3 Fonteinen Restaurant-Café

So if you’re reading this after you’ve found yourself out in Beersel, you probably fall into one of the following two categories:
1. Your beer-​crazed significant other convinced you that it would be a good idea to spend one of your Fridays/​Saturdays in Belgium driving out/​bussing to a brewery in the Southern outskirts of Brussels to try some weird beer you’ve never heard of, you got there bright and early but found out that you can’t tour the brewery or try their beers on premises because Belgians seem to have a very different idea of what brewery visits are compared to their American counterparts.
2. You’re a local and you’ve been coming here for years as this is one of the more fancy restaurants in town.
Regardless of what your reason for visitation is, all are welcome with open arms at the house of the Three Fountains, where the company is as delightful as the food and the beer served; where time immortal stands still so patrons can enjoy the finer aspects of life; where strangers become acquaintances, enemies become friends, friendzoners become lovers… okay I’ll stop.
So I fell under category 1, except I came out here on the bus all by my lonesome and I was completely aware that the Restaurant-​Café would only be open at noon while the brewery-​shop maintains its operation hours much earlier. So I did what every other sensible beer geek on a gueuze pilgrimage would do; get to the brewery as it opens at 10am, spend as much time there, and then loiter around for the café to open and grab a bite before heading back to Brussels.
What I didn’t account for was the fact that nothing would be open from the hours of 10-​noon anywhere, but I digress.
Most people associate 3 Fonteinen Restaurant-​Café with the 3 Fonteinen name as if the two were one entity and that’s entirely plausible, but the Café – notwithstanding the fact that it’s under different ownership/​ideology than that of the brewery – is so much more than just a brewpub with a name. The moment you step in to the restaurant, the first thing you notice are the perfectly set out tablecloth, the fireplace and the dream garden-​patio out by the back (which was inaccessible to me due to the cold weather) and the smiling faces of the polite Debelder family and co. that always do the utmost to make sure you feel welcome and right at home.
Perhaps it’s because the restaurant has been family owned and operated (currently by Thomas Debelder, the third-​generation of Beersel Debelders associated with the 3 Fonteinen name) but you really do feel like you’ve been invited to a family dinner /​lunch while dining here which was something I didn’t find anywhere else while travelling around Belgium; sure some of the restaurants in the more touristy areas (around Sint-​Katelijne in Brussels or the Grotenmarkt in Gent for example) do the whole surreptitious «I’m secretly only smiling in the hopes of a tip» thing we’re used to seeing in the states, but the warmth and the hospitality is as genuine as it can get at the restaurant, and this is officially the most I’ve ever talked about service in a review.
On to the food and drink.
The food choices are quintessentially Belgian with half the items on the menu being cooked with some variation of 3 Fonteinen’s signature beers. I opted for the Lapin à la Gueuze, which is almost an entire rabbit cooked in a savory sauce containing 3 Fonteinen’s flagship Oude Gueze — whereas you can get some variation of this dish pretty much everywhere in Brussels, the tangy rich creamy sauce melding harmoniously with the chewy succulent and somehow at the same time slimy texture of the rabbit will make you wish you’d tried it here as well.
As the establishment carries the 3 Fonteinen name you will most likely find all currently available beers produced from the brewery around the corner, and sometimes some of the more out-​of-​season specialties that are not; if you’ve been drinking gueze for six days straight prior to coming here and you need something else to tickle your liver, they also have an extensive list of other sour and non-​sour Belgian classics, alongside a selection of wine and spirits.
The pricing is on par with what you’d get at a higher-​end restaurant in Brussels without the outrageous overcharging on the local beer; do yourself a favor and eat here if you’re in Beersel — just don’t get here too early because Beersel Castle is a lot smaller than you’d think and underwhelming to say the most.

Words fail me when I try to describe the awesomeness of this place, but I will try anyways.
This family owned place has always shown us a great welcome with the biggest smiles and the nicest people. Their neighbours, the brewery, is run by a different part of the family and they keep them supplied with waterfalls of awesome beer. The restaurant in itself is very simple, a true Belgian Brasserie. The food is homemade, simple and en credible delicious. I can only comment on the dishes I’ve tried, so here are my recommendations: eat from the seasonal menu! If there are mussles, eat mussles. If they have Asperagus, eat Asperagus. And definitely try the shrimp and cheese croquette for entrée. Pure heaven.

3 étoiles pour le restaurant mais ce sont les bières de la Brasserie Drie Fonteinen voisine qui font la différence!
Servies au fût, elles sont toutes extraordinaires! On né s’en lasse pas! Surtout la Oude Kriek et la Gueuze! Mais le Lambic est remarquable aussi!
Service en flamand majoritairement mais bilingue, un bon accueil discret mais chaleureux, un espace calme, grand et super lumineux! De bons plats de la tradition belge servis en portions copieuses.
À la base on voulait visiter la brasserie, qui était malheureusement fermée parce qu’ils brassaient mais on a quand meme pu acheter quelques bouteilles et des spécialités comme la confiture de kriek et la moutarde à la gueuze dans le shop de la brasserie.
Une très bonne idée pour un samedi ou dimanche différent.

Le charme discret de la province à quelques kilomètres de la capitale. Des sansivières sur les appuis de fenêtre, des nappes en papier sur de solides tables en bois. Du Hervé Vilard ou Frédéric François en fond musical. Le temps s’est arrêté dans cette brasserie-​restaurant bien plantée face à l’église XIV siècle de Beersel. On est loin du bling-​bling et c’est tant mieux ! L’accueil est chaleureux et même en arrivant à près de 14H00, on est servi avec le sourire. Carte traditionnelle qui n’a pas la prétention de revisiter les classiques de la cuisine brabançonne. Mon hamburger oeuf à cheval et pommes frites était moelleux à souhait et mon ami n’a pas regretté d’avoir jeté son dévolu sur une belle portion de carbonnades flamandes-​pommes vapeurs. Le tout arrosé d’une très bonne bouteille de Corbières à petit prix. Si vous êtes dans les parages, un conseil: arrêtez-​vous et prenez une bouffée de nostalgie.

café resturant serving drie fonteinen’s wonderful lambic beers and cuisine de la bier
closed over saturnalia and new year