Flexing my Mussels in Antwerp

Advantages: If you want mussels there's plenty of choice at Bacino
Disadvantages: Think twice about trying 5 different types

...I have an on-going debate with my Belgian colleague Joep about who and what Belgium is famous for. We've done the 'Name 10 'famous' Belgians' challenge a dozen times and even tracked down the 'www.famousbelgians.net website to substantiate some of the names were weren't too sure about. But one thing we both agree on is that it's easier to think of famous foodstuffs for which Belgian is renowned. There's the chocolate, the zillions of different beers, the outstanding national skills with chips and my favourite - mussels. Everyone has probably heard of Jean-Claude van Damme - the man nicknamed the muscles from Brussels. This review is an account of my hunt for the mussels of Antwerp. I go to the lovely old city of Antwerp every couple of months and I usually call my friends Alex and Katya to arrange to see them and to go out for dinner...

koshkha 27.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Bacino Restaurant, Antwerp

Whipped Cream & Watery Messes - Antwerp style

Advantages: Great food
Disadvantages: No mussels

...I'm lucky to have friends, Alex and Katya, who live in Antwerp and when I visit the city for work, I try to meet up with them to play with their very fine Persian cat and go out for dinner. They have been living there for a couple of years so by now they know where's worth a visit and I've not been disappointed with any of their choices. Just before Christmas we set out to find some dinner and Katya and I decided we wanted mussels. Our craving drove us to stroll around the town centre until we found Het Vermoeide Model where we checked the menu boards outside to confirm the presence of mussels and headed in. First Impressions Entering the restaurant was like stepping back in time. The ground floor had a small room with bare brick walls, a complicated looking sink and beer tap to one side and a staircase heading to the first...

koshkha 06.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Het Vermoeide Model, Antwerp

Only A(n)Twerp would choose this hotel

Advantages: Nice bright conference room
Disadvantages: Desperately in need of refurb and NEW reception staff

...The Ramada in Antwerp is based in a rather striking mirrored building but delivers rather less than the sparkling exterior would suggest. I've stayed there several times and always come away thinking that just a little more effort could make this into a pretty nice hotel but I can't imagine that happening, mostly due to the rather dour attitude of the staff. Customer Service? What's that? On my most recent visit, I arrived by taxi from Brussels airport, squeezed myself and my wheelie-bag through the rotating door, was as always impressed by the nice looking lobby and then brought quickly back down to earth by the utter indifference of the reception staff. I waited for a ridiculously long time whilst the receptionist held a convoluted conversation with an elderly lady in front of me. Despite leaving the desk and popping into...

koshkha 18.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Ramada Plaza Antwerp

Diamond are for life, Antwerp can be for a weekend

Advantages: beer
Disadvantages: sad in winter

...Until the 15th century Antwerp was a minor city in Belgium. It was only when its port begun to take more and more of the market share of its competitor Bruges, that Antwerp became a rich city. Some of the merchant based here soon became very rich and did not hesitate in spending money on their residences. The Baroque buildings, together with the tapestries and paintings, which can be seen today, remind us of this glorious past. I only visited one art museum, while there, the “Royal Museum of Fine Arts” in Leopold de Waelplaats 1-9, bang in the middle of the town. I would recommend a visit to it, as a way of getting a good overview on the heritage of Antwerp. However, everyone seems to agree that the finest monument in Antwerp is the Gothic cathedral of Our Lady. Do not miss the “Flemish Renaissance...

CICLISTALOCO 22.05.2001 · Read review
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Review of Antwerp (Belgium)

Farting Sheep, Bacon Houses and Severed Hands

Advantages: Some interesting, unique and very unsual places to see and venture into
Disadvantages: Not a major city for things to see and do

...Antwerp allegedly gets its name from a legend in which a mythical giant, Antigonius, decided that he was going to enforce a toll on those who wanted to cross the river Scheldt and appointed himself collector of said toll. Anyone who was sily enough to refuse to pay in cash paid instead with their bodies as Antigonius would then chop off one of their hands and throw it in the river. "Hand werpen" (hand-throwing) morphed over time into "Antwerp". This isn't the only theory - another one says the name originates from "an t werf" (on the wharf) - but it's certainly the most entertaining one, and one of the first things we spotted when arriving in Antwerp was the huge fountain in the Grote Markt of Silvius Brabo, the soldier who aledgedly deafeated Antigonius, victoriously throwing the giant's own severed hand. The Grote Markt is a good...

