The 30 best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Antwerp

Looking for the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Antwerp? Fancy some tasty and surprising plant-based dishes? Trot Op! kindly lends you a helping hand by putting together a complete overview of no less than thirty wonderful and sustainable places.

If you want to stay fit and sexy like me, you’ll eventually come to the conclusion that eating stew and mayo covered French fries three times a week is not exactly helpful in holding back the ever crueler hand of time. I came to this realisation around the age of twenty-five, and because I’m nothing if not a man of action, I decided to immediately do something about it more than ten years later. Part of this physical rehabilitation project was reducing my meat consumption. Vegetables have the stubborn reputation of being quite healthy you see, and furthermore they allow you to eat whole mountains of them without gaining much more than an ounce. Nowadays there are plenty of plant-based food options available, both in the supermarkets and while eating out. A whole range of excellent vegan and vegetarian restaurants opened up in Antwerp in recent years. High time for a comprehensive overview.

“A whole range of excellent vegan and vegetarian restaurants have popped up in Antwerp in recent years, and the mix of cuisines and cooking styles is pleasantly varied.”

The time when the average carnivore thought vegetarians lived in abandoned badger holes in the woods, surviving on a diet of gathered mushrooms and chestnuts, wearing nothing but self-made rags and daisies woven through their hippie hairdos, is luckily long gone. Except for the occasional boomer having a fit under every Facebook post about a new vegan place (as if they had to set fire to a steakhouse first before they were allowed to open) most people have long accepted the existence of a purely plant-based diet. The current restaurant offer in Antwerp reflects this. You can visit everything from vegan fast food spots, ice cream parlours and bakeries, but there are several multi-course plant-based fine-dining restaurants to enjoy as well.

 

The 30 best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Antwerp

I’m not a vegan myself and thus not an expert in the matter. This is why I asked a few of my herbivorous friends for their favourite places. After visiting the first couple of restaurants, I got further recommendations from the actual chefs, and eventually I was left with a complete overview of no less than 30 places. Just like in my previous blog post on the best coffee bars in Antwerp (there are three vegan options among them as well: Plantbar Jacqueline, Raket and Tartoer) I tried to make the list as fair as possible. This is why I decided to exclude “regular” restaurants offering vegan options. I’d be writing for a year if I hadn’t. I made an exception for vegan restaurants offering one or two fish/meat additions to existing dishes as options for the non-vegans in a group. The aim is to give a good overview, not to start a crusade. I ended up with the following selection, put in alphabetical order. Did I still forget a couple? Drop some names in the comments below.

 

1. Aahaar Deluxe

Fancy an abundance of vegetarian Indian dishes for almost no money? Aahaar is where you need to be: close to the Antwerp Central Station and one of the oldest Indian restaurants in the city. The interior is quite basic but the quality and price of the dishes are top notch. For just twelve euros you can join the all-you-can-eat buffet. However, choosing a few dishes à la carte and sharing them with your tablemates is recommended. You can get classics from all over India here. Everything is at least vegetarian, so you’ll have to get your tikka masala somewhere else. Ahaar: Lange Herentalsestraat 23.

 

2. And/Or

And/Or is a relatively new restaurant led by chef Karen Shu. It’s located behind the Den Bell tower and comes with a cosy open kitchen with a bar built around it. This immediately makes every interaction between guests and staff more personal. Karen is a New Yorker with Filipino roots, and her dishes are a mix of styles as well. They can be Asian or even Italian-inspired, but were created from the point of view of a classically trained French chef. And/Or is one hundred percent vegan, and seasonal vegetables are always the focus of the dishes. Great place with high quality food.  And/or: Haantjeslei 1.

 

3. Bakkerij Antoinette

Bakkerij Antoinette is a brand new venue in the always fun Lange Koepoortstraat. This small bakery is run by Silke, who sells pastries, pies and cakes your grandmother would never notice to be vegan. The orangette chocolate cake with ganache is her signature dish and is quite tasty indeed. Bakkerij Antoinette is only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On other days, it produces pastries for a range of other businesses: from Robuust to Planttrekkerij and Luddites Books & Wine.  Bakkerij Antoinette: Lange Koepoortstraat 72.

