Signature Dishes of Antwerp

Signature dishes

Antwerpse Handjes

Hand-shaped butter cookies topped with sliced almonds, in three sizes and an optional chocolate-shell variant. The official biscuit of Antwerp since 1934.

History: Pastry chef Jos Hakker created the Antwerpse handje in 1934 as a tribute to the Brabo legend. The Roman soldier Silvius Brabo cut off the giant Druon Antigoon's hand and threw it into the Schelde; the act of hand-throwing in Dutch, hand werpen, gave the city its name. The biscuit was declared Antwerp's official cookie. Hakker's granddaughter still endorses Philip's Biscuits as closest to the original recipe.

Where to try it: Philip's Biscuits, DelRey

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Tree nuts (almonds)

Stoofvlees met frieten

Flemish beef stew braised in dark Belgian abbey ale and finished with mustard-spread bread that dissolves into the sauce. Served with crisp double-fried frites in beef fat. The everyday Antwerp meal in every brown cafe.

History: 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.

Where to try it: Elfde Gebod, Den Engel, Fritkot Max

Watch out for: Gluten

Paling in 't groen

Freshwater eel from the Scheldt poached in a sharp green herb sauce of sorrel, parsley, chervil and tarragon, served with new potatoes. The Flemish summer-evening tradition at Antwerp bistros from May through August.

History: The Scheldt and Antwerp's polders once supplied eel in volume. The sharp herb sauce, built on sorrel and chervil, balances the rich fish. Once an everyday catch, eel is now a delicacy due to dwindling stocks. Bistro kitchens still serve it in season; the dish appears on tasting menus across Belgian fine dining.

Where to try it: Bistrot du Nord, RAS

Watch out for: Fish, Dairy

Garnaalkroketten

Crisp-fried shrimp croquettes built around Belgian grey shrimp from the North Sea, with a thick béchamel binding. Fried parsley and lemon to garnish.

History: The North Sea grey shrimp is Belgium's coastal signature, hand-peeled and folded into a thick velouté. Belgian kitchens serve them as a starter or pub plate; the canonical version uses fishermen's catch from Oostduinkerke and Zeebrugge. Antwerp riverside brasseries like RAS put them on the daily menu when shrimp is good; the dish appears on Michelin-starred plates with refined fillings and crispier shells.

Where to try it: RAS, Mampoko

Watch out for: Crustaceans, Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Witloof gegratineerd

Belgian endive wrapped in cooked ham, baked in béchamel and gratinated under aged Gouda or Vieux Bruges. The canonical Antwerp winter gratin, served October through March at brown cafes and family kitchens citywide.

History: Witloof, the Belgian endive, was developed in 19th-century Brussels and became a winter-vegetable signature across the Low Countries. The gratin pairs it with sliced ham and a thick béchamel under grilled cheese. Every Belgian household has a version; Antwerp kitchens hold to a sharp Gouda or Vieux Bruges for the topping.

Where to try it: Elfde Gebod, Marolus, Mampoko

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy

Mosselen-friet

Zeeland mussels steamed open with white wine, celery, leek and onion in a cast-iron pot, served with double-fried frites and mayonnaise. The Antwerp summer-evening dinner, on brasserie terraces July through March.

History: Zeeland mussels reach Antwerp in volume from 15 July through March. The traditional Antwerp preparation steams them with white wine, celery and onion in a black cast-iron pot. The combination with frites is the canonical Belgian summer-evening dinner, served on every brasserie terrace from Bocadero on Eilandje to Mampoko on Amerikalei.

Where to try it: Mampoko, Bocadero, RAS

Watch out for: Molluscs, Gluten, Egg

Antwerps Bolleke

De Koninck Antwerp pale ale, poured in its short stem bolleke glass with a two-finger off-white head. The everyday beer of Antwerp since the brewery opened on Mechelsesteenweg in 1833, served in every brown cafe.

History: Brewery De Koninck opened on Mechelsesteenweg in 1833 and developed an Antwerp pale ale that became the Bolleke. The name refers to the short stemmed glass; ordering one is the city's everyday shorthand. The brewery still operates from the original building; tours end with a freshly poured glass. The annual Bollekesfeest in August pours Bolleke across Grote Markt for three days each year.

