Monday 25th of August 2008 10:27:31 AM

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Location is the best thing about De Beiaard, down where Spiustraat meets Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal by the Singel. It's a point I pass regularly on the way somewhere else, and is very handy for nipping in to for a swift one. Seating wraps right around the corner house, making it an ideal spot for people-watching.

Inside, it's a long narrow affair on two levels, with the small bar on one end. The beer list is fairly short, specialising in beer from the brewery's own Bekeerde Suster brewpub (qv), plus a handful of fairly mainstream guests, and the usual core of Belgian beers. Staff are friendly and helpful.

Locals, bizarrely, seem to come here to drink draught Guinness, and there's Marston's Pedigree on keg as well, if you're a complete masochist.

It's not the sort of cosy brown café you'd while away an evening in -- head up to Gollem or Belgique for that -- but it's handy for a glass of decent beer either on the hoof, or either side of a meal in one of the area's many eateries.