Pêle-Mêle has managed to create an atmosphere where customers feel content to while away an hour or two before actually making a purchase.

Bookshops are something of an endangered species in the UK and increasingly it’s looking as if Waterstones may benefit from last man standing status, alongside a handful of independents and some (very) small chains. Yet cross the channel and take a short drive to Brussels, the spiritual home of Tintin and, more recently, The Smurfs, and as well as comic book characters, the city is filled with bookshops and, presumably, bibliophiles.

Among these is Pêle-Mêle, which has in its window the words “Achat Vente” with red arrows pointing from one word to the other in a circular arrangement. This is in fact a second-hand bookshop, but it also sells new and remaindered books, computer games and board games.

All well and good, but what sets this one apart is the detail, whether it’s the vintage fold-down cinema seats whose undersides have been decorated with front covers from Paris Match or the coffee tables whose stems have been formed from piles of books. Old-fashioned manual typewriters adorn the walls, functioning as 3D graphics, alongside pieces of contemporary art.

Head down the bottom of steps at the back of the shop and you are in the Garage à Manger – an eaterie serving hearty plates of Belgian fodder.

Connecting coffee with bookselling has been a feature of tome-sellers for years, but full-blown dining is something different and gives shoppers additional reasons to spend time in Pêle-Mêle.

The best bookshops used to be places where the shopper would feel content to while away an hour or two before actually making a purchase. Increasingly this may be something of a folk memory in the UK, but at Pêle-Mêle the trait is alive and well.