Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Fong Mei

  1. Rank 1. Fong Mei

    Cantonese


  2. The chili oil here is the real opening statement: Sichuan cooking in full, unapologetic form, with a menu long enough to cause genuine decision paralysis. This casual, no-frills restaurant in Antwerp earns its Michelin Bib Gourmand on the strength of honest, fiery Chinese cooking, the kind that has regulars leaning over bowls of rich fish soup or pork braised in fermented black beans. Loud, lively, and very easy to spend too little money at.


  3. Rank 3. Qin

    Cantonese

    Chinese lanterns and dark wood set the mood at this Cantonese restaurant inside Hotel De Keyser, where the kitchen's calling card is an extensive roster of house-made dim sum. The menu runs from Xiao Long Bao to Sichuan pepper duck to a classic hotpot, the last requiring a reservation, which feels appropriately ceremonious. The cooking skews traditional with just enough modern adjustment to keep things from feeling like a history lesson.


  4. Rank 4. Bistrot du Nord

    Traditional French

    Vintage floor tiles, wall mirrors, and wood paneling give this Michelin-starred Antwerp bistro the look of a French brasserie that time politely forgot to update. The chef runs a tight classical French menu, with a particular affection for the offal-and-tripe end of the spectrum, handled with the kind of technique that makes you wonder why everyone else abandoned it. Book ahead; the room fills fast with people who already know.




  5. The view from the top floor of the Museum aan de Stroom takes in the whole Antwerp skyline, which is a strong opening move for a three-Michelin-star creative restaurant. Viki Geunes runs a stripped-back room, elegant and quiet except for an old record player adding a jazzy hum, and builds dishes that are intricate without fussing about it. The kind of place where the sauces alone warrant a moment of silence.


  6. Rank 8. Hertog Jan at Botanic

    Asian New American

    Concrete walls and muted grey tones set the scene for this intimate two-Michelin-star creative restaurant inside Antwerp's Botanic Sanctuary Hotel. The chef's Asian obsessions run through everything, and the kitchen asks guests not to post photos, which somehow makes the meal feel more like a secret. The cooking follows the motto "simplicity isn't simple," which is either profound or a warning that dinner will take a while, probably both.


  7. Rank 9. Nathan

    Modern French

    Marble surfaces and dark wood set the tone before a single plate arrives, and the room has the composed confidence of somewhere that has thought hard about everything. This Michelin-starred fine dining spot in Antwerp runs on classical French technique bent toward something more playful, where familiar flavors get sharpened by acidic Asian notes. The chef's plating is precise enough to make you feel slightly guilty picking up a fork.


  8. Rank 10. Fine Fleur

    Modern French

    The kitchen team works behind smoked glass, visible but unhurried, while a young front-of-house crew moves with the kind of easy confidence that suggests they enjoy being here. Fine Fleur is a fine dining restaurant inside the Botanic Sanctuary Hotel, and holds a Michelin star for modern French cooking with a Dutch edge: gutsy sauces, exotic flavors, and a pastry chef who clearly has something to prove. Jacob Jan Boerma and Thomas Diepersloot are behind it.


  9. A dockside terrace on the Antwerp waterfront sets the mood at this Michelin-starred seafood restaurant, where the kitchen leans hard into North Sea produce. The chef's approach is about restraint, letting a perfectly poached brill or a golden butter-fried fillet carry the plate, with sauces arriving as quiet support rather than the main event. Flemish good taste, Italian wine, and a Barbera d'Alba already open on the counter.


  10. Rank 12. Glou Glou

    Fusion French

    A cozy, convivial wine bar and small-plates spot on a quiet Antwerp square, Glou Glou takes its name from the sound of natural wine pouring freely, which sets the tone for the whole evening. The sommelier steers the glass side; the kitchen does Franco-Asian-Italian tapas, loose and generous in spirit. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and booking ahead is less a suggestion than a practical necessity.