 

4. Bakkerij Funk

Funk is another plant-based bakery in the very hipster Kronenburgstraat in Antwerp’s southside. Opened in December 2023, it became extremely popular in no time. Funk gets its inspiration from Copenhagen. You can see this in the cakes and pastries, which are pleasantly different from what you would expect in the average Flemish bakery. They also sell their own sourdough bread and you can have lunch and a good cup of coffee as well. All pastries, bread and coffee are plant-based. They currently offer one non-vegan salmon sandwich for difficult eaters. Bakkerij Funk: Kronenburgstraat 41a.

 

5. Bar d’Henri

If you want to treat your carnivorous friends to a fantastic, juicy vegan burger without giving them the opportunity to complain about it, go to Bar d’Henri on Troonplaats. This is a quirky but stylish place where everything is created with plant-based, ecological and local products. In addition to burgers, you can get all kinds of tapas, as well as good wines and cocktails here. The walls are covered in art exhibitions, and local musicians perform every Sunday. I had the Billy’s Smoked BBQ Burger (with a Pornstar Martini on the side) and it was exquisite. And if it’s good enough for the likes of Billie Eilish and Cilian Murphy to grab a quick burger, it sure is good enough for me. Bar d’Henri: Troonplaats 1.

 

6. Brain₂Freeze

Brain₂Freeze is one of the newest places on the list and a unique vegan ice cream parlour on Paardenmarkt. In addition to your standard cones, they also offer what they call “EXTREME ICECREAM”. This feels somewhat exaggerated, but it actually looks spectacular. Liquid nitrogen is poured over the basic product, which makes it freeze almost instantly and gives off a lot of smoke. We need to look into the chemistry of it to see the advantage of this technique. The faster something freezes, the smaller its ice crystals will become. The smaller the ice crystals are, the softer the texture and the richer the flavour. The fact that the owner is an engineer in biochemistry who serves ice cream in a lab coat, makes the experience just that little bit more authentic. Brain2Freeze: Paardenmarkt 80.

 

7. Camion

Camion is a popular vegan lunch and breakfast bar behind the old Court of Appeal. They work with organic, local and seasonal products, and this also applies to the drinks. Almost everything is homemade and the menu is regularly changed. Fresh soups, salads, all kinds of sandwiches: you name it and you can get it here. A few classics will always stay on the menu, such as their signature toast Camion Gekapt. This is a great sandwich and is rightly popular (it’s basically a fancy vegan martino). Camion: Paleisstraat 7.

 

8. Camionette

*Copyright: Camionette

Camionette is Camion’s fine-dining sister restaurant, located in PAKT in Berchem’s Green Quarter. Again, everything is plant-based, organic and local, but you can only order a set menu here (which of course changes often). Those who come for lunch will get three courses to enjoy; if you come for dinner you’ll get no less than six. Dinner lasts about three hours and is accompanied by a pleasant selection of natural wines. Camionette is one of the few true fine-dining options for vegans in Antwerp. Camionette: Regine Beerplein 1.

 

9. Clo

Clo is a vegetarian restaurant in Kroonstraat in Borgerhout – right next to Kringwinkel. They opened in February 2020 and were forced to close again two weeks later thanks to covid. Despite all that, they survived the lockdowns with flying colours and are still very much in business. Clo is mainly a breakfast and lunch restaurant and closes around five o’clock. I had some sweet potato waffles and they were excellent, but you can order everything from quiches, pancakes and lasagna to even a vegan full English breakfast. Clo: Kroonstraat 172.

