this is an alphabetised list of all my local cafe, restraurant and bistro reccomendations.
i love going out to eat and i love finding new and exciting places to do so, so this list will grow with time!.
hope you enjoy!
De appelier
de appelier is a local vegetarian restaurant that offers healthy meals, soups and deserts.
B
Broers van julienne
Homemade plant based & vegetarian brunch & lunch restaurant that also offers lovely cooking workshops. (i would love to sign up for one sometime soon!)
vegan & vegetarian
read more
adress: Ijzerenwaag 4
2000 Antwerpen
BELGIUM
adress: Kasteelpleinstraat 45-47
2000 Antwerpen
BELGIUM
Le bal infernal used book cafe
Le bal infernal is a secondhand bookshop merged with a cafe where you can have a drink while reading one of the many books they have on offer. you can also bring a book from home and trade it for one of the books in the shop.
plant based options
Bobacat Gent
Bobacat is a community oriented bubble tea cafe.
They hosts many activities and communities such as DND nights, game nights, art markets, book and crafting clubs and much more.
i think that locally its earned a name for itself as one of the meeting places to meet alternative people and just have a good time.
their food and drinks are also top notch.
Vegan options
personal review
★★★★★
Bobacat is one of my favourite places to hang out when i visit Gent, i was originally introduced to this place by a mutual friend with the owner, Ame, she was looking for local artists to fill the artist market section of her shop. I've been selling my art through this cafe ever since and ive really cherished my partnership with Bobacat. I also designed their first merch line-up of Re-usable Bubble tea cups and stickers.
My usual order here is the tai classic with tapioca boba which is so good, since coming here i haven't really found another place that satisfies my boba craving quite like Bobacat does.
i also like to try the seasonal menu whenever i can, theres just no way to go wrong here.
I also just love coming here because theres always something to do or someone to hang out and chat with. i just always know ill have a fun time here
my personal reccomendations are
- Tai classic with tapioca
- coffee frappe with tapioca (SUMMER SPECIAL)
- Rhubarb elderflower iced tea (SUMMER SPECIAL)
- vietnamese coffee
- Matcha apple cloud (WINTER SPECIAL)
Banh mi antwerp
Banh mi is a place that offers vietnamese street food like banh mi sanwhiches and Pho.
personal review
this is a place i love to eat at when i need to have a quick lunch or im out by myself. i always order their jackfruit sandwich which is a delicious combination of sweet and savory and umami. the staff is very friendly too.
Boker tov
Lori Dardikman and Tom Sas, the duo behind Boker Tov, a Levantine deli, bar, and restaurant, transport a slice of the Middle East right into Antwerp & Ghent.
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adress: GRAAF VAN EGMONTSTRAAT 56
2000 ANTWERPEN
BELGIUM
adress: Doornelei 2
2018 ANTWERPEN
BELGIUM
adress: Burgstraat 20
9000 Gent
BELGIUM
Le botaniste
Le botaniste is an organic plant based restaurant chain originating from New York city. they serve a variety of salads and hearty meals, drinks and healthy desserts
Boon
Boon is a vegetarian lunch and soup bar near gravensteen. they also offer a cozy airbnb above the restaurant.
vegetarian with plant based options
C
Camion
Low key, plant based breakfast & lunch
fully vegan
Camionette
plant-based easy fine dining & natural wines – lunch & dinner
fully vegan
Catberry
Catberry is a plantbased coffee and pastry shop. aside from serving coffee drinks, pastries, freakshakes and more they also create beautiful (tiered) cakes for any occasion and host cake decorating workshops.
fully vegan
personal review
I would love to come here more often, they have really tasty coffee and baked goods and everything is vegan so this is like the perfect place for me
the staff is always super friendly and theres lots of cozy places to sit and work or chat with friends.
next time i come here i would like to order one of their freakshakes. they look super yum.
I followed a bento cake decorating workshop with lumi here once and i had a lot of fun! (cake i made pictured below)
Chasse patat
Chasse patat is a frieterie with plant based options. (reccomended to me by Lumi.)
personal review
★★★☆☆
Ive been here only once when eating out with friends. i think i ordered a burger, fries and the fried avocado they had on the menu.
i was honestly just curious about how it would taste. it had a nice crunch but the flavour was really bland. its honestly more of a novelty item to try than something you would order on a regular basis.
we sat in the back to eat, theres little space to sit but for a frituur i think thats normal because most people take their food to go. it gets pretty busy when eating in, lots of people standing around waiting for their food so its not that cozy.
overall the food was really nice tho! i would come here again if i was in the area!
