Cocktails and tapas in Ostend: 10 bars for an evening out

Ostend (Oostende) is not a city of hushed speakeasies. Its evenings happen in the streets behind the Kursaal, on the promenade and along the harbour, and the best drinks often come with something to share: a pan of tapas, a cheese board, a plate of shrimp croquettes. This guide covers both, from a tiki bar that keeps its kitchen open late to a Gault&Millau-praised sharing restaurant by the station, a wine bar on the fishing quay and a sharing spot facing the fishing boats.

We picked places with a clear focus on drinks or small plates, a real address and their own website. No business paid to be included. We checked menus, prices and opening days on those sites in October 2026. Opening hours change with the seasons, especially on the coast, so check with the bar before you go. The Langestraat area is busy and loud late on Friday and Saturday nights; the harbour and the station quarter are calmer.

At a glance

1. Bistrot — tiki cocktails and late tapas by the Kursaal (our pick)

Bistrot sits on Monacoplein, the small square a minute’s walk from the Kursaal and the promenade, and it is our pick for an evening that starts with a drink and ends wherever the night takes you. Behind a covered terrace with palms and high tables is a long, warmly lit bar with a checkerboard floor, shelves of spirits and a playlist that grows louder as the evening goes on.

The cocktail list leans tropical: rum-heavy tiki drinks in carved tiki mugs, alongside gin and tonics, draught beer and mocktails. What sets Bistrot apart from the bars around it is the kitchen, which stays open late with simple sharing plates such as chicken wings, bruschetta, quesadillas and mixed tapas pans, plus a house “pasta Bistrot”. It is also one of the cheapest places in this guide, which makes it an easy first stop on a night out. Later in the evening, two resident DJs take over and the bar fills up, especially at weekends.

Good to know: open Wednesday to Sunday from 17:00 to 01:00; closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Address: Monacoplein 3, 8400 Ostend · Bistrot: photos, opening hours and map

2. Paroles Paroles — sharing plates by the station

If you care more about the food than the cocktails, start here. Paroles Paroles opened in 2023 in the new Sky District, about 50 metres from Ostend station, and was named Gault&Millau’s H!P of the Year for Flanders in 2025. Chef Terence McGarrity cooks seasonal sharing plates from around the world; the autumn 2026 menu runs from oysters and a red mullet ceviche to sweetbread “McNuggets”, Lebanese fish tacos and wild boar pappardelle, at €16 to €24 a plate. The kitchen suggests two or three dishes per person.

The room is a talking point in itself, with Mona Lisa booths, fringed parasols and green arches, and there is a large sun terrace for summer evenings. The drinks list covers natural wines, cocktails and beer.

Good to know: bar open Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00 to 23:00, kitchen until 21:30; closed on Sunday and Monday. Book for dinner.
Address: Brandariskaai 5, 8400 Ostend · Paroles Paroles: menu, photos and map

3. Le Bar du Bassin — wine and cheese on the harbour

The bar of Le Bassin on the Visserskaai is a calmer alternative to the centre: a place for a glass of wine and a board of cheese or charcuterie, looking out over the harbour. It is run by sommelier and cheese specialist Zoé Vanhaecke, and the cheeses come from the Antwerp affineur Van Tricht: one cheese costs €12.50, five cost €29.50. There is Pata Negra and a “Battle of the Butchers” board with five meats for those who prefer charcuterie.

Hungrier visitors can order warm bites such as shrimp croquettes, lamb albóndigas or a croque made with Ostend’s own Ensor cheese, and from 17:30 the chef adds specials such as oysters and Ostend langoustine tails. In winter there is cheese fondue, served in the bar only.

Good to know: open from 16:00 Monday to Saturday and from 12:00 on Sundays and public holidays. Walk in for drinks; phone ahead if you want to eat.
Address: Visserskaai 1, 8400 Ostend · Le Bar du Bassin: menu, photos and map

4. Vesper — sharing plates and cocktails by the fishing boats

Across the harbour on the Oosteroever, Vesper looks out over the moored fishing boats from the Hendrik Baelskaai. It is a small sharing restaurant and bar run by Jimmy and Thomas, with leather banquettes, a wall of wine bottles, a large octopus mural and a blue neon sign above the bar that nods to the James Bond martini it is named after: “shaken, not stirred”.

The menu is made for sharing, with world-inspired small plates and plenty of North Sea fish: shrimp croquettes, oysters, smoked salmon with lime and seaweed, beef tataki with mango and ginger, nobashi prawns with yuzu and pomegranate. A few larger dishes, such as sea bass with chorizo purée or a cod burger, cover the hungrier end of the table. To drink, there are creative cocktails and Vesper’s own house wine, made exclusively for the restaurant.

Good to know: no reservations, just walk in. Open from Thursday to Sunday (kitchen 12:00–13:45 and 17:30–20:15, bar in between from 14:00 to 16:30) and on Monday for lunch.
Address: Hendrik Baelskaai 14, 8400 Ostend · Vesper: menu, photos and map

5. The Bar at The Ostendian — vinyl, soul and live sessions

The bar of The Ostendian hotel, near the station, is styled like a 1970s lounge: a red neon “The Bar” sign, shelves of vinyl and record players with headphones at the tables, so you can choose your own soundtrack. The menu promises “soul food, cocktails and bar bites”, and the bar is open to locals and visitors as well as hotel guests.

It is at its best on its Live Sessions evenings, when a singer or DJ plays in the bar: the autumn 2026 programme includes dates on 24 October, 7 November and 21 November. The hotel does not publish the bar’s opening hours or prices, so check its website before you go.