 

10. Circus

Circus is a cosy breakfast and lunch bar in a unique setting on Kasteelpleinstraat. Everything here is made fresh and on the spot, and the ingredients on your plate come straight from local farmers as often as possible. All dishes are vegetarian, but there’s lots of vegan options to choose from as well. The most popular dish is the pulled shroom: an alternative to a pulled pork sandwich made with oyster mushrooms in BBQ sauce – very tasty. For dessert, you can ask for the second most popular order: a homemade Snickers bar.  Circus: Kasteelpleinstraat 26.

 

11. De Broers van Julienne

Thirty years after opening, De Broers van Julienne is as far as I know the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Antwerp. They have two venues in the city: one with a beautiful garden in Kasteelpleinstraat and one on IJzerenwaag. They’re best known for their quiches that are sold in all kinds of colours and sizes, but you can get a whole variety of other vegetarian and vegan dishes as well. The Kasteelpleinstraat venue offers evening dining, and both places have plenty of organic products and drinks to buy and take home. De Broers Van Julienne: IJzerenwaag 4, Kasteelpleinstraat 45/47.

 

12. Extra Fika

Extra Fika is a vegetarian bistro run by two sisters for seven years now, three of which at this location in Boomgaardstraat in Berchem. The menu changes every two weeks and always offers two starters, two main courses and two desserts. There are vegan options available as well. The sisters work closely with local farmers and producers, and use only seasonal and ecological products. For the dishes, inspiration comes from all over the world and everything on the plates is freshly made.  Fika: Boomgaardstraat 47.

 

13. Falafel Tof

Falafel Tof is not only one of the best falafel places in Antwerp, the whole menu is completely vegetarian as well. In this restaurant in Hoogstraat, you pick all your falafel toppings at the counter. If you’re in the mood for more than just falafel, you can opt for a tasty shakshuka or order various Middle Eastern side dishes: from hummus and matbouha to baba ganoush. Another great vegetarian falafel place is Beni Falafel in Lange Leemstraat. Falafel Tof: Hoogstraat 32. 

 

14. Folia

Folia is one of the few true fine-dining restaurants for vegetarians in Antwerp. The five-course menus they offer here are mainly vegetarian, but vegan options are always possible. If you’re with a group and you have one or more meat eaters with you, they can work some meat or fish into one or two dishes, but this is the exception. The cuisine is classic French-Belgian with some Asian influences here and there, and the food is refined, colourful and beautifully presented. If you really want to taste how spectacular vegetarian cuisine can be, you now know where to go. Everything is paired with matching wines by the way – top-notch.  Folia: Mechelsesteenweg 112.

 

15. HART

HART is a fun restaurant on Sint-Katelijnevest in the city centre. It’s run by Melissa and Mario: a couple with Chilean, Spanish and Chinese roots. These culinary influences are reflected in the menu, which includes both vegan tortillas – which are indeed potato omelettes without eggs – and Asian dishes. However, HART is best known for its sweets. Even before there was a restaurant, Melissa’s cakes and pastries could be found in all kinds of Antwerp coffee bars. HART is mainly for lunch and breakfast, but on Fridays and Saturdays you can have dinner here as well. HART: Minderbroerdersrui 34. 

 

16. Have a Roll

In what must be one of the ugliest buildings in Antwerp – the old shopping mall by the Oudaan police tower – you’ll find a rather charming little place called Have a Roll. The concept was born four years ago, in a small flat during the COVID lockdowns. They started with a pop-up on this very spot, but soon four other venues were opened elsewhere in Belgium and The Netherlands. Just one thing is sold here: vegan cinnamon rolls, baked fresh every morning in nine different flavours and toppings. You can buy them individually or in boxes of four or six. They’re quite delicious, and all the drinks are plant-based as well. Have a Roll: Oudaan 15/31. 

 

17. Humm

Humm is a pretty restaurant on Dageraadplaats, offering the best vegan dishes from Middle Eastern cuisine. The speciality is of course – who would have thought? – their own hummus. It’s very tasty, but it doesn’t stop there. You can also order a Middle Eastern breakfast or a bunch of different street food dishes: from falafel to shawarma and baba ganoush. The coffee, soft drinks and wines are organic, and the beer is made by a local brewer and traditionally fermented. Humm: Dageraadplaats 31-33.