Cookiele
Cookiele is an american cookie shop, all their options look very delicious but sadly they only have two vegan options.
(reccomended to me by Lumi.)
D
Daily bingsu
Daily bingsu is a korean bingsu and bubble tea cafe
personal review
★★☆☆☆
Came here once with sasha and got drinks to take away, the drink i had was alright.
the shop is so small theres barely any room to sit and eat there which i kind of required if you're ordering their bingsu since its kinda hard to eat on the go and melts very fast.
i really wanted to try their taiyaki with matcha cream but it was sold out (most menu items were). staff was nice but this place feels like it lacks passion. which is also quite obvious when you notice they make their visual marketing with generative AI. dont think ill come back here.
E
Epiphany's kitchen
"Welcome to Epiphany’s Kitchen – a place where vegetables shine, flavors meld, and magic fills the air. Here, it’s all about discovering new taste sensations, infused with the charm and warmth of comfort food."
Epiphanys kitchen is a concept restaurant where the base of each dish is plant based but you can add different (non plant-based) things to your meal.
plant based options
Extra Fika
Extra fika is a vegetarian bistro near antwerpen berchem.
vegetarian with plant based options
F
Full circle coffee
Full circle coffee is belgiums first fully plant based specialty coffee shop.
They serve a variety of drinks and a small selection of baked goods.
fully vegan
personal review
G
H
Harry cot
Harry cot is a vegetarian bistro where you can get a variety of vegetarian sanwdiches, meals and drinks
vegetarian with plant based options
Hart
HART is a vegan brunch, tapas and pizza restaurant that serves a variety of brunch, lunch, dinner foods, drinks desserts and specialty coffees.
i personally love the ambiance of this shop, especially on a sunny summer day.
fully vegan
personal review
★★★☆☆
Humm
Humm is a middle eastnern restaurant and corner deli that serves Mezze, dips and salads like taboule and shirazi. ( i really reccomend their sweet potato fries, they might be the best i ever had but i promise anything from their menu will leave you wanting more.)
fully vegan
personal review
★★★☆☆
Huset Gent
Huset is a cozy and eclectic High tea and brunch cafe.
i found this spot after the one i planned to go to was closed and im glad i found this hidden gem.
i personally go here more for the vibe and the lovely interior.
personal review
★★★☆☆
I
Icelab nicecream creations
Icelab is belgiums first fully vegan gelatocafe. they are 100% gluten free and plant based.
they serve a variety of specialty drinks and desserts like gelato, waffles and ice cream cakes.
personal review
★★★☆☆
Izycoffee
Izy coffee is the largest belgian coffee chain. They are also 100% plant based and focussed on sustainability, so why still get a starbies when you can support a local business that better for the people, the animals and the planet?
adress: (this chain has too many adresses for me to list all of them here but i do reccomend looking online or on your maps app where you can find an Izycoffee near you.
most major towns have at least several locations.
read more
www.izycoffee.beJ
K
Kaffee de Planck
De Planck is a super cozy cafe inside a boat that docked at ter platen across from the kinepolis cinema.
i love going here simply for the cozy vibes of the place.
they offer a wide variety of (specialty) beers, hot and cold drinks and foods.
Knees to chin
Knees to chin is a spring roll and vietnamese spring roll bistro, they serve a variety of quick and simple lunch foods and side dishes.
Krookcafe
Het Krookcafe is a cozy cafe and meeting place located under the krook libary in Gent. i like to stop here after ive been browsing the library for a while.
they dont have a ton of plant based options but i like to just get a simple bagnat or a coffee for lunch here when i can.
personal review
★★★☆☆
KŪKAI. Matcha Studio
d↓The place to drink, to buy and to learn about Matcha.
