De Mezzanine — Restaurant in Antwerp

The food was ok but I’m never coming back here and will never recommend anyone coming here. I came here with my parents in the hope of showing them some Flemish cuisines. They usually don’t have a big appetite so I wanted to order 2 starters and 1 main dish for us 3 people and traveling with them for 2 weeks I know it’s gonna be enough for us. The waiter went silent and gave me a poker face, I asked what’s wrong, is it not gonna be enough for us? He proceeded to say you have to order 3 mains because you are 3 people sitting here. Never have I ever heard of this living in Europe now for 6+ years. I tried to explain 3 main dishes would be too much for us, he insisted we need to order 3 main dishes. I proposed how about we do 2 main dishes and 1 starter, still a no. I wanted to leave because this condescending attitude is not how you treat customers that simply don’t want to eat too much, it’s not about the money, why can’t I have my free will on orders? I said to him I don’t see this “rule” anywhere on your website or your menu. It was at a late hour in the evening than when we usually eat and my mom gets cold sweat if she gets too hungry so we decided to order 3 mains there instead of getting out of this disrespectful restaurant and risking not being able to find something else quickly. If the waiter would’ve respectfully told me the starters might be too small and we highly recommend you order 3 mains, I would most likely natually switch to ordering 3 mains. Telling me it’s because we are 3 people sitting here so we must order 3 mains...

We came here at the recommendation of one of our colleagues for Flemish food. It felt like a small family-owned restaurant with a very cosy interior. As we had a large group size and we had not made a reservation, they were unfortunately unable to accommodate us inside and we took the seats outside.

Between us, we got dishes to share - some salads, the North Sea shrimp, the roasted pork belly, the stoofvlees, the vol au vent (from what I can remember).

The star of the night was definitely the pork belly - it was heavenly! So crispy on the outside with a light caramel crust, the meat was marinated so well and it just melted in my mouth, the sauce was the perfect mix of sweet and umami. Being Cantonese, I’ve had quite a few pork belly dishes, and this definitely is one of the best pork belly dishes I’ve tried.

Another wonderful dish was the vol au vent - it was rich and comforting, and went very well in a cold evening. The salads and the shrimp were decent, but nothing really fantastic. Many of the dishes came with fries, which were very generous. One point that I did not appreciate about this restaurant was that they did not serve tap water.

Service was prompt and attentive, and the service staff were able to split the bill based on our requests. We were able to pay by credit card. There was a WC available on the second floor (accessible only via stairs) and it had a rather narrow corridor.

Overall, an above average dining experience here with some star dishes! Will definitely be back (for the pork belly) and to try their...

Op een bruisende zaterdagmiddag stapten we, gewapend met een reservering, binnen bij de Mezzanine in Antwerpen, en dat was maar goed ook - de plek was volledig volzet. Vanaf het moment dat we binnenkwamen, werden we ondergedompeld in een sfeer die zowel uitnodigend als exclusief aanvoelde.

Onze culinaire reis begon met voorgerechten die onze verwachtingen overtroffen. De scheermesjes, delicaat en perfect bereid, vormden een harmonieuze combinatie met een glaasje Zuid-Afrikaanse Spier wijn - een pairing die getuigde van de deskundigheid en verfijning van de keuken.

Het hoofdgerecht tilde onze ervaring naar een nog hoger niveau. De skrei vis van de suggestiemenu was een openbaring, perfect gebakken, waardoor de natuurlijke smaken optimaal tot hun recht kwamen. Even indrukwekkend was de Italiaanse tartare van de klassieke menu, een gerecht dat zowel in textuur als in smaak uitblonk, gecombineerd met een karaf uit Puglia die onze smaakpapillen streelde.

Wat deze ervaring echter echt onvergetelijk maakte, was de service. Ondanks de drukte, was het personeel opmerkelijk attent, deskundig en vriendelijk, waardoor we ons bijzonder welkom voelden.

De Mezzanine in Antwerpen is meer dan een restaurant; het is een bestemming die belooft om elke keer opnieuw een culinaire ontdekkingstocht te zijn. Met zijn uitzonderlijke gerechten, zorgvuldig geselecteerde wijnen en onberispelijke service verdient het niets minder dan vijf sterren. Een absolute aanrader voor iedereen die zich wil laten verwennen in een wereld van...