It might be open. It might not. The Oude Sashuis in Astene, near Ghent, is one of the strangest cafes in Belgium.
It occupies an old lock-keeper’s house in a beautiful location on the River Leie. The dark interior is filled with a bizarre collection of maritime objects, including horns, maps and lamps.
It could almost be a museum, apart from the dried sausages hanging from the rafters and the Edith Piaf record playing in the background.
This is a relaxed, friendly place popular with cyclists out on a Sunday morning ride and locals walking along the river bank. But it’s quite primitive. The men’s toilet out in the back yard is nothing more than a simple length of old drainpipe fixed to the wall.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
