Culinary on the road in Mechelen: Whether with the MMM… Mechelen Tour from Visit Mechelen or in one of the many restaurants in Mechelen – the city’s offerings are varied and good. Eating in Mechelen is associated with enjoyment.
Restaurants in Mechelen
Here we present our tips and also very different restaurants in Mechelen.
Restaurant Lam’eau
For dinner, we went to the Lam’eau, which is located directly on the Dijle. When the temperatures are pleasant, you can sit on a terrace right on the riverbank. A table was reserved for us in the modern restaurant in the cooler evening hours.
The restaurant offers seasonal dishes and the menu changes regularly. The dishes are inspired by Belgian-French cuisine. We chose two salads:
Salad with tuna sashimi, smoked salmon fillet and prawns and the salad with warm goat’s cheese with honey and mustard dressing.
A very good choice. The salads were large, excellently arranged and tasted very good.
We quite liked the restaurant. I thought it was a bit over the top that they put on extra white gloves for serving, but otherwise did everything without gloves. But other guests will certainly find this detail very stylish. In any case, the service was very friendly and quick – we felt very comfortable.
Tip: It is advisable to make a reservation in the evening as the restaurant is very busy.
Address
Van Beethovenstraat 8/10,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
Brasserie Het Anker
Brasserie Het Anker is located on the premises of the Het Anker brewery. It’s not just a place for participants in the brewery tours, it’s also a great place to eat and enjoy the brewery’s beer.
We went to the brasserie for lunch before our brewery tour. It was very crowded and I was very glad that our table had been reserved. The restaurant is quite large. There is even an upper floor that can be opened if necessary. When we visited, the tables were quite close together and there were groups of people there, which naturally increased the babble of voices. But that’s exactly what a pub in a brewery is all about for me. People who enjoy their beer and like being there.
A glance at the menu quickly revealed that everything here is geared towards their own beer. A beer is recommended with every dish and for us, who didn’t know the beer up to this point, it made the choice easier.
Despite the large number of guests, the service was quick and very friendly. They even took some time to give us some information about the beer. We didn’t want to enjoy it completely “blind”.
Enjoyment with beer
I opted for the Toast Het Anker. It consists of a Gouden Carolus brewery bread (baked with spent grains), cheese, ham, fried egg, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. It’s a typical toast, but I was immediately surprised by its size. It was impossible for me to finish it. You can’t go far wrong with the taste of a toast, unless the cheese isn’t particularly impressive. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case here! I drank the recommendation from the menu: a Maneblusser.
Maneblusser is the city beer of Mechelen. Brewed with Belgian hops, it has an alcohol content of 5.8 and is a fairly light beer that is easy to drink. If you enjoy the blond, golden yellow beer, you will notice a slight citrus flavor. I liked it and it went really well with the sandwich.
Patrick has opted for a homemade bacon burger. The brasserie recommends the Gouden Carolus Classic for the burger, which tastes great and is prepared to perfection. This dark beer has a very long tradition in the city and is known far beyond its borders. I find it quite sweet due to the use of dark caramelized malt, but also wonderfully aromatic. The dark, slightly ruby-red beer is brewed with Belgian hops and, at 8.5%, is slightly higher in alcohol than other beers.
We liked it very much. The food was good, the beer even better.
Address
Guido Gezellelaan 49,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
Funky Jungle – vegan restaurant in Mechelen
Wow, the restaurant was full every day when we walked past! Always a sign for us that it tastes good there. It’s a good thing we had a reserved table, otherwise we would have missed out on this treat. Some dishes on the menu are offered permanently. But there is also a weekly menu with changing specialties, which are of course adapted to the season.
The Funky Jungle is a small restaurant that only serves vegan cuisine. We both opted for the house specialty, the “Habsburger”. This is of course also meat-free and the patty in the burger is made from lentils. It tasted great, but I found that it didn’t have enough cohesion. The patty fell apart into lots of little pieces when I cut into it. But that doesn’t change the excellent taste, just the appearance. The burger bun was soft, but the best part was the aromatic fig jam. I would really love to have this recipe.
We ordered a beer to go with the burger that we hadn’t tried before. The Vedett beer has a golden yellow color and was drunk almost too quickly. A drinkable beer to go with the burger.
Address
Onder-Den-Toren 7,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
Restaurants in Mechelen: Het Bestek Mechelen at lunchtime
For lunch, we went to Het Bestek in Mechelen. This restaurant is a lunchtime restaurant and offers its guests fresh and seasonal dishes. There is a small menu and new dishes are offered approximately every 4-6 weeks. The kitchen’s menu suggestions, which always include a vegetarian option, are particularly popular.
The dining room is comfortably furnished in a modern style and there is room even for a small group.
We opted for quite different dishes and were very pleased that the portion sizes were just right for a lunchtime meal. My fennel, cheese and grapefruit salad was fresh, tasted great and, as I rarely eat fennel, was a tasty surprise for me. I will probably try this at home one day. Patrick opted for a curry. It was well spiced, but not too hot and spicy. He was very happy with his choice.
I couldn’t resist the dessert. I had a Belgian waffle (a chocolate waffle) with ice cream. What a treat!
For us, Het Bestek is the tip for lunchtime in Mechelen!
Address
Melaan 40,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
Puro
The “Puro” restaurant is located in the heart of Mechelen. From the outside, the building didn’t look very inviting to me. I later read that it was an old office building that had been given a new lease of life by the restaurant. When you enter the restaurant, you find yourself in a stylish atmosphere that radiates elegance and yet comfort.