 

18. Icelab Nicecream Creations

IceLab NiceCream Creations on Oudevaartplaats opened in the midst of the corona crisis as the first ice cream parlour in Antwerp to be one hundred percent vegan. In addition to all the traditional and less traditional ice cream flavours, you can try vegan Liège and Brussels waffles and other sweets as well, accompanied by a nice cup of coffee. Highly recommended. Icelab Nicecream Creations: Oudevaartplaats 38. 

 

19. Nieuwe Vaart

Nieuwe Vaart might be the most unusual inclusion in this list, as it’s neither a restaurant nor a bakery, but rather the first real vegan grocery store in Antwerp. This is the vegan branch of zero waste shop Robuust, located on Oudevaartplaats. Everything sold is of course plant-based, and you can even bring your own little jar to fill up on rice, pasta, nuts and other dry goods from various dispensers. They also offer fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, natural wine, other alcoholic beverages and even a range of skincare and cleaning products.  Nieuwe Vaart: Oudevaartplaats 45. 

 

20. Nona’s Bakery

Nona’s Bakery is another new vegan bakery that has its origins in the covid crisis – lockdowns are perfect for starting new hobbies apparently. In February, they opened a workshop in a building behind the Court of Appeal and since then you can meet all your needs in terms of vegan pastries, sourdough bread and even sausage rolls here. Please note that this is not a store, and you have to order your stuff online. You can do this on the website and at least two days in advance, but what you get in return is quite tasty. Nona’s Bakery: Anselmostraat 22. 

 

21. OSES Çigköfte Antwerpen

Çigköfte is a traditional Turkish dish that originally consisted of raw, kneaded meatballs mixed with tomato or red pepper paste, bulgur, onion and a lot of spices. Because eating raw meat in Turkish summer can be risky business, a vegetarian version was invented – the original can barely be found on the streets of Turkey now. The best place in Antwerp to try it is OSES Çigköfte in Brederodestraat. This is a tiny take-away restaurant where you can get them as finger food, durum wraps or sushi rolls. OSES Çigköfte: Brederodestraat 72. 

 

22. Plant A Pizza Antwerp

In early 2024, the first completely vegan pizza place opened in Antwerp. It’s called Plant A Pizza and can be found in ‘t Zuid near the renovated KMSKA Museum. In this restaurant they give their own plant-based twist to the classic Italian pizzas and the result is pleasant and surprising. You can choose from fifteen different pizzas here. Making a vegan pizza sounds easier than it is by the way. Try making a quattro formaggi without any of the four commonly used cheeses.  Plant A Pizza: Leopold de Waelstraat 9.

 

23. Plantbeest by Tartelies

Plantbeest is a charming vegan takeaway shop in Berchem that originated out of necessity, as the person behind it developed a condition that made all sorts of foods off-limits, forcing her to get creative in the kitchen. The plant-based idea came later, but the result is that both pure vegans and people with allergies can find something to enjoy here. They’re best known for their cakes and pies (the chocolate-raspberry one is said to be the best), but you can also take home entire meals, from lasagna to “vol au vegan,” as well as a variety of soups and salads. Plantbeest: Gitschotellei 154. 

 

24. Planttrekkerij

Planttrekkerij is a cosy vegan restaurant that opened late 2023 in a corner building behind Den Bell. Although everything here is plant-based, owners Lien and Wim don’t just aim for vegans. Their slogan is: “we don’t want to convert anyone, we want to charm everyone.” In practice, this means tasty and accessible dishes and friendly, correct service. They use local products as much as they can and try to waste as little as possible. The cuisine is varied and accessible, and offers dishes that can be both Asian and Italian inspired. Colourful, hearty portions and always well-seasoned. Planttrekkerij: Sint-Laureisstraat 76. 