L
Lekker Gec Gent
Lekker Gec is a vegan pay what you eat buffet restaurant. they offer a choice of several different warm oven dishes and cold salad bar, along with a variety of a la carte options, desserts and drinks.
personal review
★★★☆☆
Limonada
Limonada is a fun and flashy cocktailbar in the centre of Gent. they offer a wide variety of stylish cocktails and mocktails in every imaginable shape and color. (i once had a cocktail here that was served in a holy water mother mary statuette from lourdes. their wodka gummies are also to die for.)
Lokaal
Lokaal is a local fair, hommade, plant based restaurant. they harvest most of their own produce for a locally sourced delicious meal.
they offer a variety of lunch and dinner meals. they also offer workshops sometimes.
M
Mayana chocolate bar
Mayana is an aztec inspired cafe that specialises in hot chocolate and chocolate deserts.
personal review
I came here once to meet up with musse and i had a nice time here!
the interior is really spacious with lots of tables to sit indoors or outdoors on the terrace.
they have a large selection of chocolate milks, shakes, ice creams and desserts. the chocolate milk i ordered tasted rich and decadent. super tasty! i only wish more of their dessert options were vegan-friendly but i will definitely return!
My tea
My tea is a bubble tea cafe located in antwerp
personal review
☆☆☆☆☆
Ive visited My tea only once, because i was curious, its right oposite tartoer, my usual coffee place to hang out at and it looked cozy.
after ordering here i was pretty dissapointed, the bubble tea tasted a little off/watery and too sweet and while waiting for my tea and looking around the shop i noticed it was pretty dusty and dirty.
they also sell a selection of keychains and cups but its all pretty cheap looking stuff that i could also order from aliexpress for very cheap.
the cafe itself is pretty specious and theres lots of drawings from customers hanging on the walls but the place is pretty badly lit and the decor just comes off very scattered and messy so im not inclined to come here again.
(they also have a cute cat in the shop that i assume the same cat on their logo but i heard from someone that its just for show and the cat isnt well taken care of... i dont know how much of this is true tho so take this with a grain of salt.)
Madam bakster
Madam bakster is a bakery that creates delicious plant based, sugarfree, glutenfree baked goods. so very inclusive!
N
O
Ohma
ohma is a vegan soul food restaurant that focusses mainly on belgian cuisine.
I love to eat here, their food hits the spot everytime.
i personall reccomend their vegan 'stoofvlees'.
personal review
★★★★★
Otomat
Otomat is a specialty pizza restaurant that serves pizzas with their signature duvel beer yeast pizza crust. they offer a variety of different toppings, beers, and de
adress: they have locations several towns so i reccomend looking for the one closest to you.
read more
https://otomat.be/enpersonal review
★★★☆☆
O'yo
Oyo is a healthy brunch bar that offers a large variety of hot, cold and fermented drinks as well as breakfast and lunch foods
P
Plant a pizza
Plant a pizza is a fully vegan pizza restaurant located in gent. they offer a variety of stone oven baked pizzas, foccacia and snacks.
read more
OHMA Gent: ""
https://plantapizza.com/
personal review
★★★☆☆
Pura Vida
Pura vida is a mexican restaurant that offers a variety of mexican inspired foods like tortas, burritos, tacos and more.
They used to be 100% vegan but have since introduced meat back onto their menu to attract more customers.
personal review
★★★☆☆
Q
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San pietro gent
San pietro is a artisanal ice cream shop located near the station of Gent sint pieters. they are open from april to october every year and close for the winter months.
personal review
★★★★☆>
i used to work in Gent sint pieters a couple years ago and my favourite thing to do in summer on my lunch break was heading to san pietro for a scoop of ice gelato and eat it in the citadelpark.
this shop is not fully vegan but all their fruit flavours are sorbet and dont contain any dairy products
they have a nice selection of flavours with some that you wont really find elsewhere.
some of my favourites are their signature meli-zen, which is a mix of pink grapefruit and berries i believe, apple ginger and basil and lime.
they also have a nice sitting area outside the shop where you can chat with other customers on a nice sunny day.
Steamy windows
Steamy windows is a Gent based dumpling bar. they offer a selection of small steamed dishes and dumplings to mix and match. a
personal review
★★★☆☆
Het spijker
Cafe in the heart of gent
Superkelly
descrip.
personal review
i still need to visit here!
