We come to Antwerp often, and somehow there is always something new to discover. Over the years, we’ve built up a long list of restaurants, bakeries, coffee bars and wine spots we genuinely love, while continuing to follow new openings closely. This is one of the guides we update most regularly — and these are the places we keep coming back to.
Best Restaurants in Antwerp
And/Or
And/Or is one of our absolute favourite restaurants in Antwerp. Chef Karen Shu brings her New York background to a fully plant-based menu built around bold flavours, colour and texture. The open kitchen and large chef’s table make the cooking part of the experience, while the wine list gets just as much attention as the food. One of those places we keep recommending to everyone — vegan or not.
Epiphany’s Kitchen
After making a name for itself in Ghent, Epiphany’s Kitchen also found its way to Antwerp. The menu is plant-forward and full of colourful comfort food, with vegetables firmly at the centre. We loved the house-made ravioli and their famous croquettes, but also the thoughtful alcohol-free pairing options. Elegant without feeling formal, and a very easy recommendation.
Dabba King
Dabba King is our go-to for South Indian food in Antwerp. Expect curries, natural wines and dishes that go well beyond the usual Indian restaurant classics. We especially love the dosas: thin, crisp savoury pancakes filled with richly spiced ingredients. There are no reservations, so just walk in, find a table and start ordering. Casual, full of flavour and consistently good.
Bún
Bún brings Vietnamese flavours together with carefully sourced Belgian and Dutch ingredients. The menu moves between fish, meat and plenty of vegetable-led dishes, making it an easy place to visit with almost anyone. We especially love the marinated tofu and stir-fried vegetables. The flavours are bold and precise without losing the comforting character that makes Vietnamese food so good.
Camionette
Camionette takes plant-based cooking far beyond the usual vegan restaurant formula. The menu is built around elegant sharing plates, seasonal vegetables and creative combinations that change regularly. There’s also a strong focus on natural wine, so it works just as well for dinner as it does for a few glasses and small plates. A restaurant that proves how much depth vegetables can have.
Finch
Finch mixes Asian influences with flavours from the Middle East in a way that somehow feels completely natural. Labneh and padrón peppers might appear alongside ceviche or okonomiyaki, with vegetables playing a major role throughout the menu. Everything is designed for sharing, which is exactly how we like to eat here. One of those restaurants where ordering a little bit of everything is the best strategy.
Humm
Humm is a plant-forward Middle Eastern restaurant where herbs, spices and vegetables do most of the talking. The dishes are colourful, generous and made for sharing, with plenty of strong flavours rather than overly delicate vegan cooking. We also like the drinks menu, with organic wines, beers, cocktails and alcohol-free options. A very easy place for lunch, dinner or a few drinks.
Breakfast & Lunch in Antwerp
Mr. Pickles
Fermentation and pickling play a big role at Mr. Pickles, both in the kitchen and in the overall personality of the place. Expect specialty coffee alongside sandwiches, breakfast dishes and aperitivo, often with fermented or pickled vegetables worked into the flavours. We loved the mushroom and miso sandwich with fresh breadsticks, muhammara and hummus — even better with a glass of natural wine.
Camion
Camion keeps plant-based breakfast and lunch deliberately casual. Seasonal vegetables, signature toasts and strong flavour combinations make the fact that everything is vegan almost beside the point. The menu changes throughout the year, which gives us a reason to keep returning. If you like the philosophy here, their sister restaurant Camionette takes the same vegetable-driven approach into dinner and natural wine.
Butcher’s Coffee
Butcher’s Coffee combines specialty coffee with a surprisingly strong breakfast and lunch menu. They serve beans from Andy Roasters, but the food is equally worth coming for. We loved their plant-based bun with cauliflower and especially the Turkish eggs with yoghurt and spiced beurre noisette. Add the retro interior and it easily becomes more than just a quick coffee stop.
Mico and Jon
Mico and Jon is difficult to put into one category, which is exactly what makes it interesting. Progressive Asian dishes sit alongside pastries, sake and playful combinations you don’t find elsewhere in Antwerp. We still think about their handmade soup dumplings and puff pastry filled with black sesame cream. The menu changes regularly, driven by whatever the owners are excited about at the time.
La Senda
La Senda was created by three sisters from El Salvador together with their mother, bringing the flavours they grew up with to Antwerp. Everything is made from scratch, from traditional pupusas filled with cheese and vegetables to enchiladas and homemade horchata. It’s colourful, generous and very personal — exactly the kind of family-run concept we love discovering.
Bakeries & Pastries in Antwerp
Bürr Bakehouse
Bürr Bakehouse puts the craft of baking on full display. Sourdough, laminated pastries, brunch and coffee are all made with serious attention to technique, and the open bakery lets you watch the team shaping, rolling and layering dough by hand. We love seeing the work behind what eventually ends up on the counter — especially when the result looks this good.
Café Canelé
As the name suggests, Café Canelé is built around the classic French canelé. The contrast is what makes them so addictive: a deeply caramelised exterior with a soft, almost custard-like centre. They treat this small pastry with the attention it deserves, making it one of our favourite stops when we want something sweet with coffee.
A Fresh Tart
A Fresh Tart brings a little British baking culture to Antwerp. Think proper scones, sponge cakes, tarts and other nostalgic pastries made with a very personal, artisanal approach. It feels refreshingly different from the French-style bakeries that dominate most pastry lists, which is exactly why we like having it in this guide.
