Gourmet #3:
Het Pomphuis
Siberiastraat
2030 Antwerp
Belgium
https://www.hetpomphuis.be/
I would like to share my experience at this fabulous restaurant called Het Pomphuis today. This place had been on my list for a long time, and finally I had a chance to go there with my family for a relaxing weekend lunch.
Location
The restaurant is located in the dock areas, port of Antwerp. By the way, Antwerp is a port city, and it is one of the world's major seaports and is the second busiest port in Europe.
Busiest container ports: Rank in Europe (2016)
- Port of Rotterdam [Netherlands]
- Port of Antwerp [Belgium]
- Port of Hamburg [Germany]
(source:http://www.porteconomics.eu/2017/03/26/portgraphic)
Ambience
This restaurant Het Pomphuis (in Dutch) means The Pump House in English. This building used to be a pumping station for draining the docks prior to ship maintenance. If you look downstairs you see enormous pumps sitting there with all their former glory. Now it's become a modern restaurant, and the dining areas are designed to be superbly chic and elegant.
They also have a private dining area - It must create very special atmosphere if you organise a birthday party or a corporate event here. I kept being impressed with the height of the ceiling and amount of the sun-light we were getting.
View from our table
Being an interior enthusiast, I cannot help but check out all the interior design details. The colour of the wall and furniture are all greige (gray x beige), which creates a very typical Belgian chic style. I couldn't stop being impressed with the length of those curtains! It must be something like 10m...... surely I can't put that in my washing machine if they need cleaning...
Delicous food and wine
On the white table linen with the sun-light coming into the table, I believe the dish looks the most beautiful. Nothing can beat the crisp, fresh white table linen.... I call it white table cloth magic!
I couldn't stop looking up the high ceiling and feeling the natural light pouring in during our meal.
On each plate, the food was delicious and the presentation was beautiful. In Belgium generally speaking the standard of restaurants and food quality is very high...
We spent a memorable time at Het Pomphuis. I would love to visit again when they open their terrace seats. The terrace on the promenade of the river overlooks Antwerp’s harbour and is the great place for watching ships go by.