Shuk
middle eastern streetfood
personal review
★★★★☆>
I came here once with Luna for lunch when hart was closed and im glad i did! they make a really banger pita (i forgot to ask them to leave the egg out of mine to make it vegan but i just gave it to luna) their hummus portions are also huuuge so come hungry when you order their hummus bowls. the interior is quite small but very cozy! also reccomend the turkish(?) beer they have on the menu its good!
T
Takumi
ramen noodle chain restaurant in antwerp
personal review
ive been here once or twice and its always super busy here, theres three locations in antwerp and theyre always all full.
Takumi prepares really good ramen bowls but the truth is i just dont really enjoy ramen, its not a dish i go out of my way often to eat and when i do its just okay.
consensus: theyre good at what they do, just not my cup of tea.
Tartoer
tartoer offers a variety of specialty coffee drinks and baked goods.
their pies and cinnamon rolls are absolutely to die for, i promise. you do have to specify your vegan choices here because i once mistakenly thought they were a fully vegan shop and got served a latte with cow milk.
Vegan options
personal review
Tartoer is one of my go to coffee spots in antwerp. i always take a soy milk latte here and its always good. its close to where i live and where i like to shop so i come around here pretty regularly. their cakes and cookies are all so goods i definitely reccomend trying some.
U
Uit steppe en oase
Uit steppe en oase is an ethnic jewelry and interior shop merged with a tea garden and world kitchen.
this restaurant has a bit of a mysterious vibe to me because i rarely see it open but i went once many years ago and i had a lovely time eating here with my dad.
Vegan options: ???
read more
adress: Jan Breydelstraat 21
9000 Gent
Belgium
personal review
its been too long since my visit to write a proper review for this place. i will add one once i visit again!
Uniqplanet
Uniqplanet is a cozy cafe that specialises in specialty colored cutesy drinks with 2d and 3d foam art.
Vegan options
personal review
I came here once to hang out with friends and i was very nicely surprised with the drinks.
Uniqplanet is known for their viral blue drinks and foam art drinks. i ordered a blue tea drink (i forgot the name) and it was very nice. im a little sad they couldnt do any foam art with vegan options. the interior is very cozy and has plenty space to seat lots of people.
you have to order at one of those digital kiosks which i dont personally like but i would come here again if i was in the area!
Urbanice
Urbanice is a gelatocafe that serves a variety of drinks and snacks.
Vegan options
personal review
i used to come here during summer when i lived in Wilrijk because it was close to my campus and dorm. im never in the area anymore tho so i dont really come here anymore which is a shame! they have super tasty ice cream and drinks. (their lavender ice cream is really nice)
V
Veganation
Veganation is a humble and welcoming vegan restaurant located in Antwerpen that offers a unique experience for those looking for a plant-based culinary journey.
The restaurant serves Ayurvedic-based cuisine that is not only delicious but also animal-friendly.
The atmosphere is calm, relaxed, and conducive to enjoying great food, and the staff is friendly and accommodating.
The restaurant operates on a donation-based concept, where customers pay what they feel the meal is worth. There is no set menu, and the dishes served depend on what is freshly prepared that day.
Despite the simplicity of the place, the food is exquisite and made with love. Veganation is the perfect place for anyone looking for an authentic and heart-warming vegan dining experience.
personal review
i still need to visit here!
W
Wild child
Wild child is a specialty coffee bar that serves a variety of drinks and plant based treats.
personal review
i still need to visit here!
Way coffee roasters
Way is THE specialty coffee place to be. they offer a large variety of specialty coffees as well as a variety of plant based pastries. (their croissants are sooo good.)
aside from their shop i also highly reccomend checking out their blog and workshops. they have a lots of resources for coffee lovers to go around.
read more
adress: Jakobijnenstraat 7
9000 Gent
BELGIUM
adress: Voldersstraat 58
9000 Gent
BELGIUM
personal review
I like to come here more for the baked goods than the coffee since they are so delicious. its one of my favourite bakeries in gent. Its fully vegan and they have lots of croissants and cookies to choose from. theyre a bit pricy but worth it!
Wayta
local empanada place and plant shop
personal review
ive been here once with sasha when we were on a shopping trip, i had one empanada because they only had one vegan option...it was pretty good but i would love more vegan option bcs i kinda already seen it all. i talked to the owner about it and he said there would come more vegan options but a year later theres still not any more vegan options, too bad. ill come back when theres more things for me to try.