Address: Oesterbankstraat 6, 8400 Ostend · The Bar at The Ostendian: photos and map

6. Lafayette Music Bar — soul and funk on the Langestraat

Lafayette has been on the Langestraat for more than 28 years, and its DJ Bobo Kool has been the face of the bar since 1997. It is a music bar first: dark wood, portraits of soul legends on the walls, and a soundtrack of soul, funk and R&B, with DJs and occasional live acts. Cocktails and Belgian beers are the drinks of choice, and the covered terrace lounge on the street is a good place to watch the Langestraat come to life.

It is the most nightlife-oriented bar in this guide, so come late and expect a crowd at weekends.

Good to know: open every day from 14:00 until the early hours.
Address: Langestraat 12, 8400 Ostend · Lafayette Music Bar: photos and map

7. La Vie — a good-value tapas evening

La Vie, near the Vissersplein, is a relaxed tapas bar for an evening with friends or family. The menu mixes Spanish classics with Belgian and Mexican touches: scampi in garlic or diabolique sauce, shrimp croquettes, patatas bravas, calamares, burrata with Parma ham, baked camembert and pulled-pork tacos, mostly at €14 to €16 a plate.

The best deal is the Tapas Combo for €34.90 (a starter, two tapas and two sides), and there are weekly specials. Cocktails also come by the jug, with four cocktails for €38 or a mocktail jug for €26. There is a short non-tapas menu with pasta, burgers and children’s dishes.

Good to know: open Wednesday to Sunday from 17:30 to 22:00; closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Address: Kadzandstraat 14, 8400 Ostend · La Vie: menu, photos and map

8. Mommy’s Bastards — all-day sharing bites

Mommy’s Bastards is a foodbar with an industrial, New York-style interior and a busy bar in the city centre. Its “little bites” are made for sharing: bao buns, meatballs, crunchy prawn balls, shrimp croquettes, burrata and loaded nachos, at €13 to €19. The burgers are made with Belgian white-blue beef from the butcher Burggraeve, and every one can be made vegetarian. To drink, there are cocktails and local beers, including Ostend’s Watson.

Because it is open all day, it also works for a late lunch or an afternoon snack, when nachos and Ostend dry sausage are on the menu.

Good to know: open from 11:00 to 23:00; closed on Wednesday. Kitchen 12:00–14:00 and 17:30–21:00. There is no phone: book online or by email.
Address: Dwarsstraat 10, 8400 Ostend · Mommy’s Bastards: menu, photos and map

9. Rooftop Oostende — a cocktail above the shopping streets

Ostend’s only rooftop bar is a covered, heated terrace above the corner of the Ooststraat and the Kapellestraat, reopened after a makeover in February 2026. The roof opens in summer. It is mostly a brunch and lunch spot, so it suits a drink while shopping or an early evening aperitif rather than a late night.

The cocktail list is short and fairly priced: a mojito costs €11.50, a Pornstar Martini or Long Island Iced Tea €12.50, spritzes €9.90 and mocktails €8.50 to €9.50. The “Rooftop X-perience” (€38 per person, minimum two) combines a cocktail, a tapas board and a main course. Dogs are welcome.

Good to know: closed on Monday and Tuesday; open from 11:30, kitchen until 21:00 (20:30 on Sundays).
Address: Ooststraat 22, 8400 Ostend · Rooftop Oostende: photos and map

10. Polé Polé Beach — sunset cocktails on the sand (summer only)

Every summer, Polé Polé Beach builds a beach bar on the sand in front of the promenade, near the Langestraat, with palm trees, deckchairs and a view of the sunset over the sea. 2026 was its tenth season. The cocktails range from classics to summery specials, and the kitchen serves mussels, gambas, shrimp croquettes and tapas.

It is first come, first served: there are no reservations. The bar is only open in the summer season (in 2026 from mid-May until the end of August), daily from 11:00 to midnight, so it is closed when you read this in autumn or winter.

Address: Albert I-promenade 43, 8400 Ostend · Polé Polé Beach: photos and map

Also worth knowing

• Sous-Sol (Langestraat 8) is a cocktail bar for late nights on the Langestraat, with classic cocktails at €12 to €15 and mocktails at €9. It opens daily from 16:00.
• La Siesta (Wittenonnenstraat 23) serves Spanish-Mexican tapas, from padrón peppers and bravas to albóndigas, with sharing platters from €27 for two.
• La Bohème (Madridstraat 9), a minute from the Kursaal, is a new café for wine, aperitifs and small plates such as charcuterie, croquettes and dips, open until 01:00 from Wednesday to Sunday.
• The Wine Gallery (Vuurtorendok-Zuid 17), a new wine bar on the Oosteroever, pours more than 20 wines by the glass, with oysters, cheese and charcuterie, and has a terrace with a view of the lighthouse.
• For a seafood aperitif, Apero Fish Palace is covered in our guide to the best seafood restaurants in Ostend.

Practical tips

• Getting home: the Langestraat, Monacoplein and the Kursaal are a 15-minute walk from Ostend station; Paroles Paroles and The Ostendian are right next to it.
• Weekends: bars in the centre fill up late on Friday and Saturday. Book a table if you want to eat, especially at Paroles Paroles and Le Bar du Bassin.
• Low season: many coastal bars shorten their hours in winter, and some close for a few weeks. Check before you go.
• Alcohol-free: most bars in this guide serve mocktails; Sous-Sol, Rooftop Oostende, La Vie and Bistrot list them on their menus.