Archives for “bakery” tag

When you walk through the Handelsstraat or the Dambruggestraat, then you might think you’re in some North-African city instead of in Antwerp. A lot of atmosphere on the street, colorful shops, lots of vegetable stands, the smell of fresh fish … the atmosphere is very lively and also very lovely.

The Sint-Gummarusstraat, close to the Sint-Jansplein, has the same mood. I regularly get a haircut here, for only 10 euro but a great service every time. They even put a burning candle in your ears to burn your ear hair, only if you want that of course.

I find it very difficult to walk or cycle through this street without stopping at this little Turkish bakery. The smell just lures me inside, every time. The freshly baked bread, the typical Turkish sweets … it all smells and looks delicious. My tip: buy a piece of pizza, it only costs € 1.60! Eat it outside, enjoy the street life and while you’re at it, buy some fresh fruit in the neighboring store, owned by the same family. And when you’re finished eating, you can think about how you are going to spend the money you saved here, isn’t that wonderful?

You won’t have much trouble finding ‘Bakkerij Goossens’, because there’s always a long line of people waiting outside this authentic bakery. Belgium has a rich tradition of baking bread, and this is about the finest bread you can find in Antwerp (and probably far beyond!).

They still bake bread the traditional way: hand kneaded and a long rising time, you can really taste the difference! Their specialty is ‘roggeverdommeke’: a dark, wheaty crispy bread stuffed with fat sweet raisins. And if you’re in for a smaller snack, you should try one of the ‘boterkoeken’: buttery french rolls stuffed with chocolate, cream or other heavenly treats.

It’s actually not really needed to advertise their awesome products, because I bet not many of you can resist walking past this old-fashioned looking bakery, showing all the goods in the shop’s window.