Bakkerij Funk
Everything at Bakkerij Funk is plant-based, although you probably wouldn’t realise it from the pastry counter. Croissants, laminated doughs, cakes and more indulgent pastries are made without compromising on texture or richness. Their selection changes regularly, so we rarely leave with the thing we originally planned to buy — usually because something else in the display looks even better.
Kukai
Kukai is primarily a matcha studio, but the baked goods deserve just as much attention. Proper matcha is worked into drinks, cookies and other sweet creations rather than simply added for colour. We especially loved the white chocolate and matcha cookie. If you already love matcha, this is an obvious stop — and if you don’t, they might convince you.
Have a Roll
Have a Roll turned cinnamon rolls into something worth crossing Antwerp for. Their rolls are fully vegan, incredibly soft and generously filled, with rotating flavours alongside the classics. We’ve been following them since the early days and they remain some of the best cinnamon rolls we’ve tried. Vegan or not, that really isn’t the point here.
Lina’s Bakkerij
Lina’s feels like a proper neighbourhood bakery: small-scale, personal and focused on doing the basics extremely well. Their rustic loaves are excellent, but we also love the more delicate pastries. It’s not a concept built around hype or elaborate presentation; it’s simply very good baking, which is often exactly what we want.
Wine Bars in Antwerp
Tannin
Tannin is one of those wine bars where you can arrive knowing very little or quite a lot and still have a good time. The focus is on organic, biodynamic and natural wines, often from smaller producers, with thoughtful dishes alongside. And if you want to continue exploring afterwards, cross the street to Cellar: their neighbourhood wine shop filled with bottles to take home.
Spiridon
Spiridon remains one of our favourite wine bars in Antwerp. The brown interior, playful lighting and handwritten wall menu give it a slightly unconventional personality, while the wine selection changes constantly. Pick a glass from the wall, order a few bites and see where the evening goes. We rarely come here planning to stay particularly long — and somehow usually do.
Perseau
Perseau feels polished without becoming formal. The dark, intimate interior makes it a great evening spot, while the wines by the glass are carefully selected and explained without unnecessary fuss. They also organise tastings regularly, which makes it a particularly interesting address if you want to learn a little more rather than simply order another glass.
Millésime
Millésime is for people who genuinely enjoy digging into a wine list. French wine plays a major role, and the selection reflects years of relationships with producers rather than simply famous labels. Their extensive wine book can keep you occupied for quite some time, but the team is equally happy to help narrow things down. A more classic wine experience than many of Antwerp’s natural wine bars.
Titulus
Titulus combines wine bar and bottle shop in one relaxed space, with a particularly lovely terrace when the weather cooperates. Alongside wine, there’s sake and a surprisingly thoughtful selection of alcohol-free drinks, plus small dishes to share. The best part is that if you discover a bottle you love, chances are you can simply buy another one from the shop to take home.
Best Coffee in Antwerp
Toi Toi Toi
Toi Toi Toi combines specialty coffee with a slightly more cultural personality than the average coffee bar. Located in Antwerp North, it has a retro interior, a small terrace and regularly hosts live music and performances. A good coffee stop that also feels connected to the neighbourhood around it.
Kasette
Kasette is one of our favourite coffee bars in central Antwerp. The coffee is excellent, records play throughout the day and the garden even has chickens wandering around. It’s quirky without trying too hard, which gives it far more personality than many perfectly polished specialty coffee shops.
Cuperus
Cuperus has been part of Antwerp’s coffee scene for years and currently has multiple locations in the city. Coffee is the obvious reason to visit, although we have an especially soft spot for their chai latte — still one of the best we’ve had in Antwerp.
Anywhere Coffee
Anywhere Coffee serves coffee from one of the cutest setups in Antwerp: a tiny blue mobile coffee van. Because the location and schedule can change, check their page before heading out. It’s a small concept, but exactly the kind of independent coffee project we like coming across.
Black & Yellow
Black & Yellow is small, straightforward and almost always busy. We often stop here for takeaway coffee on our way towards the city centre. It’s one of those dependable addresses that doesn’t need an elaborate concept: consistently good coffee is enough.
Kukai Matcha
For matcha rather than coffee, Kukai is one of our favourite stops. The owner takes the quality of the matcha seriously and turns it into both classic drinks and more playful creations. Try one of the iced matcha specials and add a cookie or pastry while you’re there.
Caffènation
Caffènation is one of the names that helped put specialty coffee on the map in Antwerp. Their PAKT location is particularly worth visiting, set within a former industrial site that has been transformed into a creative community with rooftop agriculture and other independent businesses. Come for the coffee, but take some time to explore the surroundings too.
Rush Rush
Rush Rush takes both coffee and baking seriously. It’s a proper barista café where quality beans and careful brewing sit alongside excellent homemade cakes and pastries. Everything feels considered without becoming overly technical, making it an easy recommendation whether you order an espresso or something from the pastry counter.
Butcher’s
Butcher’s uses beans from Antwerp-based Andy Roasters and combines serious coffee with one of the better breakfast and lunch menus in the city. We often think of it as a food spot first, but the coffee easily holds its own. A useful address when one person wants a proper flat white and the other wants a full meal.
Koffiedealers
Koffiedealers is all about the beans. Different coffees come with their own origin and story, and the team is happy to explain what you’re drinking rather than simply hand over a cup. They’re open every day, making this one of the more reliable specialty coffee addresses to keep in mind.
Kolonel
Kolonel roasts its own coffee, so it’s as much a place to discover beans for home as it is somewhere to sit down for a cup. Their focus on sourcing and roasting gives the café a more serious coffee identity, without losing the relaxed feeling you want from a neighbourhood coffee bar.
