The story
Hiro is a Japanese izakaya at Napoleonkaai 1 in Antwerp, rated 13.5 by Gault&Millau in 2026. Eleven seats line a wooden counter in the Eilandje district, with a view of the Yakiniku grill and the MAS beyond.
The omakase (€125, drinks not included) puts the meal in the chef's hands. Sushi master Prakash Lamichhane works alongside Bart Huybrechts, Thomas Van de Weyer and dessert chef Jeff Gillon. Le Fooding, which listed Hiro in 2026, described a night of chicken skin chips, dry-aged salmon nigiri, a tuna maki-taco and shiso tempura. It ended with a sake baba under an umeboshi sabayon.
Those who prefer to choose can order à la carte, from small snack plates to freshly rolled sushi. Fish is aged in the kombujime style, and the takeaway boxes list bluefin tuna chutoro, Arctic dry-aged salmon, Zeeland hamachi and torched saba. Walk-ins are welcome for the izakaya menu, while the omakase seats are booked in advance with a deposit.
The bar pours sake, wine, craft beer and cocktails, with raw music in the background. The tone is informal and personal. Lunch and dinner are served Wednesday to Sunday, with bar food available through the afternoon.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Eleven seats along the wooden bar overlooking the Yakiniku grill, another dozen or so dotted about the dining room, fish aged kombujime-style waiting their turn in the mauve glow of the dry-ager fridge…. This groovy izakaya from the two super Saiyanas Bart Huybrechts and Thomas Van de Weyer (the ringleaders behind the legendary Nashville, Oklahoma, Caracas and Oaxaca pop-ups) thrusts Antwerp’s revo-culinary underground scene into the spotlight. Completing the team are sushi master Prakash “Cash” Lamichane and dessert slayer Jeff Gillon. Opt for small snack plates or go all out with the omakase chef’s menu, which that night brought out the big guns: tasty chicken skin chips; spellbinding dry-aged salmon nigiri; syncopated tuna maki-taco; moreish shiso tempura; piping hot broth with sliced octopus bobbing about; and a sake baba covered in an umeboshi salted plum sabayon for the endgame. Kamehameha, comrade! // Sugar Kowalczyk
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