A fair place. Healthy options. Our dinner was good. A basic dinner with potencial to be better. My…read morechicken was slightly overcooked but the combination of sauce, veggies and spices made it okay.

Atmosphere: 5/5. Set in an old convent, very cool interior. Small but cozy. There is a back yard…read morearea where you can sit when the weather is nice. The restaurant is in the middle of town within a few blocks to the main town square. The menu has pictures of the nunnery attire, maybe how they brewed their own beer? They only had it in Dutch, no English menu. Food: 3/5. Bland food, which is not uncommon for Flemish cuisine, but meat was also quite tough. We tried the 2 most popular dishes, Brochette Oud Clooster, and Rundsstoverij met Westmalle Dubbel, and were not impressed. Both bland. The brochette was supposed to be medium rare but came out well done. Dry and tough. The dipping sauce has a hint of curry but wasn't enough to carry the whole dish. The stew has a yummy base, I could pick out the beer flavors (Belgians truly have the best beers in the world). Meat pieces were tough, which is a shame given this is a stew. They should have use a fattier cut of beef like chuck. Meme Gusta has a similar but much more flavorful Flemish stew. The no-bake cheese cake was light and refreshing. Good for 1 person, small to share between 2. Service: 2/5. They had no English menu. At this point I have come to Belgium enough to pick out a few familiar terms, but I would have liked to be able to see what other dishes they had. Had to aggressively flag down waiter whenever we needed something. they also charge €1.80 for tap water. This place is popular enough even for locals that one can't get in without reservations. We were told they only have 2 slots: 6-8 or 8-10. We picked the earlier one. The restaurant was only half full until about 7.

Beautiful food in a beautiful space…read more Service was wlecoming and friendly, they helped us maneuver the menu and suggested the perfect meal. We shared the pork ball and both sides (veggie and salad). All were hearty, high quality and hit the spot. Highly reccomend!

This local Ghent favorite lived up to the hype. The staff is fantastic and takes the time to…read moreexplain the menu. The highlight was a seasonal chicken and pumpkin meatball that was hearty and delicious. The vibe is casual, the seating is comfortable, and you get plenty of food for your money. A great pick for a cozy, filling meal!

This former butcher's hall is a great space, and very well matched with the fare they now serve…read more I went with the blood sausage, and it did not disappoint. It was piled high with slices of ham and cooked apples. Pork is one of the specialties here, and the whole dish was very good. The distinctive taste of the sausage filling should be savored. I also had the opportunity to taste the waterzooi, a stew with a cream sauce. It was tasty. I would highly recommend this restaurant, if you find yourself in Ghent.

Groot Vleeshuis is a historic building which used to be the meat market long time ago. Now it's…read morebeen converted into a restaurant, and the cool part about this place (other than the history) is that they have real Flanders ham hanging and drying from the ceiling! You don't have to be eating there to walk through the restaurant to see the ham! After going on a free walking tour, I was starving, so I came to eat lunch here. There are tables in an inside area that's inside of the building (sounds confusing, but when you see it you'll know what i'm talking about), but sitting in the area where the hams are hanging is a lot more fun. You just grab any table and a server will come to you. It's a hopping place for brunch/lunch - they have salads and toast and omelettes, and of course lots of beer options. I wanted to try something local and so I ordered the waterzooi, which is this cream/egg based stew with chicken and potatoes and other veggies. The dish originated in Gent. And since I was at the old Butcher's Hall, I wanted to try some ham. They had a meat tasting dish that came with four different meats. The meat sampler came with Superano ham, Ganda ham, Breydelham, and Gentse kop. My favorites were the Superano and the Ganda - they tasted like prosciutto. The Breydelham tasted like regular ham. The kop was my least favorite - it's basically a pork product made of parts of the pig like the head. I guess it's kind of like spam, but not as tasty. The sampler came with some kind of mustard for dipping the meat in! The waterzooi was tasty and hearty and it was huge!!! It had generous chunks of chicken and yummy potatoes. I like the light creamy flavor. I couldn't finish it because it was too much food. The service was great except it was hard when I tried to pay and leave. My original server was very busy with this large party that was there and he was bringing out dishes two at a time by himself. I finally got the attention of the girl server who was clearing a different table and she came by but when I tried to pay with my credit card, she said I had to go inside to the bar area to pay. So I went and paid and the girl who took care of that for me said it was like some kind of special customer day and gave me this little bottle of a pickled dip for eating meat with! There is free wifi! And there's a restroom, but you need a code to get there!

