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.

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Kolonel Koffie | Coffee & tea | Espresso € 1.60
Grote Pieterpotstraat 38 | Meir | +32486655155
Tue – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat – Sun 11:00 – 18:00

In the Hoogstraat (close to the Zwarte Panter, check the Zwarte Panter article) there is a little shop called ‘Achter de Maan’ (Behind the Moon).

It is not so easy to tell what they are selling, but it is always fun. They have a lot of design things, and a lot of toys. One of the characteristics is that almost all objects are funny. They make me smile. There are original umbrella’s (in the shape of little persons), bags, funny kitchen stuff and Japanese toys. The sell similar things to Akotee (check the Akotee article) on the Melkmarkt, but yet they have their own style. In Dutch we call the things they sell ‘hebbedingetjes’: little things you want to have, but that are mostly not needed.

What I don’t like is that they sell a lot of plastic and that it is a little bit too expensive. But is is really a great shop to find the perfect present. For somebody else or for yourself.

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Achter de Maan | Shopping
Hoogstraat 45 | Meir | +3232907292
Mon & Wed – Sat 10:00 – 18:00, Sun 12:00 – 18:00

The Zwarte Panther (Black Panter) is a famous art gallery in Antwerp where I walk in from time to time. In the Hoogstraat, a small street where no cars are allowed, you wouldn’t expect this interesting complex building with nice spaces, a cute inner court, a chapel, a cellar and a little house behind the chapel.

In 1303 it was a little guesthouse (Sint Julianus Gasthuis) where poor pilgrims could stay a while. In 1968 the gallery opened. They say it is the oldest gallery in Flanders and the second oldest in Belgium for contemporary art. Adriaan Raemdonck, the gallery owner is passionate and takes his job very seriously.

There are almost permanently exhibitions by famous artists like Fred Bervoets, Jan Cox, Pjeroo Roobjee, Sam Dillemans, Jan Vanriet and many others.

I find it a an interesting place, not only because of the great art you can find there, but also because of the location from the Middle ages. The chapel (restored in 1956-1958) is simple but beautiful, the art in it is special. The inner court is idyllic, the rooms upstairs are light and pleasant. The art of Fred Bervoets is impressive.

Once in a time I walk in, and enjoy this oasis in the city. It is a spot where art meets history and that’s a good marriage.

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Zwarte Panter | Art & culture | Free
Hoogstraat 70-72-74 | Meir | +3232331345
Thu – Sun 13:30 – 18:00

When you are in Antwerp on a Friday morning, it is something you really have to see: the strange and famous ‘Vrijdagse Markt’.

It’s great and it’s so typically Antwerp. It’s Friday morning adventure. A second hand market but as an auction: they talk really ‘aantwaarps’ and sometimes you think they will be fighting soon because people get all excited.

They mostly sell furniture and bicycles but it is incredible what else you can buy there: a box with toothbrushes made in 1963, a complete correspondence between a mother and a son over twenty years, a broken toaster, etc. Sometimes it is real rubbish and sometimes it is a treasure. A lot of the things come from old people that died, shops that went bankrupt.

It starts at nine in the morning and it finishes at one o’clock in the afternoon. The garbage car comes between one and two and cleans the whole square. And that’s necessary. All the things that nobody wanted are left behind.

I don’t know how long it already exists, but I guess it has always been there. I’m mostly working on a Friday morning and I don’t go there often, but when I have the chance I don’t want to miss it, this special market, so lively, so energetic.

Tip: the museum of Plantijn en Moretus is on the same square…

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Friday Market | Art & culture, Shopping | Free
Vrijdagmarkt | Meir
Fri 09:00 – 13:00

At a stone’s throw of the big market you can find the delightful peace of the ‘Conscienceplein’. It is a small square with a big baroque church (check the Carolus Borromeus article by Niko) that on one side overrules the square, but on the other side you don’t notice the church and you see only the cute square with the white stripes on the ground and the strange fountain and the tree.

For me the ‘Conscienceplein’ is the square I spent the first years of my life. I fell in the fountain under the statue there when I was three and almost drowned. I made my first snowman there. As a kid I ran over the stripes like they were bridges over a cliff.

Now I love especially the quietness and friendliness of the place – it is an oasis in the middle of the city center.

The fairy-like tree puts you in the shadow when it’s hot and gives you shelter when it rains, and the ‘writer on his chair’ (Hendrik Conscience) is always watching over you. And under the square is the biggest and oldest library in town.

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Hendrik Conscienceplein | Art & culture, Relaxing
Hendrik Conscienceplein | Meir
24 hours daily

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!

