Antwerp, Belgium, offers much more than a meal between museum visits and shopping streets. Its dining scene moves from Flemish stews and traditional brasseries to Vietnamese cooking, seafood-led tasting menus, and destination restaurants with international reputations. These 15 selections cover Antwerp itself, including the historic center, the south of the city, and its northern neighborhoods, with choices for a casual dinner as well as a carefully planned occasion.
The countdown runs from #15 to #1. Dishes illustrate each restaurant’s cooking; menus change, so check availability when booking.
Price guide: approximate dinner food cost per person in euros, excluding drinks and optional tips. $ = under €25; $$ = €25–€49; $$$ = €50–€99; $$$$ = €100+. Prices are guidance; menus change.
#15 Mampoko
Cuisine: Belgian and European bistro
Neighborhood: Amerikalei, southern Antwerp
Price: $$
Best For: An informal bistro dinner
Must Order: Chicken with vegetable stoemp
Why It Made the List:
Mampoko supplies the kind of flexible, everyday meal a city guide needs alongside its special-occasion tables. The menu makes room for Belgian comfort food, pasta, and fish, so a group can settle on dinner without committing to one elaborate format.
Known For:
- Vegetable stoemp with chicken and pepper sauce
- Steak tartare and other familiar bistro dishes
- Speculoos tiramisu among the dessert choices
#14 De Bomma
Cuisine: Flemish home-style cooking
Neighborhood: Historic center
Price: $$
Best For: A traditional Belgian meal with friends
Must Order: Beef stew with Steenbrugge beer
Why It Made the List:
De Bomma makes a useful introduction to the hearty side of Flemish cooking. Its grandmother theme and shareable dishes encourage a sociable meal built around stews, vegetables, and potatoes rather than a formal progression of courses.
Known For:
- Beer-braised beef, rabbit, and pork dishes
- A wall of photographs celebrating grandmothers
- Separately chosen vegetable and potato accompaniments
#13 Hoffy’s
Cuisine: Kosher Jewish
Neighborhood: Lange Kievitstraat, near Central Station
Price: $$
Best For: Exploring Antwerp’s Jewish food traditions
Must Order: Cholent with kugel and kishke
Why It Made the List:
Hoffy’s represents a food tradition that is central to Antwerp’s identity but easy to miss on a short city visit. The restaurant and takeaway counter offer different ways to explore a repertoire of slow-cooked dishes and familiar Jewish specialties.
Known For:
- Kosher cooking and a substantial takeaway selection
- Gefilte fish, cholent, kugel, and stuffed vegetables
- Apple strudel and noodle kugel for dessert
#12 Ciro’s
Cuisine: Belgian brasserie
Neighborhood: Amerikalei, southern Antwerp
Price: $$
Best For: An old-school brasserie meal
Must Order: Steak Ciro’s
Why It Made the List:
Ciro’s is a strong choice when you want traditional cooking with a sense of continuity. Its broad brasserie menu and signature steak make it approachable for a first visit while leaving plenty to explore on a return.
Known For:
- Steak Ciro’s and the three-course Ciroske menu
- Traditional dishes including eel in green sauce and vol-au-vent
- A brasserie history dating to 1962
#11 Sir Anthony Van Dijck
Cuisine: Classic French and Belgian
Neighborhood: Vlaeykensgang, historic center
Price: $$$
Best For: A classic dinner in the old city
Must Order: The seasonal four-course menu
Why It Made the List:
Sir Anthony Van Dijck pairs the appeal of Antwerp’s historic lanes with a composed, traditional restaurant meal. It is a useful option for diners who want the occasion of a multi-course dinner without abandoning recognizable French and Belgian flavors.
Known For:
- A setting in the Vlaeykensgang
- Four- and five-course seasonal menus
- Classic preparations spanning game, fish, and poultry
#10 Fiera
Cuisine: Contemporary international
Neighborhood: Handelsbeurs area, city center
Price: $$$
Best For: A lively dinner in a striking historic setting
Must Order: Cod with shrimp beurre blanc
Why It Made the List:
Fiera makes the setting a substantial part of dinner, occupying the historic trading-hall complex in central Antwerp. The broad, internationally influenced menu fits a social evening when atmosphere and a choice of dishes matter more than a single fixed culinary theme.
Known For:
- A restaurant in the historic Handelsbeurs and Schippersbeurs setting
- Chesney Verschueren’s internationally influenced cooking
- À la carte dishes alongside multi-course menus
#9 MAVEN
Cuisine: Steakhouse and meat-focused contemporary cooking
Neighborhood: Zuid
Price: $$$
Best For: Comparing carefully selected cuts of beef
Must Order: The MAVEN Experience menu
Why It Made the List:
MAVEN gives steak lovers a more considered choice than simply selecting a cut by weight. Its attention to cattle breeds, aging, and the butcher’s craft makes a meal here about exploring differences in the meat as well as enjoying a substantial dinner.
Known For:
- Beef selected and aged by Jules Koninckx and Luc De Laet
- A range of European breeds and premium wagyu options
- Wagyu beef-cheek croquettes and shared tasting formats
#8 BÚN Bar & Restaurant
Cuisine: Contemporary Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Zuid, Volkstraat
Price: $$$
Best For: A Vietnamese dinner with a tasting-menu option
Must Order: The four-course tasting menu
Why It Made the List:
BÚN connects Vietnamese flavors with Belgian and Dutch ingredients in a restaurant that offers both a bar meal and a longer dinner. That range makes it particularly useful for diners who want a different flavor profile from Antwerp’s many French-influenced tasting rooms.
