June 14, 2012

Where To Get A Soya Latte in Antwerp – Cafe Revista

Cafe Revista in Antwerp

Antwerp is a very cool, very hip and very happening European city, so I was surprised at how difficult it was to find a soya latte on my recent weekend break to Belgium’s trend-setting capital – until I found Revista, and with it my spiritual home in Antwerpen.

During a recent weekend in my favourite Belgian metropolis (don’t even think about Brussels here!) I’d been to places that looked alternative enough to serve a soya latte but turned out to be bemused by the concept (Caravan), travelled to places that almost certainly stocked soya milk but were closed on the weekend, and heard about places that were right up my organic, dairy-free street but weren’t nearby when I needed a caffeine hit (Lombardia). Eventually I’d given up trying to make it happen and switched to espresso.

At one point I was so desperate to get a soya latte in Antwerp that I hit up the Starbucks (noooo!) in the central station – Me : “Do you have soya milk?”. Lovely man in Starbucks: ‘Of course!”. Me: “I love You!” And for the first time in my life I really did have positive gushing emotions about Starbucks.

Then on Sunday my friend took me to Revista. As soon as I rounded the corner and saw the place I could sense that this was a soya milk kinda joint and there it was on the menu in black and white: soyamelk – they couldn’t back out now.

So I tucked into two coffees in a row, accompanied by a breakfast of croissant, jam, boiled egg, rye bread, ham, tomato – and a slightly odd but somehow welcome garnish of strawberries and sliced banana. All this while me and two other girlies oohed and ahhed over The Sunday Times Style section from the cafe’s great selection of local and international media.

So if you want a home from home in Antwerp, whether you’re a soya addict or not, look no further.