Taste of Beligium #4: Horse Meat

One food I was looking forward to try was horse meat since we don't serve it here in the states. In Belgium, you can get horse meat as cold cut or as a steak. Stesi tried to slowly introduce us to it so brought smoked horse meat from the super market. It was thinly sliced and looks like salami but darker red color. They made some horse and raw minced meat sandwiches for us in the morning. The horse meat sandwich had a very unique and strong taste w/ a hint of smoky favor. The raw minced meat was really good with lots of meat favor and creamy texture. Both was interesting....

After trying the horse meat cold cuts we were ready to try the steak! Stesi says it taste as good as a regular steak but better. We'll see about that...They took us to "De Peerdestal", a cozy restaurant located in the middle of old Antwerp.

It was a bit pricey but food portions were good and the taste was great! The decor was a bit weird! we knew we were eating eating horse, they didn't have to put horse bodies all over the restaurant! We sat right under the horse head...
someone else was sitting under the horse butt...

I thought this was horse meat but ends up being salami, a complementary starter.

Sita got a shrimp croquette appetizer

We ordered fried foie gras with oysters. OMG so good!!!! I'm starting to develop a liking for foie gras after my dinner at WD50 (blog post coming soon...)

Sita and I order the duck with raspberry sauce. The sides include grilled vegetables and croquettes. The duck was so delicious! It was so juicy and tender. The sauce was a sweet with a bit of sour which goes really well with the meat. *drooling as I'm writing about it*

The boys ordered the horse steak! From a glance, it looks exactly like a regular steak...

Andy loved it! I thought it was good and very tender. *videos of our reaction coming soon* It didn't have the strong taste as the cold cut but you can def taste the difference between cow and horse meat.

After our wonderful meal, time for coffee. This place brings you a tray with chocolate malt balls and different types of sugar for your coffee:

Since we tried horse meat, why not try horse milk ice cream! DON'T DO IT... very funky! I took two bites and couldn't bring myself to eat more of it. The citrus sauce and fruits on the side could not cover the strong funky taste of horse milk. I'll stick with my cow milk desserts from now on...

Our first horse meat experience was awesome!! Thank you guys for taking us there =D

Us asking the water for tap water:
Waiter: we don't have any tap water here
Sita (to us): What do they wash dishes with? LOL
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De Peerdestal
http://www.depeerdestal.be/

Address: Wijngaardstraat 8, Antwerp

Phone: 323-231-9503

Taste of Belgium #3: Mussels

In Belgium, mussels are often served with fresh herbs and flavorful vegetables in a stock of white wine or cream. They are usually consumed with frites or bread. This is another must have food in Belgium....

Stesi took us to anther fav restaurants of theirs called Publique.

Sita, Andy and I each got a pot of mussels but each with a different stock. Sita got the original, I got the cream and Andy got the special with wine and garlic. It was topped w/ tons of veggies. The mussels were very fresh, so delicious! It came w/ a sour cream like sauce and a side of frites. The pot does not look big but it has a lot of mussels. It was like an endless pit! I couldn't finish my pot so Andy had to help me...

Steven doesn't like mussels so he got a chicken pot pie like dish w/ a side of frites.

Our table full of mussel shells!! *burp*

Desserts time =) all of them were very good!!!
a) 3 different sorbets

b) chocolate souffles

c) tiramisu

d) crembule on fire!

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Publique
2, Graaf Van Egmontstraat
2000 Antwerpen (Antwerp) Belgium

Taste of Belgium #2: Frituurs

Fri-what? ehh?? Frituurs is a traditional fast food shop that often serves fried and grilled dishes such as frites, meatballs, croquettes, fried chicken, brochette and many other foods. Basically, they deep fried everything! There are a large selection of sauces including ketchup, mayo, mustard, curry and many different others.

It's our first time eating at a frituurs. We went to Den Halt a near by shop from the Stesi. They often come here so we know it must be good stuff...

We walked in and there was a counter w/ tons of stuff you can deep fry. Most of the stuff is on a stick...

lots of sauce:

The guy working behind the counter was curious where we were from because I kept taking pictures. We found out we were the first Americans to visit them! We're so honored =D

Here's the menu on the wall:

Traditionally the frites were served in sheets of paper sometimes rolled up in an upside down cone.

mayo and ketchup (curry favor)

frites w/ curry

i can't really identify these but they were so good!!!

wow so much food!!! delicious!

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Den Halt
Bredestraat 1
2620 Hemiksem, Belgium
03 887 51 80

Taste of Belgium #1: Waffles and Sweets!

This September, Andy and I went on a backpacking adventure (actually, we wheeled ourselves) in Europe for three weeks! We visited 5 countries and our first stop was Belgium! We stayed w/ our awesomest friends Stesi (Steven and Sita). Our great host took us everywhere and introduced us to lots of Belgian food. It was great hanging out with the locals! They saved us from those tourist traps (which i will blog about for other countries...grrr!!)

(this was taken in Antwerp central train station. it's def much nicer then Brussels's train station)

When we got there the first question they asked, "What do you want to eat/try?" I quickly told them WAFFLES!! I visited Belgium 2 yrs ago and really missed their delicious crispy and melts in your mouth Belgian waffles. They knew exactly where to take us. According to them, this place has the best Belgian waffles and they were RIGHT!

Désiré de Lille

Everything on the menu looks so delicious:

Beignets: these are Belgium donuts, it's like the zeppoles from our street fairs. very yummy when it's warm.

I forgot the name of this dessert but it's another type of waffles. It's flat and thin and made with special syrup. The syrup was very sweet and had a strong molasses taste which I didn't like too much. I wish they had maple syrup but then found out you can't find any in Belgium.

Pancake with apples and ice cream: omg this was so good! the warm apples and the pancake was a little crispy...

Last but not least, a REAL Belgian Waffle!!!!! This was HEAVEN!! so light and crispy...most of the time the waffles we have in the states are thick and doughy w/ lots of cream and crap on it. This waffle was melt in your mouth and fluffy w/ a little bit crispy on the outside. DELICIOUS!!!! According to Stesi, the Belgian way to eat a waffle is not to put crap (syrup, lots of whip cream, chocolate, fruits) on it. You are suppose to eat it plain. A good Belgian waffles are suppose to be coated with sugar so when you bite into the warm waffle, it is a little bit crunchy from the sugar. We actually saw many places that serves it with tons of crap. Andy couldn't help but want to try the crappy waffle so he did while Stesi shook their heads with disapproval. All the crap made the waffle very soggy and messy to eat!

I like mine, the Belgium way =)

You can find all these little trucks around Belgium. You can have a choice to put crap on it or not. Waffles are usually 2 euros for the plain ones.

More Sweets:

These pretty sweets are marzipan, a confection consist primarily of sugar and almond. It is usually shaped into different forms such as a fruit or animal.

These triangular shaped candy is called cuberdon.
It is hard on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside.

I found cuberdons liquor in a
store. I didn't get to try this but I'm sure it's good because the candy was very yummi! I have to try this next I go to Belgium.

Gelato in Belgium from the Australian Home Made Ice Cream. The gelato was so creamy! I wish I could've tried more favors. I want more when I go back =D
so yummi!!

I don't know how we got into bonbons....I told them I really like them when I was little but can't find them anymore. Stesi being an awesome host took us to a near by theater to buy these bonbons. We didn't have tickets to see a movie but Sita used her charms so they let us in to the store. yay, I get to eat bonbons! =D Instead of the popcorn/food counters, they have a 7-11/supermarket in the theaters. They have so much more selections!

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Désiré de Lille
Antwerp, Belgium
http://www.desiredelille.be/