Dinner
Tropicos
at tabakvest and hopland, +32 03 231 9964 (http://www.tropicos.be). known for its lively south american atmosphere, caipirinha cocktails, and tasteful brazilian mexican kitchen.
Mata Mata & Pili Pili
Lively and colourful restaurant with a range of dishes from across the African continent and a particular focus on West African cuisine.
De Keyserlei
the street that runs west from central station is a street with a varied choice of restaurants. the side streets on the north side of de keyserlei offer even more options, with lebanese, south-african, mexican, italian and vietnamese to name but a few restaurants all rubbing shoulders with each other. with so many restaurants in a small area the prices tend to be pretty competitive.
Chinatown
Takes up a couple of streets on the north side of koningin-astrid-plein the large square to the north of central station. look for the 2 lions guarding the entrance to van wesenbekestraat. japanese, korean, vietnamese, thai and nepalese retaurants are here as well as lots of chinese options.
Da Giovani
jan blomstraat 3-5-7-8, +32 03 226 7450 (http://www.dagiovanni.be). a cheap italian restaurant. it is popular among students, because of their 20% discount. a second "da giovanni" is on the keyserlei, near the central station.
Sombat
+32 3 226 21 90 (http://www.sombat.be). vleeshuisstraat 1. thai haute cuisine
Rooden Hoed
Corner of oude koornmarkt and tempelstraat. the oldest restaurant in antwerp, specializing in seafood, especially mussels. very popular with locals, but few tourists, so you know it's good. mains starting at â¬20.
The Hilton Hotel
Has a restaurant overlooking the groenplaats.
Govinda's Garden
amerikalei 184 â the restaurant of the krishnas. they serve healthy macrobiotic food for a small price. only open in the evenings. update: this is no longer a restaurant, though still a hare krishna center. so if you ring, they'll be very kind and friendly to you, but don't expect to be able to get dinner! try one of the indian restaurants on lange herentalsestraat instead.
Wok & Tandoor
+32 03 248 9595 (http://www.wokentandoor.be). a show-restaurant serving wok and tandoori food. it is prepared in front of you by cooks in a spectacular way. it's an all-you-can-eat buffet with very reasonable prices. it is in the south of antwerp close to the new courthouse.
Thai Thai Simple
+32 477 292 554 (http://www.thaithaisimple.be). amerikalei 72. fresh authentic thai food in an old mansion on amerikalei.
fritkoten
As with most Flemish towns, you can find many fritkoten in the city. These are places of which the Belgians are really proud of. Here you can buy the famous Belgian fries and other fried food for a reasonable price.
lunch
People often go eat a "smos", a bread with several layers of garniture in it. The name refers to the mess you make when trying to eat it. You can find them in several stores like Panos or Foodmaker. The most famous "smoskes" according to students are found at "Jean-Pierre". You can find it opposite to the university Grote Kauwenberg 41.