All Roads Lead To… The Beer Barrel

The Beer Barrel is the kind of place you don’t want to tell anyone about.

The service is great so you don’t want hordes flocking to tailspin the waiters. The food is served speedy, generous and juicy thus one could do without rushing a clearly focused grill savant and the beer, artic as it is, is clearly the product of a fridge not yet run completely out of space, so “shhhhh!”

Except, here I am.

Raving.

Situated a few kilometres out of Windhoek, just before the train station off the B6 and down an aptly named Beer Lover Boulevard, the Beer Barrel takes centre stage within an unassuming lodge.

Functional in its aesthetic that includes a windmill, a playground, some wooden carvings and seats made entirely of beer crates, the establishment’s focus is on food – the overgrown meaty kind – and craft beers.

Of the latter, we order six.

Beguiled by a beer tasting of 14 craft beers including a Tipsy Tiger Indian Pale Ale, a Black Mambo Stout and a Jozi Blond, we rise to Beer Barrel’s various challenges.

The first taken up by Marcel who laughs in the face of the Big Boy 1kg Steak Challenge which requires he finish the steak, one litre of beer and chips all for the glory of an emergency room, wall fame and a round of free Jägermeister.

And, the second, the tasting itself taken up by us all which includes more liquid than I drink in a day.

As we sip on assorted beer and Dorothy, our darling of a waitress, eggs Marcel on, the rest of us tuck into soberer choices of the Barrel ribs and chips slow cooked with beer and spices, homemade beef sliders, a pulled pork sandwich and a succulent steak graded on Beer Barrel’s scale of ‘Rare to Ruined’.

Offering zero salad I can see but heavy-handed with thick mushroom, pepper and blue cheese sauces as well as a welcome splash of kapana spice, Beer Barrel is strictly in the meat and beer business and has been out in the wilderness for over a year doing it right.

Oddly, you can also buy cigars which Rob and I do to celebrate his birthday while disappearing in a fit of glee (he) and coughing (me). Still, the novelty is nice as is absolutely everything about the place that is just far enough from the city to feel like the vacation my sister Mon needs far less than the shot of something sweet, pink and bobbing colourful balls I order for her sans permission or appreciation.

Value for money, charming, family friendly and fun, Beer Barrel is clearly Windhoek’s best kept secret so go, enjoy but don’t tell.