Dok Brewing Company Live Sessions is a nightlife spot in Dok Noord, Ghent.
Dok Brewing Company in Hal 16 at Dok Noord hosts regular live music sessions and DJ nights at the weekend, combining craft beer with an unpretentious industrial concert setting.
Tip: The outdoor Dok Noord waterfront fills in summer for open-air sets; check dokbrewingcompany.be for the weekly music programme.
Address: Dok-Noord 4B, 9000 Gent, Ghent
Jigger's in the Patershol is Ghent's most serious cocktail destination: a medieval cellar bar with 500+ spirits, seasonal cocktail menu and a hidden-feeling intimacy despite being well-known.
Tip: Arrive by 21:00 to guarantee a seat; the bar fills to capacity on weekends and does not take walk-ins after 22:00.
Hotsy Totsy on the Hoogstraat is a dark 1930s-style bar with red velvet and a record collection: the most atmospherically speakeasy-like room in the Patershol without being a formal cocktail bar.
Tip: The bar is at its best on quieter Tuesday and Wednesday evenings when the Patershol crowd thins and the vinyl gets full attention.
Het Oud Canten Huis on the Kammerstraat is Ghent's long-running LGBTQ+ bar near the centre, with a friendly mixed crowd, drag nights and a late license through the weekend.
Tip: Drag performances run on selected Saturday nights; check the Facebook page for the monthly event schedule.
Rococo in the Patershol cobbles is Ghent's closest thing to a listening bar: dark, candle-lit and playing a carefully chosen vinyl programme to an arty late-evening crowd.
Tip: The bar is at its best on a Tuesday or Wednesday when the Patershol is quiet and the music gets full room attention.
Cafe Video in the Zuid has been the haunt of Ghent's art and underground crowd since the 1980s: art-covered walls, cheap Belgian beer and absolutely no social media presence.
Tip: No Google listing, no sign on the door; the only way to find it is to walk down Bagattenstraat and check if the light is on.
't Dreupelkot serves only jenever: 100+ varieties in a standing-room-only dark wood pub near the Groentenmarkt, open until 01:00 at weekends.
Tip: The bar has no seating; you stand at the dark counter with your glass. No cocktails, no wine, no beer: jenever only.
