Flemish beef stew braised in dark Belgian ale, served with crisp double-fried frites. The everyday Antwerp meal, found in every brown cafe.
Belgian beef stew traces to medieval Flanders, where dark abbey ale was used to braise tough cuts. The dish became the standard pub plate across Antwerp and Ghent. The pairing with frites cooked in beef fat is the canonical Antwerp combination, served at brown cafes from Elfde Gebod beside the cathedral to Den Engel on Grote Markt. Fritkot Max on Groenplaats sells the saucy ladle to top a frites cone for under five euros.
3 editor picks for Stoofvlees met frieten in Antwerp, ranked by editorial score. All Antwerp signature dishes · Stoofvlees met frieten across every city.
Fritkot Max ★ 4.4
historisch-centrum · Groenplaats 12, 2000 Antwerp
Fritkot Max in Antwerp on Groenplaats has cooked Belgian frites in beef fat since 1842. The original cart stood on Burchtplein beside the Rubens statue and moved to Groenplaats when the Schelde was straightened.
Den Engel ★ 4.3
historisch-centrum · Grote Markt 3, 2000 Antwerp
Den Engel in Antwerp is the city's best-known brown cafe, anchoring Grote Markt 3 in a building that runs back to the 14th century. Cafe trading on the spot since 1903.
Elfde Gebod ★ 4.1
historisch-centrum · Torfbrug 10, 2000 Antwerp
Elfde Gebod sits in a 16th-century building beside the cathedral, walls covered in religious statues. Belgian classics with beer sauces and a list of more than a hundred brews.