Belgian Bublé – GREEN CURRY MUSSELS and BELGIAN WAFFLES

Buzz of Amsterdam

After the buzz of Amsterdam, we were afraid that Antwerp would be a letdown. A wrong turn made the walk from the train station, a marvellous piece of architecture, to the hotel, very long.

The McDonald’s of hotels

We finally arrived at yet another Ibis hotel (the McDonald’s of hotels) and settled into our room. Looking out the window we noticed a huge square across the street with a roof about three stories high covering most of it.

Skateboarders swarmed

Skateboarders swarmed all over the smooth pavement loudly slamming their boards with every failed trick. We figured we would have another sleepless night. Beer o’clock was rapidly approaching so we headed out to see what Antwerp had to offer.

Old town

Walking toward the old town we felt like we could have been in any town USA or Canada, lots of stores and aimless wanderers. Once we arrived in the old town things started to shape up. So much beautiful architecture on winding cobbled streets and lots of people enjoying a pint in the sun on one of the numerous terraces.

Information kiosk

We headed for the information kiosk and decided to see what was happening while we were in town. The clerk was helpful and gave us three great options. First there was a beer and food festival over four days/nights, second, a Rubens exhibit at the cathedral and lastly, she recommended we go to the top of the new museum to get a beautiful view of the city.
That pretty much filled our dance card so we were off but first, we needed a tasty Belgian beer and something to eat.

National dishes

Belgium is known for quite a few great national dishes but probably the most famous is mussels and frites (fries).  Everywhere you looked restaurants advertised mussels and after looking at fifteen different menus we finally chose our spot.  

The Bistro

The Bistro had a beautiful tree covered terrace and we saw that many people were enjoying huge steaming pots of mussels accompanied by delicious looking frites. We could not let it go at just plain old white wine steamed mussels and ordered the house special of mussels in green curry with ginger and lemongrass.

Tasty bivalves

To accompany the tasty bivalves we ordered up a couple of Hoegaarden (we had De Koninck to start), one of Belgium’s most famous wheat beers, it went well with the mussels. There is a reason that mussels are so popular in Belgium and that is because they are farmed nearby and are fresh, plump and delicious!

Early night

Dinner ran long so we headed back to the hotel to make it an early night and be prepared for the full day that followed.
Looking out the window again, at the hotel, we were happy that the boarders were gone and it looked like we would sleep peacefully after all.

“fish”

In the middle of the square, I noticed a large truck that said “fish” on it. I said to Nat “Could there be a market there tomorrow?”. She said she may have seen a no parking sign but she didn’t know.

In virtual silence

In the morning we woke up to the sound of lots of people and movement outside so I jumped up and pulled back the drapes. To our amazement, overnight, a huge food market had been put up in virtual silence.

Gigantic market

We’re talking about a gigantic market here with pallets of produce and at least a hundred stalls that filled the square and kept going down one street. Minutes later we were walking the aisles, checking out all the goodies and looking for something for breakfast.

Speculaas spice

The unmistakable smell of waffles cooking caught our nose and sure enough, there was a waffle truck popping out fresh warm waffles in an array of flavours including apple and cinnamon, cherry, chocolate and my favourite, speculaas.

Warm waffle

Walking and munching on a warm waffle, coffee was the next necessity and it wasn’t long before we came across a woman making fresh espresso.

Delicious mango

A sample taste had us throwing down for a huge (not so local) delicious mango and breakfast was complete. It was a shame we did not have a kitchen because everything we needed was right there.

Rubens exhibit

Ready for action now we headed to the Cathedral of Our Lady to see the Rubens exhibit. We were looking forward to this exhibit because the master’s work was going to be hung in its original place in the cathedral from where it was removed years earlier to be put in a museum.

Descent from the cross

Rubens’ work is on a huge scale and fits perfectly in the spaces it was intended, especially the cupola painting which looks like it opens to the heavens 40 meters above you and the star of the show “the descent from the cross”, is so big that you can not help but be impressed. We have seen many pieces of art on this trip but this was, to me, the best yet.

Frituurs

It was now getting late in the day and we were hungry so we stopped in at one of the many “frituurs” for Belgium’s best snack, some french fries. Cut fresh and double fried you can order them with all sorts of dipping sauces including the perennial favourite mayonnaise or maybe some curry ketchup.

MAS museum

Fortified, we headed across town to the MAS museum to climb to the top for the best view of Antwerp possible.

360-degree view

Eleven floors up we were treated to a great 360-degree view of the city and the Scheldt river.

Walk along the river

Walking a good forty minutes across town to the MAS museum we decided we might as well walk another hour back across town, along the river, to the beer and food show. A gorgeous evening was turning into a beautiful, warm night.

Beer and food show

Arriving at the food show we soon realized that this is where the action was because it was packed with people all having a good time and drinking lots of beer. The only problem was that there was only one type of beer, De Koninck, and unlike any food show I have attended, there were no food booths but mini versions of local restaurants running smaller, speciality menus.

Completely sold out

Doing the rounds we soon found that there was not a seat left in the place and any place that might have something to take away was completely sold out.

A dollar a pint

The beer tents, however, had an endless supply and at a dollar a pint (in the appropriate glass) it looked like it was going to be a barley dinner.
As we stood with our beers checking out all the hip Antwerpians, the night’s entertainment took to the stage.

New Radio Kings

The New Radio Kings are a Belgian band that cover old standards by Sammy Davis Jr, Sinatra and the like, in fact, the singer reminded us very much of our own Michael Bublé and we dubbed him the Belgian Bublé. There was no doubt that they were popular here because the crowd really got into it and the whole place was soon dancing and singing along.
It was a great ending to a fun couple of days in Antwerp.

Two recipes

As promised, here are two recipes inspired by our time in Antwerp. The first is my take on the green curry mussels which I have had the opportunity to make at a restaurant where I once worked. The second is a recipe for true Belgium waffles.  Don’t forget to get some Hoegaarden for the mussels!