Where to try it: De Koninck Antwerp City Brewery, Den Engel, 't Oud Arsenaal

Watch out for: Gluten

Waterzooi

Flemish creamy stew of chicken or fish poached in a vegetable-laden broth thickened with cream and egg yolks. Originally a Ghent classic, adopted in Antwerp.

History: Waterzooi originated in medieval Ghent as a fish stew using Schelde and Leie river catch. The chicken version became dominant in the 20th century. The dish reaches Antwerp through Flemish brasserie traditions. Antwerp brasseries serve the chicken version in winter; the fish version turns up on fine-dining tasting menus.

Where to try it: Bistrot du Nord, Elfde Gebod, Marolus

Watch out for: Dairy, Egg, Celery

Belgian frites in beef fat

Double-fried Belgian frites cooked in pure beef fat (ossewit), served in a paper cone with sauce. The street-food staple of Antwerp since 1842.

History: Belgian frites trace to 17th-century Meuse-valley villages, where fried potatoes replaced the river fish that locals could not catch in winter. Antwerp's Fritkot Max has fried since 1842; the original cart stood on Burchtplein beside the Rubens statue and moved to Groenplaats when the Schelde was straightened. The beef-fat fry is the distinctive Belgian technique, double-fried for a crisp shell and fluffy interior.

Where to try it: Fritkot Max, Frites Atelier, Frituur 't Stad

Vol-au-vent

Puff-pastry case filled with creamy stew of chicken, mushroom and veal meatballs in a sherry-spiked velouté, served with frites. The Sunday-lunch staple of Belgian brown cafes, served at brasseries year-round in Antwerp.

History: The vol-au-vent (literally 'windblown') was popularised by Antonin Carême in early 19th-century Paris but adopted across Belgian brasseries. The Antwerp version uses chicken, mushrooms and meatballs in a sherry-spiked velouté inside a tall puff-pastry shell. Brown cafes from Elfde Gebod to Den Engel serve it on Sunday lunch; brasseries like Mampoko and Bistrot Benoit run it year-round.

Where to try it: Bistrot Benoit, Mampoko, Den Engel

Watch out for: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Tomaat-Garnaal (Tomate aux Crevettes Grises)

Belgium's classic summer starter: a large beefsteak tomato hollowed out and stuffed with tiny North Sea grey shrimp bound in a light mayonnaise, served chilled on butter lettuce with a wedge of lemon and fresh parsley.

History: Tomate aux crevettes emerged in Belgian brasseries in the early 20th century as a simple way to showcase the country's two best summer ingredients: ripe tomatoes brought in by the Brussels-Antwerp trade routes, and the tiny North Sea grey shrimp (Crangon crangon) hand-peeled by fishermen's families along the Belgian coast in De Panne, Oostduinkerke and Zeebrugge. The shrimp are hand-peeled and significantly smaller than American or Mediterranean shrimp; the texture is irreplaceable. The dish became codified as a Belgian summer classic and appears on every Antwerp brasserie menu from June through September.

Where to try it: Bistrot Benoit, Patine Wijnbistro, Bar Burbure, Bistrot du Nord

Watch out for: Shellfish, Egg

Cuberdons (Neuzekes)

Belgium's distinctive cone-shaped raspberry sweet: a hard sugar shell pressed into a stiff cone, filled with a slowly-thickening raspberry-arabic-gum syrup that creates a soft liquid-jelly interior.

History: Cuberdons were invented in the 1870s in Ghent, when pharmacist De Vynck stumbled across the formula while trying to keep cough syrup from crystallising too quickly. The cone shape and the curious liquid-jelly interior became the structural identifier; the canonical raspberry version emerged immediately and remains the most popular. The Antwerp cuberdon street culture grew through the 20th century and culminated in the bitter Ghent rivalry between two main makers (the 'cuberdon war' of the early 2010s). Antwerp's Christmas markets sell them by the small white bag. The interior must remain liquid; once a cuberdon dries out, it is no longer technically a cuberdon.

Where to try it: Bakkerij Goossens, Kleinblatt, Bakker Aldo