Known For:
- Three-, four-, and five-course restaurant menus
- Bar dishes such as bánh xèo and fresh prawn rolls
- Main courses including banana-leaf sea bass and wagyu phở
#7 Veranda
Cuisine: Contemporary seasonal
Neighborhood: Lange Lobroekstraat, northern Antwerp
Price: $$$
Best For: A focused seasonal tasting dinner
Must Order: The five-course menu
Why It Made the List:
Veranda offers a reason to look beyond Antwerp’s historic center for dinner. Davy Schellemans’s changing menu keeps the experience focused on the kitchen’s current ideas, making it a good fit for diners who prefer a concise tasting format to a long à la carte list.
Known For:
- A five-course dinner menu
- Shorter menu choices at lunch
- Seasonal cooking in the Lange Lobroekstraat neighborhood
#6 Le Pristine
Cuisine: Contemporary Italian with Zeeland influences
Neighborhood: Lange Gasthuisstraat, city center
Price: $$$$
Best For: A design-conscious tasting-menu evening
Must Order: The seasonal tasting menu
Why It Made the List:
Le Pristine brings together Italian cooking, Zeeland seafood, and a carefully designed central-Antwerp setting. It suits diners who value the room and rhythm of an evening alongside a menu built around pasta, seafood, and seasonal produce.
Known For:
- Sergio Herman’s combination of Italian and Zeeland flavors
- A Space Copenhagen interior and covered historic patio
- Seasonal multi-course menus, with a longer format on Friday and Saturday evenings
#5 Fine Fleur
Cuisine: Contemporary European
Neighborhood: Botanic Sanctuary, city center
Price: $$$$
Best For: An intimate fine-dining occasion
Must Order: The six-course tasting menu
Why It Made the List:
Fine Fleur pairs a historic setting with cooking that uses acidity and international spices to sharpen local ingredients. The intimate room and fixed menus make it a strong choice for a planned evening when you want to follow the kitchen’s progression.
Known For:
- One Michelin star in the 2026 Belgium and Luxembourg guide
- Jacob Jan Boerma and Thomas Diepersloot’s precise, globally influenced cooking
- Tasting menus with a substantial emphasis on fish and shellfish
#4 Bistrot du Nord
Cuisine: Classic French and Belgian
Neighborhood: Lange Dijkstraat, northern Antwerp
Price: $$$
Best For: Rich traditional cooking with a confident point of view
Must Order: Calf’s liver with its seasonal accompaniments
Why It Made the List:
Bistrot du Nord stands out for its commitment to the deeper, more traditional end of the repertoire. It is especially appealing to diners who enjoy offal and classic sauces and want a memorable restaurant meal without a fashionable tasting-menu script.
Known For:
- One Michelin star in the 2026 Belgium and Luxembourg guide
- Michaël Rewers’s cooking with offal and traditional cuts
- A menu that includes calf’s liver, brains, and classic seafood preparations
#3 Hertog Jan at Botanic
Cuisine: Contemporary European
Neighborhood: Botanic Sanctuary, city center
Price: $$$$
Best For: An immersive special-occasion dinner
Must Order: The Omakase tasting experience
Why It Made the List:
Hertog Jan brings Gert De Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens’s approach to an intimate Antwerp setting. The long, kitchen-led format makes it an occasion to plan around, with the experience unfolding through the team’s choices rather than an à la carte order.
Known For:
- Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Belgium and Luxembourg guide
- Omakase menus with a longer deluxe experience
- Gert De Mangeleer’s cooking and Joachim Boudens’s hospitality partnership
#2 The Jane
Cuisine: Contemporary international
Neighborhood: Limastraat, northern Antwerp
Price: $$$$
Best For: An ambitious tasting dinner in a contemporary room
Must Order: The Experience menu
Why It Made the List:
The Jane’s current home on Limastraat offers a different setting from the former chapel that made the restaurant famous. Nick Bril’s multi-course cooking and Nicolas Schuybroek’s contemporary design make this a destination for diners seeking an evening with a strong culinary and visual identity.
Known For:
- Two Michelin stars in the 2026 Belgium and Luxembourg guide
- Experience and Signature tasting menus
- A current menu emphasizing vegetables, fish, and shellfish
#1 Zilte
Cuisine: Contemporary European
Neighborhood: Eilandje, MAS museum
Price: $$$$
Best For: A landmark Antwerp dining occasion
Must Order: The Pure Zilte tasting menu
Why It Made the List:
Zilte combines an elevated view over Antwerp with a highly focused destination meal. Viki Geunes’s cooking and the setting atop the MAS give it a particularly strong connection to the city, making it the leading choice here for an all-out occasion.
Known For:
- Three Michelin stars in the 2026 Belgium and Luxembourg guide
- A ninth-floor setting in the MAS museum
- Seafood-led tasting menus and a dedicated vegetable option
How we chose
We selected these restaurants for distinctive cooking, a clear sense of place, and a dining experience worth seeking out. Our editorial review considered current menus, official restaurant information, and local dining coverage, with attention to both special occasions and everyday meals. The ranking reflects editorial judgment rather than a numerical score.
Planning your next meal
Menus and seasonal preparations change; use the restaurant links to check the latest offerings and make reservations where available.
More dining advice
For help choosing a bottle with dinner, read our guide to ordering wine at a restaurant.