zoe_page 08.04.2006 (26.06.2006) · Read review
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Review of Antwerp (Belgium)

Wok This Way, Tok this Way

Advantages: Looks nice, bit of a novelly
Disadvantages: Food really rather disappointing

...When I go to Antwerp I always enjoy trying out the local restaurants. Belgians (with the exception of the suicidal taxi driver I just met who didn't seem to have a positive bone in his body) tend to have a great attitude to food and drink. Any nation that can dedicate so much effort to the triple delights of chocolate, beer and chips has to be worthy of our admiration. However, since my friends who lived there moved back to the UK, I don't get so many chances to eat out when I visit and I was really pleased when our recent business meeting agenda arrived with 'Dinner' (or rather 'Diner' ? the host was French) written on the bottom. Surely I must be in for a bit of a treat. Wok Wok Wok, Wok A Way Beach Nobody had booked anything since the two hosts of the meeting were not local and are at the level of seniority that means they don...

koshkha 13.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Wok A Way Antwerp South, Antwerp

A Roughly Cut Hotel In The City Of Diamonds

Advantages: Nice gym
Disadvantages: Location, lack of 'ooh' factor, price

...Perhaps surprisingly, though boasting 4*s, the Crowne Plaza in Antwerp has a few things in common with a standard Travelodge or other similar motel chain. This is something you notice immediately on arrival, prompted by its location directly beside a motorway. The similarities continue inside too, with some of the rooms and parts of the public areas looking worse for wear despite an alleged recent refurbishment, and the hefty price tag associated with a hotel of this 'standard'. If, as Giles Coren speculated recently, Travelodges are so cheap they scrimp on an additional 'l' then the Crowne Plaza was keen to add the 'e' to have something else to bill you for. The hotels in this chain are not especially cheap - the standard rooms in the Antwerp one had rack rates of over 200 Euros with the business class rooms significantly more...

zoe_page 03.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Crowne Plaza Antwerp, Antwerp

Diamond

Advantages: Well-preserved and picturesque, lively nightlife, not expensive
Disadvantages: Not a well-known destination

...I’m probably biased here, seeing as the Belgian side of my family comes from Antwerp originally, but I think that this town really is underrated as a tourist destination – it’s the kind of place that most people have heard of, but no-one really knows much about it, or goes there! This in itself is a shame, as this is a place with plenty to offer, whether you are just passing through or planning a weekend break. Antwerp is a very easy place to get to by car or train, being only about half an hour’s drive from Brussels and well served by the Belgian rail network. There is also a small airport (Antwerpen-Deurne), which is served mainly by Sabena, with flights to and from London City Airport. The size of the airport and the irregularity of the flights does mean that it is not a cheap place to fly to, however...

JVL 11.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of Antwerp (Belgium)

two stars, more like no stars

Advantages: location, friendly reception staff
Disadvantages: cracked sink, no shower curtain , tired room

...When does a hotel go from being basic to being a bit of a dive. I pondered this question on my recent stay at the Tourist Hotel in Antwerp. The Tourist Hotel is a 2/3 star hotel (depending on which website you consult) across the road from Antwerp's main railway station. I stayed there for three nights in August. We booked the hotel via a special offer in the Metro. We were attracted to it as it was very reasonable. We paid £135 per person for Eurostar travel and three nights accommodation (the deal was to get three nights for the price of one).We were not too bothered about the hotel as it was a place to sleep, eat breakfast and wash as we were going to explore Antwerp not sit in a hotel. The hotel as stated is in a block just across from the railway station so it was ultra easy to find. Our first impressions were good...

duskmaiden 26.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Tourist Hotel, Antwerp

An insider's guide to Antwerpen

Advantages: shopping, night clubs, people
Disadvantages: it's cold and wet in winter

...I have now lived in Antwerpen for the past 2 years and in that time I have discovered basically everything there is to know about this great city! I will try and explain to you why you should include Antwerp in your tour of Belgium. I now live in a Hall of Residence in England and I'm very nostalgic! Living here has shown me how ignorant people are of little Belgium. When I first came and everyone was asking the same questions (where do you come from? What do you study? etc.) I told them I lived in Belgium and memorably one boy asked "Is that in Ireland" (he was quite embarassed affterwards). Anyway enough little anecdotes, let me enlighten you about Belgium in general and Antwerp in particular. Antwerp is in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, and the city is called "Antwerpen" by the locals, in the French part of Belgium it is...

ali3986 14.01.2005 (26.01.2005) · Read review
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Review of Antwerp (Belgium)