  11. Dishes still arrive under a cloche, lifted tableside with a formality that most kitchens abandoned decades ago. This is a classic fine dining restaurant inside a handsome old Antwerp townhouse, where the chef has held a Michelin star since the mid-eighties and shows no signs of slowing down. Pig's trotters share the menu with langoustines, Bresse chicken swims in morel cream, and the sauces do the real work throughout.


  12. The meat hooks are still on the wall and the old butcher's tiles are still glazed in color, which tells you most of what you need to know about this Franco-Belgian bistro tucked into a former slaughterhouse. The menu is short and Gallic and cooked without fuss. Bart co-owns and runs the floor on weekends, and his wine knowledge is the kind you want applied directly to your glass.


  13. Pop art canvases inspired by the CoBrA movement cover the walls, setting the tone for a sharing-plates spot that leans casual but pulls it together with a proper bar program. The menu hops across continents without apology, lobster rolls alongside pâté en croûte, a beef entrecôte, tarte Tatin for the finish. Leopoldplaats regulars seem to treat it as a standing arrangement rather than a one-off.


  14. Rank 16. Graan

    Wood-fired Pizza


  15. Fourteen seats, a short menu, and a chef who treats Belgian comfort food as a starting point rather than a destination. Bar Pêche is a tiny modern restaurant where stoemp and sausage gets quietly reimagined, and the cordon bleu arrives with Italian ham and truffle cheese. The room is relaxed, the ideas are not, and the booking list fills up in a way that suggests word got around some time ago.



  16. Rank 19. Hoffy's

    Ashkenazi Eastern European


  17. Rank 20. InVINcible

    Bistro French

    A wine-forward French bistro where counter seats face the open kitchen and you can taste a glass before committing, which is either hospitality or smart salesmanship, probably both. The cooking runs to big, unapologetic Gallic territory: bone marrow butters, veal kidneys, whole fish in salt crust for two. The kind of food that makes you order another glass without noticing you've done it.


  18. Nick Bril's two-Michelin-starred restaurant moved from a grand church to a converted warehouse on the Eilandje, and the shift shows: the room is minimalist and airy, with serious art on the walls and the chef's DJ turntables sitting right there in the open kitchen. The cooking is creative and internationally minded, built on mature ingredients, last-minute grilling, and sauces with real backbone. Dress well and come hungry.




  19. Rank 24. Bar Ami

    Mexican


  20. Rank 25. Shuk

    Middle Eastern




  21. Rank 28. Bistrot De Pottenbrug

    Franco-Belgian French


  22. Rank 29. Normo

    Coffee




  23. Rank 32. Cannolo

    Sicilian












  24. Rank 43. Little Bún

    Vietnamese



  25. Rank 45. Mario

    Italian


  26. Rank 46. Hiro

    Japanese



  27. Rank 48. Dojo

    Omakase Japanese




  28. Rank 51. Mimis

    Cretan Greek





  29. Rank 55. Osaka

    Japanese




  30. Rank 58. Materia

    Italian, Modern Cuisine

    You push through a curtain off the gravel path and land in an all-black room lit like a film set, which turns out to be a fine-dining Italian restaurant in Antwerp doing something genuinely unfamiliar: contemporary Italian cooking stripped of every cliché. The tasting menu is the move, built around obsessive sourcing and a kitchen that treats playfulness as a technique. It placed in the 50 Top Italy global rankings, which is quite a thing for a room this far from Rome.






  31. Rank 63. Nage

    Modern French

    A medieval mansion dressed up in cosy, contemporary style, Nage is a creative French restaurant where the kitchen tilts classic technique toward something more quietly surprising. The chef leans on good ingredients and lets an unexpected note or two do the convincing, wild garlic turning up where you might not expect it. The natural wine list is a serious point of pride. Lunch is à la carte; evenings flip to a set menu only, so plan accordingly.



  32. Rank 65. Domestic

    French Bakery



  33. A street-corner sushi spot on Leopoldplaats where the rice comes at room temperature, the way it should. The chef pairs clean, straightforward salmon maki with more restless ideas, like grilled red mullet topped with confit lemon, and the whole menu earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for it. Sashimi, salads, and a solid take-away selection round things out, and sushi-making workshops run for anyone who wants to try their luck.