We went to dinner at Puro and here too I was glad that we had a table reservation. It was very busy and every table was taken. It was only later that it became a little quieter and emptier, so that even spontaneous restaurant visitors had a chance of getting a table. Despite the restaurant being very busy, the staff managed to fulfill our wishes quickly and in a friendly manner. They did a lot to make us feel very comfortable.
A glance at the menu showed us that guests can expect somewhat higher-priced offerings here. To say it straight away, the prices were more than justified for our selection. What was also immediately noticeable was the wide range of different wines on offer. Around 90 wines are available chilled and can be drunk to match the dish.
What did we enjoy that evening? Patrick was delighted with the spare ribs, which were very well prepared. The meat was juicy and almost fell off the bone on its own. I ordered the “Puro” salad. A real dream with scallops, prawns, smoked salmon, Serrano ham, foie gras and scampi. I’ve rarely had a salad this good before.
Address
Guldenstraat 20,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
De Vleeshalle – Mmany small restaurants in Mechelen
Hungry but not quite sure what to eat? Then a visit to the Vleeshalle in Mechelen is just the place for you. The old meat hall is now home to a food market that offers a wide variety of products.
We enter the Vleeshalle through a small door. A high room rises up, surrounded by galleries over three floors. Like many old market halls, steel is the main building material and daylight shines through a band of windows underneath the gabled wooden roof.
The Vleeshalle was built in 1881 and butchers sold their goods here until the Second World War. After that, the building fell into disrepair and finally closed its doors in 1967. In the following years, the space was only occasionally used as an event room or film set, for example. Then committed people came together and decided to create a food hall here, as well as space for offices and small stores. The trendy stores are located on the upper floors of the Vleeshalle.
The food market is located in the former butchers’ sales area. There are 13 different food stalls and a central bar area. There are small groups of tables everywhere and, depending on the time of day, you sometimes have to search a little to find a free seat.
Food stands in the Vleeshalle
The food stands offer a wide and very varied range of dishes. How about street food, tapas, sausages, burgers, cheese, patisserie, fish dishes, soups or ice cream? Fancy food from Italy, Vietnam, Spain, Mexico or Ireland? If you can’t find anything here or are tempted by the delicious dishes, you really don’t seem to be hungry.
We even went to the Vleeshalle twice and would definitely have gone there again if we had stayed in the city longer – it really was a great selection.
I couldn’t resist the croquettes at BUBBA. They offer different varieties such as cheese croquettes, ham croquettes or prawn croquettes. They come with homemade dips, which tasted really good.
Patrick ate a pie at HUNTERS, the Irish pub. It didn’t look very photogenic, but the taste was simply Mmmh! For dessert, we treated ourselves to an ice cream.
On our second visit, we decided to try the nachos from ALMA LIBRE, which offers traditional Mexican cuisine. We were not served nachos out of a bag. Instead, we were served homemade fresh nachos with warm, creamy cheese.
You can get almost any drink at the bar. Whether freshly tapped beer, wine or cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks are of course also available.
Address
Huidevettersstraat 7,
2800 Mechelen, Belgien
Discover ‘MMM…. Mechelen’
For all gourmets and food lovers, there are not only great restaurants to discover in Mechelen. You can also go on a small food tour and discover one or two stores that offer great products.
The MMM…Mechelen Tour is a tour organized by Visit Mechelen. In a small booklet there is a map with the marked locations and each of the participating suppliers is presented on a page. There is also a voucher in the booklet that promises a sample.
The second section of the booklet contains further vouchers and suggestions for exploring Mechelen. For example, discounts are offered for the tower ascent in the St. Rumbold’s Tower, the Kunsthal Mechelen and the Ursuline conservatory. Discounts are also given for participating in sightseeing tours on foot or by boat.
We set off with the booklet in hand and, as we often do, of course we didn’t read the texts in advance. The addresses and opening times of the stores are given here (at the time of printing) and these didn’t fit in at all with the time we were out and about. So we changed our plans and tried our luck again the next day. This time we were able to visit all but two of the other participants (it was Sunday).
Schockaert – Cheese and more cheese
I immediately fell in love with this store. What a huge selection of cheese!!! For our voucher we got a small piece of cheese, which was refined with beer from the local Het Anker brewery. We enjoyed it later with fresh white bread and a glass of wine – it was very good.
Of course, we didn’t stop at one piece of cheese. We went shopping straight away and replenished our stock of cheese for the next few days. The selection was really huge. We didn’t know many of the varieties on offer and were quite happy that we were given very good advice.
Vleeshalle – Bar
There is also a voucher for the Vleeshalle in the voucher booklet. With this you can get a beer from the Het Anker brewery at the bar.
This has been specially bottled for the tasting in a small, visually appealing tin. The dark Mechelen Felle has a slight citrus note. It was a little too “heavy” and alcoholic for me at lunchtime, but it tasted very good.
The Cacao Project
The Cacao Project is a chocolaterie with a very wide range of different chocolates and small pastries. With the voucher, you get a chocolate that has been specially created for the campaign.
Inside the crunchy chocolate shell in the shape of a beetle is a filling of malt and toasted bread and a jelly of mallow, cornflower and heather. Very unusual, but it tasted good!
Bakery BroodBroeders
At the BroodBroeders bakery, we were treated to a taste of an almost Christmassy spice cake. This is made according to a traditional recipe and used to be a welcome gift.
The restaurants in Mechelen were part of a research trip with Visit Mechelen.
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