The Best Seafood Near InVINcible, by the Record
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Rank 1. Pont-Neuf
Seafood
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.
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Rank 2. Het Nieuwe Palinghuis
Seafood
Old maritime photos cover the walls of this classic Antwerp seafood restaurant, and the kitchen has apparently not seen a reason to change much since it opened, which is a compliment. The menu runs to sole Véronique and eel in green sauce, the kind of dishes that show up in Belgian cooking textbooks and taste better here than the description suggests. Straightforward, unfussy, and very much the point.
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Rank 3. RAS
Seafood
Perched on the Scheldt waterfront at Ernest Van Dijckkaai, this modern restaurant wraps so much glass around you that the river feels like it's in the room. Charcoal sketches by Rinus Van de Velde hang against a sleek interior, which is a nice counterpoint to a menu that leans into crowd-pleasing classics. Fried sole, generous portions, and a terrace that empties slowly even on cold evenings.
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Rank 4. Fiskeskur
Seafood
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Rank 5. Bar Misera
Seafood
Tightly packed tables, wine bottles wedged wherever they'll fit, and a menu built around sharing plates with a heavy lean toward seafood: Bar Misera is the kind of casual, slightly chaotic bistro that Nieuw Zuid locals seem to treat as a second living room. The format is snacks first, larger plates to follow, with sides chosen separately. The fish comes bright and acidic, the kind of cooking that makes you slow down.
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Rank 6. Dôme Sur Mer
Seafood
The Art Nouveau neighborhood of Zurenborg is an odd place to feel sea salt in the air, yet this seafood bistro pulls it off. The open kitchen keeps things honest, with langoustines on the teppanyaki and briny platters that suggest the North Sea is closer than it is. Nothing here is fussy, which seems to be the whole point: very fresh fish, direct cooking, and olive oil doing more work than any reduction ever could.
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Rank 7. Rascasse
Seafood
Striking fish-themed artwork covers the walls of this seafood restaurant outside Antwerp, setting the tone for a kitchen that treats the North Sea and Oosterschelde as its pantry. The chef's cooking leans into briny, bright flavors, pairing catches with classic technique and a little playfulness. The hostess doubles as an enthusiastic guide to wine and Belgian beer, which helps, because the menu gives you a lot to think about.
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Rank 8. Oesterbeurs
Seafood
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Rank 9. Kelderman
Seafood
A light-filled fine dining room in Aalst, overlooking a manicured garden, where the front-of-house sets a warm, unhurried tone from the moment you walk in. The kitchen leans toward seafood and treats classical French technique as a native language rather than a costume. A cheese trolley still makes the rounds, which tells you something about how seriously they take the full meal. Kelderman holds a Michelin star.
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Rank 10. Beaucoup Fish
Seafood
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Rank 11. Oesterput 14
Seafood
The oyster beds of the Eastern Scheldt are visible from your table, which does most of the menu's explaining before you've ordered. This bright, modern seafood restaurant in the shellfish capital of Zeeland keeps its sourcing hyperlocal and its cooking globally minded, pulling in lemongrass and green curry alongside the lobster and razor clams. The waters outside aren't just scenery; they're the supply chain.
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Rank 12. Nolet's Vistro
Seafood
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Rank 13. Fish Tank
Seafood
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Rank 14. Cosmos
Seafood
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Rank 15. Vismet
Seafood
Vismet sits on the old fish market square at Place Sainte-Catherine, which tells you something about how seriously Brussels takes its seafood history. It's a classic seafood restaurant with an open kitchen and the kind of lived-in room that clearly predates the neighborhood's gentrification. The cooking is traditional and unshowy: pristine sole, properly made sauces, ingredients that don't need dressing up. Come hungry, not overdressed.
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Rank 16. La Belle Maraîchère
Franco-Belgian Seafood
Shrimp fritters and saddle of hare on the same menu tells you exactly what kind of place this is: an old-school Franco-Belgian seafood restaurant on the Saint-Catherine square, nostalgic in the best possible, unironic way. The room feels like Brussels circa a much earlier decade, and nobody seems to mind. Fish arrives impeccably fresh, portions run generous, and the crowd is the sort that has been coming long enough to skip the menu.
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Rank 17. Codium
Seafood
Named after a type of seaweed, this creative restaurant in Goes holds a Michelin star and draws its pantry almost entirely from Zeeland, with seafood from the Eastern Scheldt alongside local lamb. The room has a Scandinavian-Japanese calm to it, and the cooking matches: salty, acidic, and spiced in ways that shift with each visit. The wine pairings are genuinely their own thing, not an afterthought.
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Rank 18. De Vluchthaven
Seafood
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Rank 19. Spetters
Modern Seafood
Floor-to-ceiling windows look straight out over the Western Scheldt, where the boats you're watching probably caught what's on your plate. This Michelin-starred restaurant in Breskens sits between the fish market and the marina, and the chef leans hard into that geography, pulling Eastern Scheldt lobster and local lamb into cooking that reads as creative without trying to announce itself. International technique, Zeeland ingredients, no fuss about it.
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Rank 20. Kok Verhoeven
International
Two doors, two moods: the left opens into a chic seafood restaurant, the right into a brasserie where the menu swings from classic French to Mediterranean to Asian without losing its footing. Fish runs through both sides, though the brasserie's range is broad enough to pull in anyone at the table. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on the Lekker 500 keep it busy with locals who know the room well.
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Rank 21. De Stroper
Seafood
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Rank 22. CHEZ LOUIS
Belgian Seafood