Bar Tender is dressed like a Monk and does not allow the bar to get too loud and occasionally will shoosh the whole bar until everyone speaks softer.  Maintaining quiet can be hard if this is the last bar of the night.

I personally recommend you take a look at what is on tap.  They have rare beers and my favorite is a Gouden Carolus Triple.

After visiting these four bars in this order, I always have a good nights sleep.