Antwerp: Eating Around Belgium
If you are using Antwerp as a base for Belgian day trips, the good news is that the country’s best food travels with you. Frites, waffles, mussels and abbey beer turn up in every town on the train map, priced in euros, so you can plan lunch around wherever the day takes you. Here is what to eat where, with rough 2026 bands to verify on the spot.
Anchor your appetite in Antwerp
Start at home base: order “een bolleke” for De Koninck’s amber beer, roughly EUR 2.50 to 3.50 a glass, and pick up Antwerpse Handjes, the hand-shaped butter biscuit tied to the city’s founding legend, from a specialist like Philip’s Biscuits. A frituur cone runs EUR 3 to 5 and a shared pot of moules-frites about EUR 20 to 30 anywhere in Flanders.
Ghent and Bruges, canal-town lunches
On a canal-town day, both Ghent and Bruges do the nationwide classics well, but mind the tourist traps: restaurants ringing Bruges’ Markt are priced like Brussels’ Rue des Bouchers and rarely worth it. Walk two streets back for a fair-priced plate of stoverij (Flemish beef-and-beer stew) or mussels, roughly EUR 20 to 30. Ghent, a working university city, has livelier and cheaper everyday eating than Bruges.
Brussels, the waffle question
In Brussels, keep the waffle honest: the light, crisp rectangular Brussels waffle and the dense, chewy pearl-sugar Liege waffle are the two real ones, roughly EUR 3 to 6 from a stand. There is no separate “Antwerp waffle,” so do not go looking for one. Brussels also has the deepest sit-down range if you want a proper meal, from casual at EUR 12 to 20 up to EUR 50-plus fine dining.
The coast, for mussels and shrimp
An Ostend or coast day is the one to build around seafood: North Sea mussels in season and grey shrimp croquettes are the local specialities, best from a seafront brasserie, roughly EUR 20 to 30 for a main. Manage expectations off-season, when many seafront kitchens keep short hours.
The rules that hold everywhere
Across Belgium the conventions are the same: frites are Belgian, not French; tipping means rounding up or adding 5 to 10%, not US-style; and contactless cards work almost everywhere, though small cash helps at market stalls.
Read more: match these meals to the trips in our Antwerp Belgium 4-day itinerary , or the full Antwerp Belgium base guide .