Le Souffleur

How Le Souffleur ended up on my list, I honestly can't say. Somewhere I had read or heard about a hidden bar in Antwerp, and that was enough for me to book. The thing is, you aren't told where it is. All you know beforehand is that it's in central Antwerp, and the address only arrives once the booking is confirmed. When I finally got it, I recognised it straight away. It was a café where I've sat many times, so I assumed the bar must be somewhere next door.

It wasn't. Once there, I realised the bar is inside the café itself. So I had sat there with my coffee several times without noticing a thing, which says something about either the bar's discretion or my powers of observation. Outside there's an intercom. You ring, and you're asked to come in and carry on to the back of the room. I won't reveal how it works from there, because discovering it yourself is half the fun. I can say this much: you end up in a classic-style bar, and the contrast with the café you've just walked through is hard not to smile at.

I got a bowl of popcorn and a drinks list with more interesting cocktails than I could get through in one evening. It took a while to choose, which is a good sign for a cocktail menu. The first drink I ordered was very good, and it set the bar. The second was good too, but it was the first one I remembered best when I left.

Inside, a well-dressed bartender welcomed me. Between orders, the bartender stood behind the counter polishing glasses, just as you imagine it should be done in a proper bar. It sounds almost too good to be true, but after the intercom and the route through the café, it fits. The calm pace behind the counter becomes part of the point.

Go here when you want the evening to begin with a little surprise, for example on a date where the other person doesn't know where you're going. You have to book in advance, otherwise you won't get an address. Don't read up too much on how to get in; let it be a surprise. And if you think Antwerp's cafés seem unusually innocent, maybe they aren't.