All posts tagged: Casino Kursaal

Vegan cake at Thee met een Verhaal, Ostend

Shop review #53 – Ostend may be self-labelled the ‘Queen of the Coastal Cities’ in Belgium (‘De Koningin der badsteden’), but it certainly doesn’t hit top of the list when it comes down to finding places that serve vegan food! A couple of weeks ago, I did discover a cosy little tea house in the city center, that serves vegan cake: Thee met een Verhaal (Tea with a Story).  Yeah, what a pleasant surprise! – Update – see below. Thee met een Verhaal serves tea (d’oh! 😉 ), and also has a similar tea house in Aarschot. They also have some cakes on offer (of which one at least is always vegan – cake or pie from Madam Bakster). That day it was with chocolate and peanuts. Served in a lovely antique cup with mathcing dish. Really enjoyed it! Service was very friendly too, and if you want to talk tea, this is definitely the place! Thee met een Verhaal is a cosy little place, near the Casino Kursaal. A great addition to Ostend! Thee …

#114 Lunch at Agua del Mar, Ostend

restaurant review #114 – Agua del Mar is one of the two restaurants in the Kursaal of Ostend, with a nice view on the beach promenade and the North sea. We originally planned on going to the other restaurant, situated above Agua del Mar, the Ostend Queen, as we had seen in this facebook post that they offer a gastronomical vegan menu. Unfortunately, since the beginning of 2017, Ostend Queen has stopped taking reservations for smaller parties (only reservations for groups of 25 and more!). When telephoning to make a reservation, we were assured that we could just as well have a vegan menu at Agua del Mar (always a vegan option standardly available), and that it is the same chef for the two restaurants, and that he could also come up with a vegan suggestion a la minute. So we were happy to make the reservation at Agua del Mar! (Update see below) We were here for lunch on a Saturday. Despite it being a school holiday week, there weren’t that many tables occupied (besides ourselves, …

Finding vegan goodies at Asian Supermarket Chow Chun, Ostend

Shop review #24 – Chow Chun is an Asian supermarket in the city center of Ostend. It is located in between the Casino Kursaal and the Kapellestraat (Ostend’s main shopping street). It is not a vegan shop, but we did see a selection of vegan goodies that are not so commonly found in regular shops in Belgium. And also some rather rare fresh vegetables. These photos give you an impression of the size of the store and what’s for sale. Note that not all items on the photos are necessarily vegan, since it’s not a vegan shop.   Here are some items that caught our eye (I didn’t have time to check all of them for ingredients, but at first glance they looked vegan): This is what we bought: mock duck and mock chicken, soybean pudding, crackers and fried gluted with peanuts (seitan). (11,30€). Chow Chun, location Van Iseghemlaan 50 8400 Oostende +32 (0)59 80 13 68 website: https://www.hetwinkelweb.be/handelaar/detail/chow-chun-supermarkt

#28 Cultuur Café De Grote Post, Oostende ***

Restaurant review #28 – CultuurCafé De Grote Post is a new addition to Ostend (on the Belgian Coast, 27km from Bruges). It is located in the city center, near the Leopoldpark, where you can find the ‘Floral Clock‘ and Ostends famous statue ‘Dikke Matille‘. CultuurCafé De Grote Post is about a 2 minute walk from the main shopping street (Kapellestraat) and 5 minutes from the casino Kursaal. De Grote Post is the former main postal building of Ostend and was built in 1953, and protected as a monument in 1981. The Post closed in 1999, but the building reopened as a Culture Center in 2012, with many exhibitions, performances, workshops, and other cultural activities. The Cultuur Café opened in september 2014. I didn’t really know whether I could get a vegan meal at Cultuur Café De Grote Post, but I had heard they did serve some vegetarian dishes. I hadn’t checked or called in advance to ask, but just decided to go check it out. To my surprise, the two suggested plats du jour were both vegetarian (with cheese) but …