 

25. Pura Vida Tacos

One of the things I loved while traveling through Texas this spring, was the always present taco culture. They offer these things on nearly every street corner in all kinds of flavours and varieties, and you can have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This is superb, because it’s a tasty, cheap and relatively health snack (depending on the toppings). This taco-mania has not reached Antwerp yet, but we do have a vegan taco place now. Pura Vida Tacos can be found on Theaterplein and offers a whole bunch of different plant-based tacos in a colourful setting. Very tasty and almost indistinguishable from their more meaty friends. Pura Vida Tacos: Nieuwstad 10. 

 

26. Shmos

Shmos isn’t just the place on the list with the name I love saying most (“Sshhhmosssss”); it’s also the only vegan sandwich shop in Antwerp. Owner Helen tried to “veganize” the sandwich culture so beloved in Flanders, by making people aware they can easily learn to eat more sustainably. They sell vegan martino sandwiches – which are almost indistinguishable from the real thing – but also have a number of shmosses on the menu you won’t find anywhere else in Antwerp. Be sure to drop by. Shmos, Statiestraat 154. 

 

27. Simone’s Kitchen

Simone’s Kitchen is a unique vegan restaurant in a side street of Lange Leemstraat. It feels like you’re dining in someone’s home here, and in a way this is exactly what you’re doing. Every three weeks, a completely different four-course menu is offered, always inspired by the cuisine of a particular country. Two cooks are permanently employed; the rest of the kitchen is manned by young people who travel while working and help out for a couple of months in exchange for room and board. This makes Simone’s Kitchen a bit of a cooking school as well. Those who want to stay the night here themselves, can do so as well. They have a bed & breakfast. Simone’s Kitchen: Breughelstraat 32. 

 

28. Spritz

Spritz is a cute place on Oude Koornmarkt and the first truly vegan Italian restaurant in Antwerp. Spritz is run by young Luna, her mom and her boyfriend. When Luna decided to go vegan, she started coming up with all kinds of plant-based alternatives to her mother’s classic dishes. The result is superb and surprisingly close to the original food. You can have everything from vegan spaghetti alla carbonara to even vegan calamari. Funky cocktails are also served, which is never a bad thing. Spritz: Oude Koornmarkt 11. 

 

29. Tastebuds

Tastebuds is located on Dageraadplaats and is the only purely vegan frituur in Antwerp. Calling it a mere chip shop does the business a bit of a disservice. Tastebuds makes “plant-based fun food”, which is essentially fast food for vegans. Many customers are habitual meat eaters who often don’t even realize they’ve just ordered plant-based snacks. I tried some fries with a burger, bitter balls and fresh tartare, and I barely tasted the difference myself. Tastebuds: Dageraadplaats 15. 

Vegan and in the mood for fries but not at all near Dageraadplaats? Frituur Tina on Krugerplein in Borgerhout offers various vegan alternatives in addition to their standard stuff. All sauces come in a vegan version, and you can even order vegan stew to put on your fries. Frituur Chips in Sint-Antoniusstraat is a similar place with lots of vegan snacks.

 

30. Veganation

Due to the inexplicable workings of the Roman alphabet, Veganation came last on this list, but it’s perhaps the most unique project out of all of them. Veganation is housed in a small building in Brederodestraat and is the brainchild of Aleks: a Ukrainian who has been living in Belgium for the last 25 years. The kitchen is manned by volunteers, and they’re mainly Ukrainian refugees. Everything cooked here is vegan, and what you pay is up to you because the contribution is what you think it was worth. If you’re homeless or in need, you’re always allowed to eat for free. Veganation is both a restaurant and a social project: lectures and workshops are given, people are brought together and those who need it are welcome here 12 hours a day. Great project. Veganation: Brederodestraat 10.

There: these were all the vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Antwerp I knew of. Did I miss some? Did some new ones open up somewhere? Let me know in the comments below. Looking for more tasty stuff? Read all about the best cocktail bars, Italian, Middle-Eastern, Latin-American, Asian and African restaurants, as well as the best burger joints in Antwerp.