Dining is often the most important part of any holiday. Taste can bring back memories, evoke emotions and take you back to places you might have forgotten. Taste helps to cement memories and is often a huge part of the travel experience anywhere in the world. While Belgian cuisine is not quite as opulent as our French cousins, there are some delicacies you must try while you’re on vacation here. We’re well known for our chocolate and beer, but have you tried our croquettes, or our moules frites? Here are some culinary delights you’ll find in Antwerp and great places to find them.
Belgian Chocolate
One of our most popular exports, chocolate is part of Belgium’s very heritage and culture. The percentage of cocoa in Belgian chocolate is higher than that of chocolate produced elsewhere, making it so much tastier and more luxurious. Belgian chocolate also contains 100% cocoa butter, an ingredient that gives our sweets a truly delicious and unique taste. You must sample Belgian chocolate on your trip here and there are countless opportunities to do so from supermarkets to ateliers.
Try DelRay for your chocolate sample, a family-owned company with some unusual flavours.
Belgian Fries
Fries are available all over the world from home fried potatoes to fast food joints in every corner of the globe. We’re not reinventing the wheel with our crispy potatoes but there are some parts of the process that make Belgian fries stand out. Potatoes must be cooked in beef fat, twice, to be heavenly crispy – the first to blanch them and the second to cook them. This double cooking is crucial since it is the original Belgian technique, which gives golden and crispy fries. Serve fries on the side of some Belgian stew or in a cone with plenty of mayonnaise.
Fritkot Maxsis one of the most famous, and oldest, chip shops in Antwerp.
Belgian Beer
Belgian Beer and the flavour and variety of our alcoholic beverages are well-known all over the world. Plenty of pubs, cafes, restaurants and beer shops all over Antwerp serve the finest Belgian beer from numerous regions. Belgian yeast strains are special in that they tend to have a high tolerance for alcohol, and they produce a lot of flavour compounds during the fermentation process leading to a richer and more powerful sip.
Local breweries like the Brouwerij Het Anker and the famous De Koninck Antwerp City Brewery are the best places to sample the freshest beer in Antwerp
Croquettes
The croquette originated in France in the 1800s but Belgians believe we perfected the recipe and now create the most delicious and crispy croquettes in the world. The shrimp croquette is the absolute test for good food in any café, bar or restaurant in Antwerp. If there’s a croquette with a crispy crust and a creamy filling packed with a generous portion of shrimp, you’ve got a winner. A shrimp croquette is eaten as a snack, often accompanying beer in a pub. The classic garnishes of lemon and fried parsley are not essential, but they make your snack taste even better.
Ciro’s on Amerikalei are rated as some of the best shrimp croquettes in Antwerp. You must try them to believe how good they are.
Moules Frites
Another seafood delicacy enjoyed in Antwerp is moules frites, or mussels and fries. These delicious shellfish are abundant along the coasts of the North Sea so they were a cheap dining option and quickly adopted by Belgians. The Willebroek Canal — which connected Brussels to the River Shelde, on to Antwerp and the North Sea ensured this tasty fish was available easily and alongside some delicious Belgian fries, it’s no wonder Sinjoren developed a taste for les moules. Mussel season runs from July through mid-April the following year but you can usually find them in restaurants year-round.
Ernest Bistro is rated as one of the best restaurants in Antwerp for mussels and many other foods. Give them a try!
Whether you want to try local food or are happy to prepare a delicious meal in the comfort of your serviced apartment in Antwerp, you must be here to try our local ingredients. Book your stay at PREMIER SUITES Antwerp on our website to enjoy our best available rates, guaranteed.