I wasn't sure what to expect because I found this quickly when we were already starving, but the…read morepasta we got was very tasty. We sat outside next to a heater and it was really nice in the chilly fall weather. It wasn't busy on a Wednesday and the service was very quick.

Most of the stuff we ordered were good. The portions are hefty. Mussels were meaty! Large…read moreselections for drinks.

Love this place they let you sit outside .Great weather enjoying our drinks . Outside they do not…read moreserve dinner menu . Super friendly staff . Enjoying Ghent and their friendly waiters .

Location: fairly close to center. Across from a few souvenir shops so perhaps this is a touristy…read morearea, but I didn't see that many locals. Restaurant itself is nice, with a good outside sitting area as well as a large indoor area. Food: I had gray shrimp croquettes and waterzooi fish, both traditional Ghent dishes. Croquettes could have had a bit more shrimp (they didn't say any thing about % of shrimp like some restaurants so I assume less than 45%). €10 per piece, so quite expensive. Fish stew was DELICIOUS! If it wasn't €28 could eat that stew for days Service: meh. They were only half full, but took awhile to get beverages and food. Had to remind the wait staff a few times. One unfortunate thing is because of the high Asian tourists in the restaurant, who were noisy and rude (taking pictures of EVERYTHING including restaurant patrons), the experience wasn't great. I left as soon as I could.

Top quality food in Ghent. Incredible service, presentation and food. Was seated with a kitchen…read moreview to watch the chefs. The place has Michelin quality chops - it's off the main square a few steps. Trade in the touristy canal views for seriously good eats. It's some of the highest quality food you'll eat in Ghent.

After we got our reservations mixed up at OAK (we apparently had dropped a spot on the waitlist and…read morenot for a reservation), the folks there suggested their sister restaurant Door 73, which was just a few minutes down the street, a little closer to the center of Ghent. After meandering around a little, we decided to go ahead with it. You find yourself swathed in a curtain when stepping inside (at least during the winter), but once you pass that, you find yourself at a quaint little bar in the front, with the main dining room a little further back. The ambiance itself is very casual and relaxed; you can see the kitchen from the dining room, and with low ceilings and an open, undivided space, it really does feel as homey as the neighborhood the restaurant is in. The servers who took our orders were helpful, although they did accidentally bring us a dish we did not order (but they did comp it even though we failed to realize it in our jetlagged state - very kind of them). The drink menu isn't huge here, but I enjoyed the house cocktail - a gin and yuzu-based concoction, if I recall - so much that I got it twice. The elderberry that was mixed in gave it a wonderful floral nose, and the flavors were perfectly balanced between the liquor and the mixers. The food here is also pretty good, and for lunch, I found that what we settled on originally (oysters, an appetizer, and a main to share) would have been a perfect size. The oysters, from Normandy, were on the better end of what I'm used to having here - not too briny and with a bright flavor, helped by a tinge of lemon squeezed over it. The gnocchi was probably the least distinct bite, although by no means was it bad...being pumpkin-based, it certainly was seasonally appropriate. I will say our mistakenly comped appetizer - beetroot served with crumbled feta - was absolutely delicious, though. The bright pink/red beets have that perfect balance of starchy sweetness that works very well with the crumbly fattiness from the cheese - very tasty (albeit it more filling than we bargained for). We then finished up with the steak main cooked medium-rare. The steak looks more rare than it lets on when you initially see it in the mini cast-iron skillet it is served on, but the flavors are delicious, and the texture is just right. My only quibble with the dish is that while the outer edge of the steak was perfectly crisped and full of flavor, the inside was usually ringed with fat...I would have expected the steak to have been dressed such that we wouldn't have to be slicing off small pieces of it to avoid the chewy bits. From my understanding, Door 73 is a relatively new spot, but we really enjoyed our meal here, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it for a casual bite. Lunch ran a bit longer than I had hoped - a bit longer than 1.5 hours - but just keep in mind that time can move at a slower pace in European restaurants :)

We arrived at a super busy time and we're given the appropriate beer as we were looking for…read moresomething super Belgian. Martin came through for us! Delicious beers, and great staff and the ambience is super funky.

