Tapas at candle light

The restaurant I will discuss today is called "De Negen Vaten" and is located in Antwerp in a more quiet area of town, but still in a walking distance from all the shops. I visited this tapas place together with my mom and dad to close off my studies in Antwerp. We were welcomed by the friendly owner (I guess) of the restaurant and seated at one of the many authentic small, brown tables with a cosy candle stick on it.

We started off with some cold tapas; a plate of Serrano Ham (€9,80) and Pan con Tomate (€5,50). The ham was good but was sliced a little bit too thick to our preference and the Pan con Tomate was nice as well, though it looked more like a Bruschetta than the usual Pan con Tomate you would get in Spain, but we didn't mind at all.

Next, we ordered a bunch of hot tapas; Gamba's a la plancha (€13), Esparragos grillados con jamon (€8,10), Pimientos de Padron (€7,50), Patatas Brava (€7), Cheddar Croquetas (€9,70) and Timbal de champinon de queso aso (€8) - filled mushroom with cheese, garlic and herbs.

We liked all the dishes but had some remarks on one in particular; the patatas brava. Originally these are made with aioli and a salsa sauce, but this time the salsa tasted like ketchup, so we were quite convinced it wasn't real salsa. I didn't like the taste of ketchup with my patatas brava, as I am not a ketchup lover and it is just not the proper way to make this dish. For the cheddar croquetas, I was surprised when I took my first bite because of the jalapeño hidden inside of it. Both me and my mom don't like spicy food so we had to take out the jalapeño. The fact that we were surprised by it, is because I only read the Spanish version of the dish and not the text below it which explained the ingredients, so I take the blame on me for this unpleasant surprise. A good tip: always read the description ;).

Overall, we liked all of our orders except for the patatas brava, and the waiter/ owner was also super nice and even offered us an umbrella on our way out because it was pouring outside. I liked the interior of the restaurant too as it gave me a true Spanish feeling and that's how I like my tapas restaurants the best.

A bientôt!

Bisous