Photos and words by Cliff Lucas.
Edited by Breandán Kearney.
Café Society is a photographic series which celebrates the spaces at the heart of Belgian beer culture. See more here.
Every day in the city centre of Brussels, a large tourist crowd—close-shouldered and rotating circularly, like penguins huddling for warmth—takes turns photographing a statue of a small peeing boy beside the Poechenellekelder tavern. The peeing boy attraction, known as Mannekin Pis, is so disorientating and bizarrely unimpressive, that visitors often need a drink afterwards to digest the experience. Nearby Poechenellekelder, however, offers little relief from the bewilderment: its eclectic wall art, peculiar hanging puppets, and strange antique photographs are nearly all dedicated to this small peeing boy. But after drinking one of the great beers on Poechenellekelder’s list, the confused faces take on a look of reluctant acceptance: an acknowledgement, perhaps, that Belgian cultural icons are just about as baffling as the name of this bar is forever unpronounceable.
More info:
Poechenellekelder
Rue de Chêne 5, 1000 Brussels
Poechenellekelder is an authentic tavern located close to the Manneken Pis, claiming that entrance to the bar means embracing the thousand-year-old history of Brussels.
