|
Eating and drinking
|
|
|
Antwerp is an enjoyable and inexpensive place to
eat
, full of informal cafAŠ-restaurants, which excel at combining traditional Flemish techniques and dishes with Mediterranean, French and vegetarian cuisines. There are places serving delicious food all over the city centre, and you don't even pay much of a premium on or around Grote Markt. Several of the best cafAŠ-restaurants are clustered on Suikerrui and Grote Pieter Potstraat, and there's another concentration in the vicinity of Hendrik Conscienceplein. For
food on the run
, try the kebab and falafel takeaways on Oude Koornmark. Recommended restaurants include
Het Elfde Gebod
, on the north side of the cathedral, which serves light meals in an eccentric, statue-filled interior;
Facade
, Hendrik Conscienceplein 18, a laid-back, funky cafAŠ with good music and inexpensive vegetarian, meat and fish dishes; and
Het Dagelijks Brood
, Steenhouwersvest 48, an enjoyable and distinctive cafAŠ where the variety of breads is the main event, served with delicious, wholesome soups and light meals (daily 7am-7pm). For something a tad more expensive, try
Hoorn des Overloed
, Melkmarkt 1, an outstanding seafood restaurant near the cathedral.
Antwerp is also a fine place to
drink
. There are loads of bars in the city centre, notably those on Groenplaats, whose terraces make a nice spot to watch the world go by. More specifically,
Den Engel
, on the northwest corner of the Grote Markt at no.3, is an agreeable venue as is
Den Billekletser
, across Grote Markt at Hoogstraat 22. Just south, you could try
De Volle Maan
, Oude Koornmarkt 7, or
Het Miniatuurke
, on the same street at Oude Koornmarkt 11, in an atmospheric thirteenth-century cellar. Failing that, there's the wild and wonderful
CafAŠ Pelikaan
, on the north side of the cathedral at Melkmarkt 14. At Melkmarkt 15 is
De Muze
, one of the hippest bars in Antwerp, with a young and trendy crowd and frequent live jazz at night. The long-established
Kulminator
, five minutes' walk south of the centre at Vleminckveld 32-34, claims to stock 500 speciality beers; alternatively head for the
jenever
(gin) specialists,
De Vagrant
, Reyndersstraat 21. The favourite local tipple, incidentally, is
De Koninck
, drunk by the
bolleke
, or small, stemmed glass. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Belgium,
|