This is not a new concept, it's been done successfully in many cities, but in Antwerp it's rather flawed and I'll explain why:
1. High prices. The idea behind a food market is to have cheaper food thanks to shared rent space, shared service etc. Not happening in this case.
2. Lack of finger food. In most mercados I've been to before we could try small bites from a lot of kitchens (for only 1-2 eur max), something I haven't seen here
3. It's not comfortable. The hall is very noisy and it doesn't have enough seats. Not to mention the seating is mostly benches which aren't practical.
4. No ordering system. You order, wait at the stand, get the food and then walk the hall a few times and hope for the best. The best for us was the corner of a bench.
5. Bad beers. You'd think a belgian market would have a fine selection of beers, but no. The options are Leffe, Leffe and more Leffe (for 4 euros nonetheless!)
Our main experience was with Spoon & Co stand, where I ordered sushi wrap with shrimp, for 9 eur. It wasn't bad, just ok. But the shrimp still had the tail attached, never good in a wrap. It was also the size of an appetizer and I still was hungry but we felt like getting out of this place asap and continuing our meal somewhere more cosy. read more