Situated in the oldest alley of Antwerp -- the beautiful Vlaeykensgang near the Cathedral -- this…read morecharming little bistro feels like you've stepped straight into another century. It's hidden down a quiet courtyard, right in the middle of the city but completely away from the noise and bustle. Totally one of those "if you know, you know" kind of places. The atmosphere here is just magical -- rustic, romantic, and old-fashioned in the best way. Even though we were seated outside in chilly weather, it still felt cozy and inviting. You could tell this was one of those restaurants that lives and breathes its history. Now, the food -- We ordered the duck breast with red porto jus and gratin dauphinois, and the beef stew. The gratin was so good -- creamy, cheesy, and perfectly comforting. The duck, though, was a bit of a letdown -- quite tough and hard to chew, which was disappointing because the sauce was lovely. The beef stew, on the other hand, came out piping hot (just how I like it!) and was hearty and flavorful, though a tad on the sweet side for my taste. Still, it was delicious overall. Service was great -- friendly, attentive, and never hovering. Everything felt relaxed and unpretentious. Our bill came to just under $100 USD, which I thought was very reasonable for the quality, setting, and experience. If you're wandering around Antwerp and want to escape the crowds while enjoying a cozy, candlelit meal in a spot full of old-world charm, this is the place to go.

Adorable location with alley, garden patio and indoor spaces. The salmon was nice but the…read morestroganoff had an amazing sauce that we dipped frites into. The service was nice. If you are looking for a spot in a historical location with ambience and well done traditional Belgian food, this is a great choice.

A place with a bit of a quirky edge. The name means Grandmother in Flemish and there are dozens and…read moredozens of photos of Grandmother photos on the wall. Apparently they are supplied by patrons. There seemed to be a good mix of locals and tourists. The menu is straightforward enough. I ordered mussels in a white wine sauce and it was quite the feast. I had the dark beer which is my favorite but they have a really good list. Ed tried the house 'red' beer that turned out to be very fruity, but with a hearty alcohol content. He ordered one thing, veal, but what came out seemed ab entirely different dish, chicken and pork. He enjoyed it so it was OK. He ordered potato croquettes with it and they were good. I thought I might get the ubiquitous fries (frites) but that didn't happen. They did give me a container of mayonnaise which one would assume is for fries, but when I inquired the waiter said it was for the mussels (?!) I guess I had to take his word for it. The portions were good and we left satisfied even with the glitches.

I wanted an authentic beef stew for dinner and thought a place that named themselves after Grandma…read morewould be decent. Service was standard, food came out pretty quickly. I ordered: - Shrimp croquette - there's small shrimps in this. Not small pieces of shrimp, but small shrimps. A bit of a surprise for me. Was OK tasting. - Fries - used to dip in my stew. I will admit maybe this is a ME thing, but the fries I've had here in general have not been stellar. Too potato-y and not crispy enough. - Beef stew - supposed to be the highlight. Flavors were OK, but the meat was just kind of dry and not very tender. After a while the sauce was a bit salty. The portion was good though. Overall OK, just the beef stew wasn't that great for me. It seems I should have ordered the mussels though, as so many other tables ordered it. Next time I will try that instead!

A colleague took us here for dinner during my recent trip to the area. It was fantastic…read more The decor of the bar and restaurant is great. From the outside you expect something old similar to many of the bars in the area. Once you pass the threshold it transforms to a beautifully new and eclectic restaurant. The bar area is nice with a focus on wine with casks and chandeliers with wine bottles in them. There is a chef's table on the 2nd floor and on the 3rd floor nicely set tables with enough space in between for privacy. Glass that looks through the floor let's you see all the way back down. The dinner was exquisite. We ordered a chef's choice menu it included red fish tartar with ahi tune, a slice of beef filet that was so tender and well prepared, and final course of fish and shrimp with risotto. Dessert was ice cream and home made marshmallows with pistachio foam. Everything was fantastic. Definitely in my top ten best meals for fine dining experience.

