We were walking around Antwerp and wondering what we should eat for lunch. Then we came across this restaurant which seemed to be quite popular as many people were sitting at the terrace due to sunny weather. The Grand Cafe de Rooden Hoed can be translated to Red Hat Cafe in English. Located on Oude Koornmarkt, this street is filled with cafe and restaurants.
I had the escargots that are baked in herb butter. The funny thing was, I couldn't get one of the flesh out from the shell and I thought I should just tell the waiter about it. He collected my plate and a few seconds later, he came out with one of the escargots and the flesh is half taken out. It was nice for them to do that for me or else I will loose a yummy escargot.
I didn't know what to order as the whole menu is in Dutch and they do not have an English menu at the moment. Luc recommended that I should give this dish a try as it is a typical Belgian dish where the meat of guinea fowl is cooked in a poultry broth with fine vegetables and castle potatoes. It's really good and the broth is milky and flavourful.
On such a sunny day, a cooling Duvel Tripel Hop is nice!
Kokkels
I was surprised when I saw these being served as complimentary appetiser. It looks like the "Balitong" that we have in Malaysia. The needles are used to poke the flesh out from the shell. And these are quite addictive because I walloped almost 3 quarter of the it.
Kaaskroketten €12.50
Luc had cheese croquettes served with north sea shrimps and garden cress. The croquettes are piping hot but they are delicious!
Escargots €14.00
I had the escargots that are baked in herb butter. The funny thing was, I couldn't get one of the flesh out from the shell and I thought I should just tell the waiter about it. He collected my plate and a few seconds later, he came out with one of the escargots and the flesh is half taken out. It was nice for them to do that for me or else I will loose a yummy escargot.
Paling in 't groen €24.50
Luc ordered an eel dish which is cooked in the "grandmother's" way. It comes with a herb sauce, parsley and potatoes. I liked how the potatoes looked so smooth and nicely peeled. It's not really my dish as I don't fancy eels.
Waterzooi €16.50
I didn't know what to order as the whole menu is in Dutch and they do not have an English menu at the moment. Luc recommended that I should give this dish a try as it is a typical Belgian dish where the meat of guinea fowl is cooked in a poultry broth with fine vegetables and castle potatoes. It's really good and the broth is milky and flavourful.
It was really a nice lunch as we enjoyed the good weather and also the sight of horses with the carriages passing by. These are some of the tourist attraction that you can find in Antwerp. The restaurant is nice with good service but I think the price is rather expensive. This is expected as it is located on a busy tourist street.
Grand Café De Rooden Hoed
Oude Koornmarkt 25
2000 Antwerpen
Tel: +32 (0)3 2890909
After lunch, we walked around and eventually ended at Stadsfeestzaal which used to be a ballroom built in the year 1908 and Luc told me that he remembered dancing here when he's young. It was almost completely destroyed in a fire but was renovated in 2004-2007. This is located on a main street called Meir where it's a shopping street.
A must visit at Stadsfeestzaal is the Laurent-Perrier Champagnebar. It's not an ordinary champagne bar because this bar is shaped like a champagne glass and the structure of this bar is amazing.
At the bar, you'll be sitting 7.5m above ground and it overlooks the whole ballroom. We ordered a champagne each. I had a Rose (€15) and Luc had a Brut Millesime 2002 (€14) which is served with 2 pieces of cookies.
You would think sitting at the top is scary and unstable but it seems to be ok and you can take the opportunity to admire the structure and interior of this building.
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