Showing 1-24 of 24 results
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Atthis
Meeting place and bar for Belgium's longest-running lesbian group. Celebrates 30 years in 2008.
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Bar Tabac
Tiny bar that looks like it was plucked from an obscure village in rural France and plonked in 't Zuid. The odd thing is it has been going for years and is always packed. The décor's no more than a faded Michelin map and two old cigarette vending machines, plus a hotchpotch of old metal tables and chairs. In summer there's a terrace section for relaxing on crusty cinema seats; in winter everyone's jammed inside. 'Drunk Wednesdays' see beers going for around €1 and a DJ spinning tracks.
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Bierhuis Kulminator
Beneath a vine-draped ceiling, this cluttered pub is a veritable library of Belgian beers, with over 750 varieties catalogued in a menu so long the categories (including vintages from the 1970s) are colour-coded. On-tap specials are listed on the blackboard.
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Boots
Has the distinction of being the country's most disreputable nightclub, with rooms devoted to fulfilling almost every imaginable sexual fantasy.
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Café d'Anvers
Well over a decade old and still going strong, this legendary club does funk and house, disco and soul in a refurbished church in the city's red-light district. Many of Belgium's top DJs started here, and more are breeding. Every Friday night in July and August the club puts on Free Vibes, free dance nights featuring new, resident and visiting DJs.
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Café Hessenhuis
Popular café in the old Hessenhuis building, an historic 16th-century warehouse that was rediscovered by a group of artists in the 1950s and given a total makeover. The café's cool, modern interior attracts a trendy mixed clientele during the day, but evenings tend to be exclusively for gay men.
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Chez Fred
Little resto-bar with an outside terrace good for watching the brocante (bric-a-brac) shoppers.
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De Vagant
The tiled floors and old metal advertising posters on the wall evoke a classic neighbourhood café, but De Vagant's main draw is its staggering 200-plus varieties of jenever , listed in a vinyl-bound menu, with a daily special chalked on the blackboard.
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Den Engel
Located in a guildhall and one of the city's oldest watering holes. A reasonable number of tourists dilute the locals - join them in downing a bolleke (little bowl) of De Koninck (The King), the city's favourite ale.
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Elfde Gebod
The eyes of dozens of statues of saints and other religious figures watch you while you drink beers at the shrine-like 'Eleventh Commandment'.
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Fish & Chips
Antwerp's club scene begins with smooth lounges featuring in-house DJs and ends with high-octane house parties. The scene melds permanent with one-off in a mix that holds both mainstream and alternative. Trance and experimental electronica are big - pick up fliers at Fish & Chips .
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King Kong Bar
With art installation-like decor throughout its lounge-style rooms, this slick bar epitomises Antwerp's sense of style. Finding the bathrooms takes you on a magical mystery tour up two flights of creaking wooden stairs.
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Mogador
It's back to black in this champagne bar in 't Zuid - a real gossip den for the bold and beautiful.
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Oud Arsenaal
This is one of the city's most congenial brown cafés, located on a pedestrianised street opposite the Grand Café Horta, in an area that has undergone massive regeneration in recent times. Popular with stallholders from the weekend Vogelmarkt and elderly locals during the week, it will be interesting to see if a pint-sized pub like this can hold out against the fashion nudge. Beers are among the cheapest in town and it's one of the few everyday pubs in Belgium to stock Westvleteren Trappist beer.
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Paeters Vaetje
On a bleak, rain-swept afternoon, there's no cosier spot to hole up than this snug bruin ('brown eating café'), with glowing lamps illuminating its dark timber main room and upper-level mezzanine. Dishes are simple and inexpensive, and the beer selection choice.
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Pelgrom
From the street you'd never guess it was here. But heading past a flickering open fire and down a narrow flight of stairs brings you into this cavernous cross-vaulted medieval cellar spanning several rooms, with long candlelit tables. If you're lucky you may catch the house magician; Pelgrom also serves 'medieval'-style feasts (around around €18 for a main).
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Petrol
Reggae, electronica, drum 'n bass and more make this pumpin' venue a perennial favourite, as does the relaxed dress code, which keeps things (pretty much) pretension-free. It's about a 2km walk (or quick taxi ride) from 't Zuid.
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Pier 19
Small cellar club on the edge of 't Eilandje that's done out in pristine white with a glass bar and laid-back lounge music. Attracts a 25 to 40ish crowd.
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Popi Café
Big stylish café -brasserie near the river and popular with a gay/mixed bunch. A good first stop for sussing out the scene. Serves light meals.
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Red & Blue
Bills itself as 'the biggest gay disco in Benelux' (that is, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Saturdays attract hot-blooded gay boys from far and wide, while regular Café de Love parties are for lesbians 'and their male soul mates'. The website also links to the club's mixed-crowd fixtures, such as Studio 54, and We Love Thursdays. On Friday night it draws a mixed crowd to the sounds of house, techno, rap and soul.
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Space
Down near Centraal Station, this is the after-club club. Dancing starts when the streetlights go out.
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Stereo Sushi
Hipsters head to this anime-adorned, fuchsia-tinged place for platters of sushi before grooving to DJs like the Milkshakerz and the Breakbeatles. Just how strict the door policy is depends on how busy things are, but glamming up is de rigueur here in any case.
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Theo
Not just a café and not just a chic footwear boutique but both. You can sip a decent coffee and nibble on Parisian Poilâne bread while checking out the soft-leather shoes for sale.
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Zuiderterras
Modern landmark café -restaurant located at the southern end of the riverside promenade. Designed by the city's eminent contemporary architect, bOb (sic) Van Reeth, it mixes black, white and metal, and the enormous plate-glass windows provide superb river views. In summer a terrace fans out onto the walkway and it makes a superb place to while away an hour or two watching Antwerpenaars wandering the quayside.
Showing 1-24 of 24 results