AWESOME atmosphere great staff. Exquisite flavors. I've eaten here 4 times during my stay…read more Definitely a favorite. I will miss this place. The food is so fresh, good sized portions. Great deserts.

Because * Perfectly…read moregrilled l'onglet (hanger steak) and lamb chops * Fresh frites that were better than most frituur's * De Koninck bolleke on draft * Patio seats on Marnixplaats * Reasonable prices for all of the above FYI - on a Saturday, dinner was fully booked, but the place was almost empty for lunch

Belgium is expensive, so I was rather excited when my friend Tim told me there's a place that you…read morecan get a steak and fries for 13.50 euro. And this steak was pretty damn good, too! Probably my favorite meal I've had in Belgium, and already went back for a second meal since I've been here.

We read somewhere this was the place to go for the best Flemish stew and it didn't hurt that their…read morebeer selection was very good in the area of Belgium beers. The wait staff were incredibly helpful and made several suggestions but I ended up with the Flemish Stew because that's what I came in for. This Stew was probably some of the most tenderest beef I've ever had in my life. It practically melted in my mouth and the gravy was wonderful. Being from the US all that extra gravy would have been great with mashed potatoes but their standard side is an order of French fries. I'm glad we followed our gut on this one, pun intended, because this will go down South far as the best Flemish Stew I've had on our trip so far. We have more Belgian destinations to go to but they've set a pretty high standard.

Google reviews recommended this place for some traditional food. Upon entering, we were given the…read morechoice to sit inside or outside. There were plenty of options. Our server gave us recommendations of the menu when we asked. He spoke English and chatted with us about music festivals. We started with two main entrees. We were about to order a third, and the server warned us that it would be too much food. In the end it was, but we got a take away box.. The stoofvlees (Flemish beef stew) is what they're known for, and it is good. But the varkenswangetjes was way better. They both have the same sauce, but the meat was more tender. The third dish was stoemp van de week that we just wanted to try. It wasn't as delicious as the pork cheek dish. We got charged for "supp. aardappel", but I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe the two take away boxes? *Note, the Yelp check in offer is cap. Credit card accepted.

Really good restaurant inside of the hotel. Great location. There are lots of places to go and eat,…read morebut this is located in the hotel. So if it's cold and raining "like tonight " you don't have to go a anywhere. They have great breakfast buffet every morning. Really great seafood. Nice bar also.

I'm so glad we decided to dine at Bistro Jacob during our stay in Antwerp…read more It's very close to the center of town and was just a short and scenic walk from our hotel. We made a reservation for 7:30 or something in that neighborhood and we were seated amongst other tables of people seemingly enjoying their meal so I would recommend reserving a table to play it safe. The staff were awesome and very nice. Everyone at the table ordered the asparagus soup if memory serves which I was aggressively eyeing but decided instead to go with their goat cheese salad. I heard favorable reviews from my co-patrons regarding the asparagus soup but my salad was fantastic. It was presented beautifully with a nice hunk of goat cheese spank in the middle, sitting on top of a bed of dressing, greens, salad accompaniments like nuts, olives, veggies, etc. This was a very solid salad. For our mains, one of my co-diners ordered the salmon, another the pasta pesto with scampi, another the carpaccio with pesto spaghetti, and I the tagliatelle with arrabiata and scampi without the sacampi. They had ONE vegetarian pasta on the menu with mushrooms which was suggested to me however I strongly dislike mushrooms so this was a no go. They kindly gave my shrimp to the person who ordered the pesto scampi for double the scampi. My pasta was DELICIOUS and served under a few handfuls of arugula. The noodles were perfectly al dente and the sauce was super flavorful. I could eat that every day. I heard good reviews from my companions regarding their meals however the carpaccio was not much of a hit. They have a gin and tonic menu BTW, GF ordered one with rhubarb fever tree tonic (I may have just made part of that up) and really enjoyed it. I had another variation in one of their house cocktails which was refreshing. For dessert, we shared a tiramisu which was standard fare aka delicious. Service was excellent, food was delicious, and the meal was quite a success.