Eel fillets poached in a vivid green herb sauce: chervil, parsley, spinach, sorrel and watercress blended with white wine and butter into an emerald cream that coats the eel.
Paling in 't Groen (called anguilles au vert in French-speaking Belgium) is a 19th-century Flemish freshwater dish from the Scheldt and the polders, where eel was once the dominant river catch. The dish was working-class summer cooking: chefs gathered wild herbs of early spring (sorrel, chervil, watercress, lemon balm), poached eel fillets in white wine, and blended the herbs into the cooking liquid to make a brilliant green sauce. Today most restaurants use farm-raised European eel. Bruges Michelin-starred kitchens like De Jonkman run refined versions; brasseries like Den Amand serve the canonical version.
4 editor picks for Paling in 't Groen (Anguilles au Vert) in Bruges, ranked by editorial score. All Bruges signature dishes · Paling in 't Groen (Anguilles au Vert) across every city.
De Jonkman ★ 4.8
sint-kruis · Maalse Steenweg 438, 8310 Brugge
De Jonkman in Bruges holds two Michelin stars under Filip Claeys, who builds menus around lesser-known North Sea fish from his room in Sint-Kruis.
Bistro Refter ★ 4.7
sint-anna · Molenmeers 2, 8000 Brugge
Bistro Refter in Bruges is Geert Van Hecke's contemporary bistro on Molenmeers, the relaxed counterpart to his fine-dining room. Good food at fair prices.
Sans Cravate ★ 4.6
langestraat · Langestraat 159, 8000 Brugge
Sans Cravate in Bruges holds one Michelin star on Langestraat, where Henk Van Oudenhove cooks known dishes in a contemporary register from an open kitchen.
Den Amand ★ 4.5
markt · Sint-Amandsstraat 4, 8000 Brugge
Den Amand is a small family bistro off the Markt in Bruges, on car-free Sint-Amandsstraat, where Ann Vissers cooks seasonal vegetable, fish and meat dishes.