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Witzli-Poetzli | Bars, Coffee & tea
Blauwmoezelstraat 8 | Meir
From 10:00 daily

I often go to café/restaurant K. Zeppos. The name comes from a Belgian tv-programme for kids: Kapitein Zeppos. It played in the years 1964 till 1968 and was very successful.

When you enter the café you see a very big picture of the actor that played Kapitein Zeppos (Senne Rouffaer).

K. Zeppos is a very ‘practical’ café/restaurant. It’s in the middle of the city, but not in the heat of the tourist-zone. It has an enormous terrace on a big square in summer and in winter it is very comfortable inside. Good atmosphere, nice food for an okay price. It’s not cheap, but also not very expensive. Only their tea is way too expensive. That’s why I never drink tea in the K. Zeppos.

It’s a perfect meeting-place for little groups. If I want to see a bunch of my friends we think easily of K.Zeppos. Especially if some people have to eat. You can eat classic Belgian food, but they have also meals from all over the world. And it’s no smoking… It’s a good place where I like to come from time to time..

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K. Zeppos | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Intern.) | Main meal from € 15.00
Vleminckveld 78 | Meir | +3232311789
From 10:00 daily

Even when you’re not a metal or Gothic or a punk-fan, there’s a shop in the Kammenstraat in Antwerp that is great fun and worth a visit. ‘Fans’ is a clothing shop for Gothics and vampires, and other subcultures and species… You can almost permanently find youngsters with extreme black clothing in this strange shop that has opened the seventies.

The owners of the Fans faced a lot of difficulties and lawsuits over the years because the neighbors considered them dangerous and provocative. But the people that come here may look dangerous, they are often insecure and mostly very nice. When I spoke to the owner last week, he told me: ‘We only get bloodthirsty after closing time…’ I thought this was very funny. In September they wrote `Black to School…’ on the windows.

I used to be afraid to go inside, but since a while I go there sometimes and wander around in the very little shop. It is a lot of fun. They sell the strangest things. I got me a ‘Giant Microbe’ – they’re like teddy bear microbes. I got “the flu”. They also sell coffin-shaped wallets, and of course a lot of clothes. Some are really wearable for ‘outsiders’.

This shop is an icon in Antwerp; almost everybody knows ‘the Fans’ and it is a part of this city. They say it’s a gate to the Underworld, but it is also an interesting place with interesting objects…

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Fans | Shopping
Kammenstraat 80 | Meir | +3232323172
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 18:00

If you’re up to some Belgian food in a stylish atmosphere, this is the place to be!

‘Berlin’ is right in the city centre, and ideal for breakfast, lunch or dinner, i.e. a break from shopping. You can try typical Belgian specialties here, but you can tell the cook isn’t afraid to be influenced by -well- the world. For the many times I’ve eaten here, I was always very satisfied by the food. I once ate a roasted cherry tomato soup and to be honest, I sometimes still dream about it…

On Friday and Saturday evenings this place turns into a meeting place for the young & clubbing. The DJ gets you ready for the party. There are few cocktails on the menu, but they’re oh so tasty!

After a rough weekend you can go have a ‘lazy Sunday’-special: an all-you-can-eat menu to get rid of your hangover.

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Berlin | Bars, Restaurants (Belgian) | Main meal € 15
Kleine Markt 1 | Meir | +3232271101
09:00 – 02:00 daily

When I feel like a treat, I go to my favorite Thai restuarant in Antwerp: Mai Thai.

It’s located in the touristy neighbourhood, but when you step inside, you enter a white, silky world of Thai delight.

There’s only space for about 20 people, so go early or make reservations ahead. Upon entry you get welcomed by the pretty hostess. For me, it’s always hard to resist ordering a refreshing house-cocktail to go along with the free appetiser you get.

Although this restaurant isn’t pricey at all, you feel like you’re eating in a high-class resort. Every detail is being looked after: spotless table-wear, a pink orchid flower in your drink and excellent service.

The hardest part is picking your main dish: every Thai classic is present on the menu (about a hundred different dishes) and everything I’ve tasted here so far, tastes authentic and is equally delicious. There’s a wide variety of not-too-spicy dishes, if you’re not up to some fire.

After Antwerp, Thailand is my favorite place in the world. So you can imagine what a great combination ‘Mai Thai’ is for me!

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Mai Thai | Restaurants (Thai) | Main meal € 15
Vlasmarkt 7 | Meir | +3232251687
Mon & Wed – Sat 18:00 – 23:00, Sun 15:00 – 23:00