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Antwerp cuisine understandably focuses on fish, presented with few frills in even the finest restaurants, often poached or steamed, and reasonably priced. From the chilled whelks and periwinkles (marine snails) picked out of their shells with pins, to piles of tender little grijze garnalen (small shrimp), to the steamy white flesh of the mammoth tarbot (turbot), the scent of salt air is never far from your table. The ubiquitous mosselen (mussels) and paling (eels), showcased in midpriced restaurants throughout the city center, provide a heavier, heartier version of local fish cuisine. Bought live from wholesalers, the seafood is irreproachably fresh.
Antwerp has a high number of restaurants for a city its size. Many of the traditional places, both formal and casual, are clustered in Oude Stad. There are plenty of tourist-focused restaurants on the Grote Markt, but if you look along the smaller streets around the square you'll find some excellent local favorites. Het Zuid, meanwhile, is known for trendier cafés and restaurants. Peak dining hours are generally from noon until 3 and from 8 pm to 11 or midnight. Since the dining scene is quite busy, it's best to make reservations.
Following the closure of his Pomphuis restaurant, Christophe De Koninckx has reinvented himself at a new waterside location inside a stunning repurposed warehouse. Wonderfully presented Belgian bistro dishes are given a modern international makeover, prepared in an open kitchen with no place to hide.
For those who love fancy dining in epic surrounds, this restaurant occupies a former trading hall of the neo-Gothic stock exchange building, which dates from 1872. In contrast to the historic setting, the pan-global dishes are ultramodern works of art on a plate---prepared in the open kitchen on one side of the hall, their names derive from their geographical inspiration: a riff on a ceviche, for example, might be called "Lima," while a pasta-based dish might be titled "Florence."
The iron framework of the 19th-century Maison du Peuple, a building designed by famed Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta, supports this brasserie. It siphons a hip crowd from trendy Hopland Street and keeps a sunny feel with large mustard-yellow industrial beams and windows all around. The kitchen sends out brasserie favorites like Aberdeen Angus rib steak and frites, as well as tempting contemporary dishes with lighter wraps, bagels, and salad options for lunch.
Simplicity is the buzzword---both in the contemporary Belgian cooking, and in the decor---in this elegant but cozy parquet-floored bistro with minimal decorations on the walls to distract you from the food. Lunch is à la carte, but the three- to five-course prix-fixe dinner menus are also pared down and kept simple, with no more than two or sometimes three choices per course---but simplicity doesn't prevent each dish being a masterpiece.
