Once the HQ to the Antwerp Moustache Club, the former De Konincklijke Snor café now struts its stuff as a charming pub under the watch of hospitality duo Bart Huybrechts and Thomas Van de Weyer (also behind Hiro), who decked the place out with bistro relics dug out of the Duvel Moortgat archives. The pièce de résistance, though, came from across the Channel: an imposing Thornhill range fed exclusively on wood, where butter melts and mash gets stirred to the sound of Foo Fighters. A few cubes of Gouda, braised veal liver, a loaded open sandwich any time of day, a Stella on tap – and just like that, Het Eilandje of old is back, brought bang up to date. · Polly Fretter

Ate: Pork cheek and Triple d’Anvers bitterballen; a pair of fennel sausages wallowing in a mound of mash, all doused in gravy; a thick cut of opalescent cod with spinach stoemp mash and a poached egg – with the same fish reappearing in a crusty pistolet bread roll for the kids.

Price: Starters €3-12, open sandwich €8, mains €20-24.