Antwerp for foodies

Best restaurants

Antwerp eats the way it dresses: unfussily, but with a point of view. The old-town grid around Groenplaats, Handschoenmarkt and Oude Koornmarkt puts a Korean grill, a ramen counter, an Indian kitchen and a Belgian seafood bar within three minutes of each other on foot: a truer picture of the city's appetite than any single cuisine would give. This is a list for a visitor who has one lunch and one dinner and does not want to waste either on a menu translated four ways. It skews toward kitchens where the cooking is specific, the room is honest, and the hours are long enough to catch you after a museum or before a train. You will find Korean, Japanese, Indian, Belgian, Italian, Turkish, Greek, Afghan and a waffle counter that earns its place. None of them ask you to dress up. All of them ask you to show up hungry, which is a fair trade in a city that has never confused eating out with performing.