LOCALLY IN ANTWERP

How can two Belgians make real New York style burgers? Well, Jerome lived in Manhattan for two years and brought Belgian food to the big apple with his own waffle food truck. When he came back, he combined forces with his brother Philippe, who graduated as a chef, and opened up the first Manhattn’s in Brussels three years ago. This time, bringing the taste of New York te Belgium. Three years, three restaurants. The boys are doing well for themselves. And no wonder, even though burger restaurants aren’t that unique anymore in Belgium, Manhattn’s managed to stand out anyway. As soon as you walk in, you’ll get a sort of American diner feeling. You order at the register and afterwards you take a seat. For the full diner experience, opt for one of the booths on the first floor. The burgers are served in a little basket, which I personaly had only seen in the movies before. And I loved it!

Don’t be fooled, the style of being served is like an American diner, but the interior and the food is of the highest quality! The place looks like an industrial loft. Definitley follow the neon signs and walk up to the first floor, where the American diner style booths fit perfectly into this industrial style. The interior and branding of the restaurants were created by the Antwerp based design agency Pinkeye. If you’ve been following this agency, you’ll know that anything they touch turns to gold. Is it their branding or is it their ability to spot the best new concepts to work with? We’ll never know, but we sure can admire the results.

Okay, I hope you liked all of this information about the new Antwerp restaurant, but let’s get down to what it’s really about: the food! All I can say: it was delicious. From the perfectly cooked irish angus beef to the crisp bacon and delicious molten chees. My mouth starts watering again just writing about it. The burger is served in a brioche bun, which makes the meat come into its own even more. If you’ve eaten a burger and your foodbaby hasn’t arrived yet, I can highly recommend the ice cream sandwich: a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream inbetween two brookies. YUM!! (A brookie apparently is a mixture between a cookie and a brownie and apparently very delicious). I’m definitly going back, because choosing just one burger to try out was way too hard. So see you soon Manhattn’s!

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