  34. Rank 72. BÚN

    Vietnamese



  35. A converted warehouse on the Vlaamse Kaai that still feels like one, in the way only a good renovation manages. This modern restaurant runs lunch menus and a five-course dinner, built around food that pairs smoky and sweet without apology. The sourdough is made in-house and sold at the door, which tells you where the kitchen's head is at. Picked up a spot in the Michelin Guide.


  36. Rank 75. Funk

    Vegan Bakery


  37. Rank 76. Camion

    Vegetarian



  38. Rank 78. Pazzo

    Modern Italian

    A terrace across the street and a wine bar upstairs: Pazzo spreads out like it owns the neighbourhood, which, after this many years on Oudeleeuwenrui, it more or less does. The kitchen splits its loyalties evenly between Italy and France, cycling through market-driven plates that treat the main ingredient as the point rather than the occasion. The wine list is taken seriously, and the upstairs bar has enough personality to justify a second visit on its own.


  39. Rank 79. Noung Inle

    Burmese Noodles


  40. Rank 80. Le Pristine

    Contemporary Italian

    Sergio Herman's Italian-leaning restaurant sits in Antwerp's fashion district, where a cocktail bar runs along the front and an open kitchen anchors the dining room at the back. The vibe skips the red-checkered tablecloth clichés entirely, landing somewhere between American diner cool and Tuscan ease. The kitchen pairs Italian instincts with Belgian coastal ingredients, the kind of pairing that quietly makes more sense than it has any right to.


  41. Rank 81. Plump

    Smash burger American


  42. Rank 82. Bistrot L'îlot

    Contemporary French


  43. Rank 83. Cantine

    Mediterranean


  44. Rank 84. Kato

    Sushi







  45. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the MAS museum tower and the marina beyond, which does a lot of the heavy lifting before the food even arrives. This Eilandje brasserie runs a menu loose enough to hold sole meunière, lobster linguine, and chicken gyoza on the same night without apologizing for any of it. Cocktails and tapas ease you in, and the interior is all plush surfaces and low light, the kind of room that makes everyone look like they had a good week.


  46. The Butcher's Son sits inside the De Koninck brewery, sharing a building with a bakery, a chocolatier, and the butcher's shop where the chef once worked, which tells you something about how seriously he takes his sourcing. This is a Michelin-starred restaurant where red meat is the heart of it, though the kitchen drifts cheerfully into surf-and-turf territory. The industrial-loft room makes it feel looser than the cooking actually is.


  47. The vol-au-vent and dame blanche on the menu look like they haven't changed since the 1960s, which at Ciro's is exactly the point. This is an old-school Belgian brasserie on the Amerikalei, all nostalgic interior and proudly patriotic cooking, the kind of place that makes Antwerp feel like it still belongs to itself. The Michelin Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand, and the room fills fast, so book ahead.



  48. Rank 94. Camionette

    Vegetarian



  49. Rank 96. Soixante

    Polish Eastern European

    Tables packed close enough that you'll learn your neighbor's business, and a window that makes the whole thing look like a dare. This is a creative restaurant where the chef's Polish roots steer the menu toward earthy, tangy combinations that tend to surprise. Pearl barley stands in for risotto rice, squid ink involved. The wine cellar is taken seriously, which the room's cosy, nostalgic clutter doesn't necessarily suggest it would be.


  50. Rank 97. The London

    Modern French

    The terrace catches a direct sightline to London Bridge, which explains the name and gives the room its anchor. This is a modern French restaurant where the chef folds international instincts into cooking that still feels comfortable rather than restless. The à la carte and set menus run long enough to be genuinely confusing, but the front-of-house team guides you through without making you feel like a student. The wine list rewards people who ask questions.


  51. Rank 98. Upton

    Modern Italian




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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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      Stay Score

      The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. It runs on the scored places nearby: more good stuff within reach, higher score. If it looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.