Small, pure and cute. That’s what I think about Kolonel Koffie.

Antwerp is a city with a booming business for trendy coffee bars. Some of them stand out. Not everybody has a talent for coffee-making, but the owner, Kobe, really knows how to make a good coffee. And he has put it in a nice little spot with cute furniture and great wallpaper.

I love his strong black shots of almost pure espresso and his soft slow-coffees with deep tastes of all kind of fruits and beans.

An advantage is that kolonel koffie is in the middle of the city center and in a quiet street, on a nice corner close to the river the Schelde. A little terrace makes it a great resting-spot for the tired legs.

There is a true revelation in the city center of our beautiful city. It’s called the Gelato Factory.

A small ice cream business on the south gives everybody that passes a wonderful refreshment. Even people who don’t like ice cream have difficulties resisting the abundance of the creamy delicacies. The owner Herman Tackaerts really enjoys his passion of ice cream making…

Now summer is coming again! I try not to pass every day or I will weigh 100 kg in a couple of months. Try the mint flavor!

In Antwerp we have many good ice cream sellers but the Gelato Factory is definitely different. It looks like the real Italian stuff and that’s a great specialty…

And they sell also great espresso’s!

A couple of years ago the neighborhood around the falconplein was a different world. It was a square with dubious shops ran by the Russian mafia and Georgian gangsters. They say it was possible to buy grenades under the table, and the smuggling in fake products and girls from the east were big business then. The falconplein was/is also at the edge of the red light district.

When the city decided to ‘clean up’ the square in 2007 this was very successful. Not so adventurous anymore but today it is a more pleasant square where crime isn’t longer the most important thing.

On the first and the third Sunday of every month there is a market for biological products. And on the square you can find the nice café Bartilia. It is called Bartilia because of the former trees that stood on the square. They were all limetrees (‘Tilia’). When they redesigned the square all the lime trees had to go.

The owners of Bartilia wanted to make a statement and they named the cafe after the trees. Bartilia is a cosy cafe for young and old, but especially for the young. In weekends it can be busy but it is always nice to be there. It is allowed to smoke in there. The atmosphere is good.

On Sunday it is nice to combine the market with a coffee in Café Bartilia. But be careful, sometimes the café opens a little bit later than planned…

The Witzli-Poetzli is a very small café in the center of citycenter. It is next to our great cathedral. In the summer there’s an unique terras in the shadow of the cathedral. In the winter it is a cosy place where people come to drink coffee and read a newspaper.

In the narrow street of the Witzli are no cars allowed and there are practically no shops. It is a passing-through-street. A lot of people pass by and from the Witzli-Poetzli you have a perfect view! In winter there’s a lot of wind in the street, so you can see very funny situations that happen to by-passers.

The former owner – Guido – died very suddenly in December 2008, a couple of weeks after a fight in his cafe. This was a enormous shock for a lot of people in Antwerp. And of course: what would happen to the Witzli?! Antwerp wouldn’t be te same without! We are very lucky that a former barman took over the café and that he keeps the Witzli like it was.

I visit the Witzli-Poetzli a lot. It is the most ideal spot to meet friends or to rest after a walk in the city. But the most important reason is their white coffee (café au lait). Normally I never drink white coffee, but it is such a genius form of it that I always drink it when I come there.

Don’t leave Antwerp without tasting the Witzli-coffee!

Antwerp’s Damplein used to be a very grey and desolate square next to the railway where you would only go if you wanted to buy a cheap table or chairs at Belgica Furniture. But the coming of Park Spoor Noord changed things. Coffee bar Zum and restaurant Caravan were the first to see the potential of this square next to Park Spoor Noord. Bar Zeppelin is the latest newcomer.

Like Bar Leon in Borgerhout they serve an interesting mix of excellent beers, cocktails and great coffees. That makes it an ideal stop no matter the time or occasion: there is always a great drink to be discovered. Also great and quite unique for Belgium: they serve you free tap water. There is plenty of reading material and free wifi so you won’t feel bored. And when the sun shines, you can take your drink, magazine, laptop, … outside. I’m already curious what the next thing will be on this rapidly changing square …

When this bar/restaurant opened about 3 years ago, it was exactly what the neighbourhood needed: a cosy, relaxed, non-smoking place where you can grab a bite, read the newspaper and chat up with friends.

Everyday there’s a new menu with about 5 dishes: a couple of classics, pasta, a vegetarian dish and something oriental. Tasty, honest, not too pricy, almost like how your mother would make it, but with a surprising twist to it! As a late-night snack, you can always grab spaghetti or a fresh bowl of soup.

As for drinks, you’ll have a hard time making your choice: a couple of local beers on tap, as well as a monthly special, great wine and cava. A must-try is ‘roomer’: a flowery liquor that will enlighten your senses. For great karma, drink an organic tea or fruit juice.

The owner always carefully picks the music, a great way to discover new things. He’s even started a graphic novel collection.

This place can be very relaxing as well as really crowded. Either way, I always feel right at home here!

After having been the barwoman in café De Welkom, Femke decided to do something completely different. A few steps away from Park Spoor Noord (see the article) she opened a new place and she called it ZUM. In a fastly changing neighbourhood, ZUM for me is the ideal place for breakfast or lunch. I like the personal details here: the little chocolate balls you can add to your cappuccino, the cool postcards on the wall, the homemade muffins and pies, the smiling faces of the people serving you …

If I need a place to spend a lazy afternoon (like the day after a wild party), I come here and order the antiox Arizona iced tea and a blueberry muffin. If I’m not meeting friends, I bring a book and install myself for a good read. ZUM has free wifi so sometimes I even get some work done.

If you’re hungry try the “bokes”. Slices of freshly baked bread with all kinds of toppings, the yummie Belgian way to eat bread. Be careful, if you don’t keep an eye to the beautiful clock hanging on the wall, you might end up spending the whole afternoon here.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
ZUM | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Breakfast&Lunch) | Main meal from € 10
Viaduct Dam 1 | Eilandje | +323450336
Tue – Sun 09:00 – 20:00

What do you think of when I say I Belgium? Belgian chocolate, yes. Belgian beers, yes. Belgian waffles, oh yes! They remind of my childhood when my grandmother treated us them together with a hot chocolate after a long walk in the city or at the seaside.

Waffles come in all shapes and sizes and all of you have them in your own country. But there’s only one perfect waffle: the Brussels Waffle of Desire de Lille. 

This waffle is very light. And it’s also super crispy. Have one with fresh cream or with sugar. And yes, you should be covered in sugar after eating. it’s meant to be like that. You can take away at the corner of Schoenmarkt or you can sit down a little further in Schrijnwerkersstraat.

Don’t be scared by the amount of grandmothers sitting here enjoying their waffle (or pancakes or other delicious stuff). After all, it’s the grandmothers who know best, right?

You’ll need transport to get there but if you have a car and if it’s a sunny day and you like boats, then why not drive to Lillo? It’s a magical little village in the middle of the Port of Antwerp, the second largest of Europe.

Historically Lillo had a strategic location and was a fort for many years. It’s not difficult to see why: standing on the waterfront you have a beautiful view on the river Scheldt. Here I always daydream about arriving in Antwerp by boat myself one day.

It’s one of the best places to see the massive container ships coming into Antwerp. And by massive I mean ships with a length of 400 metres that can carry over 15.000 containers! What I like to here is to make a walk along the waterfront and through the cosy village with narrow streets and beautiful houses. After that I head into one of the bars to have a snack or a coffee. You’ll meet other visitors here but also locals and harbour workers. A nice mixture of people!