This was definitely my favourite place in all of Ghent. During our one week stay, we came back like…read morefour times. THE BEER IS AMAZING! First off, the look and design: the place is troll themed -it's whimsical and weird, in the best way possible. It has a very fantasy/medieval tavern feel to it, with gnomes and trolls EVERYWHERE. There are neat paintings, beer mugs and steins hanging about, and three floors, each with their own little sections if you want less noise. The third floor is less troll themed, and more 1800s-ish for on of the rooms. Second, the beer selection is absolutely incredible. There are so many beers, you'll get lost in the choices. There were two guys working there, both quite friendly and helpful. One of them (the leaner, taller one), was super knowledgeable about their selection, and was awesome at explaining how each beer tastes as well as choosing something for us based on what we said we generally like. Which brings me to the last point : cherry beer. If you are anywhere in Belgium, definitely, definitely, definitely try some cherry beer!!! Generally, they are much less sweet than cherry cider, and especially the Belgian ones have an almost vinegar-y taste to them (lambic beers do in general). This specific bar has quite a few cherry beers. I personally love the sour cherry beers, so the bartender guy I mentioned recommended several sour cherry beers, and I loved all of them. My favourite was 'Hof ten Dormaal kriek- sour', although the 'Kriek Girardin' was also quite awesome (but even more vinegar-y / lambic tasting). Out of curiosity, my boyfriend wanted to try the much sweeter but stronger in alcohol cherry beer on tap, which the guy recommended against, and I personally really didn't like it, while my boyfriend loved it (the bartender guy said "I told you so" ). Anyway, they have lots of other beers on tap, like lambic, Belgian IPAs, trapist, etc. Definitely try some Belgian beer while in Belgium- it's so different from other beer. I'm not a huge beer lover, but Belgian beer (especially Belgian sour cherry beer) has me completely hooked and missing it when I'm back home.

A very upscale corner restaurant that also caters to families. We had reservations on a Saturday…read morenight, which we thought we would definitely need, but the place was mostly empty. In any case, we were able to converse without difficulty. We started with a few starting drinks (the RoomeR, and the Apero Maison) and shared an order of cheese croquettes. The bread basket was also welcome and interesting. For our mains, we ordered a few Belgian beers as well as a G&T made with the local gin, to pair with the chicory with cheese sauce and ham, and the entrecote. The food took a long time to arrive, and although well plated, it was nothing special unfortunately. The entrecote in particular was a very poor cut of beef having at least 1/3 of it entirely comprised of gristle and fat. For dessert we shared a Crème brûlée. All in all, it was less than we had hoped for, but the cocktails were excellent.

Got the chili con carne. It was very nice. Food came quickly, although very busy…read more If we had not made a reservation, we'd have to wait in line til a spot came free.

We stopped here to try an Ale that was on Tap and was the only place in Ghent that had it according…read moreto our tour guide. Beautiful Tuesday afternoon around 4 so all outdoor tables were occupied but one opened up after a short wait. We were in a rush as we had a meeting point deadline. Service was a bit slow to take our order. Interior, which was empty given the weather, had character and looked like a cool Bar to have a drink especially when it's cold outside. Dreupelkot is also known for Jenever-juniper flavored liquor. They have 200 offerings on the menu. That said, we were here for Klokke Roeland. (The Roland Bell which hung in the Ghent Belfry). A strong, (11.5% ABV) rich golden brown Ale. Some fruitiness with a slight bitter finish. We enjoyed it! As mentioned , brewed exclusively for Dreupelkot by Brouwerij Van Steenberge. Our server was upbeat and thought we ordered two Cokes (vs Klokke). I walked over and double-checked with him and we avoided a wrong order. Overall, a great stop with nice views of Binnenstad, for Klokke and also to try the Jenever.

Jenever, genever, "dutch gin": whatever you call it - this is the best place in the WORLD to come…read moreand try over 100 different flavored (and non-flavored) kinds served to you by the famous unenthusiastic legend Pol who's usually smoking a cigar while serving. I've been here twice - I literally stumbled in her by chance my first time - now it's my favorite place in Gent. I might take a train next week just to go then come home. I love it. It's a tiny, intimate little room, and everyone's there for the same purpose - to drink Jenever. It's the international equalizer. The crowd is random - last time we had models, locals, young and the old. it's a great way to meet people from and visiting Gent. Of note: * Jonge jenever - leaves a burn, but a good start * Jalapeno (pepper) jenever - think you can handle the heat? go on. give it a try * Violet jenever - one of a kind * Kreik (cherry) jenever - made in house - nice * Lemon jenever - classic It's a "can't miss" spot in Gent in my opinion. Stop by, try a few, but if you stay a while, don't say that I didn't warn you about one of one of the worst hangovers of your life.