You cannot leave Durbuy without visiting the pirate at least once. Officially his bar is called Tortuga Bar, but since the owner serves you in pirate costume and his bar is a mishmash of everything you could find on a journey along the great oceans (from skulls to boats to stuffed animals to hundreds of candles), the bar better known as “the pirate”.
Honestly? Normally we would walk away from this kind of kitsch. But one way or another, Eric, the manager and therefore the main pirate, gets away with it. In the past he was a press photographer for music concerts, but now he commutes between Namur and Durbuy, where he puts on his pirate clothes every weekend. He is an absolute lover of rum, has many types in the house and can talk passionately about them. If you’re not a rum lover, there are also cocktails and different beers (depending on what’s in his fridge). It is always a pleasant place, with lots of amusing people and a southern atmosphere.
Is it the rum that goes to our heads (or in our case often the Orval)? Is it the kitschy, cozy decor? Is it because you always end up at the bar with the locals in the late hours, who come to drink their last pint of the day? Is it because from a certain hour you can only enter through the secret entrance? We don’t know, but the pirate has already overpowered us…
The Tortuga Bar is only open during the weekend. Don’t miss you, because a copy recently opened to the right of it. When the pirate is full again, you can use it perfectly as a waiting room until there is room 🙂
Tortuga Bar (aka “The Pirate”)
Rue des Récollectines 8 – 6940 Durbuy
www.tortugabar.be
