The restaurants worth a reservation in Bruges, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
Mussels, fish and the Flemish bistro table carry the restaurants listed here. Breydel-De Coninck on Breidelstraat is the mussel and lobster restaurant, with mussels at €32 to €33.50 and main courses served with frites or rice. Bistro Refter, Den Amand and Bistro Bruut cook Flemish and modern Flemish food, Locàle by Kok au Vin and Onslow cook with local and farm-to-table produce, L.E.S.S. Eatery serves Asian-inspired dishes to share, and Tanuki serves Japanese food.
Kitchens keep set hours and closing days differ. Breydel-De Coninck serves 12:00 to 14:30 and 18:30 to 21:30, and 12:00 to 21:30 on weekends, and is closed on Wednesday. Bistro Bruut is open Monday to Friday, 12:00 to 14:00 and 19:00 to 21:00. Den Amand is closed on Sunday and Monday and takes bookings by phone only.
19 places
Order The set lunch menu; the kitchen runs a tight, produce-led card that changes with the season.
Bistro Bruut sits on the Meestraat canal in Bruges, cooking modern Flemish food on regional produce. Gault&Millau rates the kitchen 16 points.
Order The set menus, designed to be shared, or the chef's surprising bites to share.
Locàle by Kok au Vin at Ezelstraat 21 in Bruges serves informal dishes made with local products, with surprising bites to share beside an à la carte menu.
Order Young cockerel on the spit with fries, salad and tarragon sauce, then a dame blanche to finish.
Bistro Refter at Molenmeers 2 in Bruges serves bistro classics, such as a young cockerel on the spit with fries, salad and a tarragon sauce.
Order The monthly menu or the suggestions beside the regular card, each with a generous portion of vegetables.
Den Amand at Sint-Amandsstraat 4 in Bruges is a cosy bistro next to the Markt, where An Vissers cooks seasonal vegetarian, fish and meat dishes.
Order The rigatoni cacio e pepe, from a menu where all dishes can be shared.
Onslow at Jeruzalemstraat 53 in Bruges is a casual restaurant in the Sint Anna district, with a short lineup of regularly renewed dishes to share.
Order The Chef's Special, or at dinner the extensive chef's Signature menu.
L.E.S.S. Eatery at 't Zand 21 in Bruges serves Asian-inspired dishes to share or keep for yourself, from an à la carte menu or a Signature menu.
Order Homemade sashimi and sushi, or the tempura and teppanyaki.
Tanuki at Oude Gentweg 1 in Bruges serves homemade sashimi, sushi, tempura and teppanyaki, with Ivan Verhelle as chef, à la carte or by menu.
Order Mussels with garlic butter, or eel in green herb sauce.
Breydel-De Coninck at Breidelstraat 24 in Bruges is a family-run mussel and lobster restaurant, also serving fresh lobster, turbot, sole and eel.
Order The vegan fries or burger, topped with the homemade veganaise.
The Potato Bar is a fries hotspot at Sint-Amandsstraat 31 in Bruges, serving 100% Belgian fries and local flavored croquettes, plus vegan fries and burgers.
Order The shrimp croquettes, the plain mussels or the creamy gratinated fish pan.
Poules Moules, a family bistro turned fixture on the Simon Stevinplein in Bruges, is for lovers of mussels, chicken on the spit and real Flemish cuisine.
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Bistro Petite Aneth at Maria van Bourgondiëlaan 1 in Bruges cooks classics adapted to contemporary cuisine, with modern, creative dishes and special desserts.
Bocca is a pasta bar at Dweersstraat 13 in Bruges that has made fresh pasta with fresh daily sauces for 20 years, with other pasta bars in Ghent and Kortrijk.
Pizzeria Da Mario at Markt 23 in Bruges is specialized in pizza and pasta, and known for its quality thin-crust pizzas in the city centre on the market.
Bonte B at Dweersstraat 12 in Bruges serves contemporary cooking with character in an atmospheric, authentic setting, built on honest, seasonal products.
Terra Promessa at Katelijnestraat 110 in Bruges is an Italian restaurant run since 2013 by chef Antonio Papagni, with pizzas baked in a stone oven.
Sale & Pepe at Kleine Sint-Amandsstraat 1 in Bruges serves authentic Sicilian cuisine, with fresh ingredients, traditional recipes and a welcoming atmosphere.
Order The rib eye from the grill, served with vegetables, sauce and fries, croquettes or potato.
Parrilla at Gaston Roelandtsplein 1 in Bruges is a grill bistro serving the best meat and day-fresh products, prepared with the greatest care and love.
Order The wild Northsea bass with miso and a seaweed salad, a starter on the card.
Preus at Philipstockstraat 45 in Bruges cooks according to the rhythm of nature and its seasons, bringing the North Sea and West-Flemish polders to the plate.
Nothing matches.
Breydel-De Coninck at Breidelstraat 24 calls itself the oldest family-run restaurant in the city and lists its mussels plain, with garlic butter, in white wine sauce and with ginger, coriander and chili. Bistro Refter on Molenmeers lists young cockerel on the spit with fries, salad and tarragon sauce at €33, an Americain with fries and salad at €33, a lunch at €35 and a seasonal menu at €65. Den Amand on Sint-Amandsstraat calls itself a bistro with a heart for vegetables and offers a seasonal menu at €48. Bistro Bruut on Meestraat cooks regional produce with a modern view.
The Breydel-De Coninck menu lists plain mussels at €32 and mussels with garlic butter, in white wine sauce or with ginger, coriander and chili at €33.50. It also lists home-made North Sea shrimp croquettes with fried parsley at €19.50 for two as a starter, eel 'in green' with a herb sauce at €38, Canadian lobster from €67 and meat from a charcoal oven. The mussels are Zeeland mussels, and the Zeeland season begins around the end of June or early July, depending on the weather.
Belgian fries are fried twice and traditionally eaten with mayonnaise. At a sit-down restaurant they come with the main course, as at Breydel-De Coninck. For a cone, FritBar on Katelijnestraat sells one for €6.50 and Frituur De Gentpoorte on Gentpoortstraat is take-away only. The Frietmuseum in Bruges is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00.
Each restaurant sets its own rules. Breydel-De Coninck keeps a table free for 15 minutes after the booked time, Den Amand takes bookings by phone only and releases them after 15 minutes, and Bistro Bruut is open on weekdays only. Check the restaurant's own page before you go, because closing days and kitchen hours change.
The Zeeland mussels on Bruges menus come into season around the end of June or early July, depending on the weather, according to a Dutch chef's column. Breydel-De Coninck lists Zeeland mussels on its menu.
Breydel-De Coninck on Breidelstraat lists mussels at €32 to €33.50, and its main courses come with frites or rice. It is closed on Wednesday.
Each restaurant sets its own rules. Den Amand takes bookings by phone only, Breydel-De Coninck holds a table for 15 minutes after the booked time, and Bistro Bruut is open Monday to Friday only.
Breydel-De Coninck lists eel 'in green' with a herb sauce at €38. The dish comes from the Flemish Scheldt valley, between Dendermonde and Antwerp.
Yes, Belgian fries are fried twice, which makes them crisp outside. Fat varies: Wikipedia says beef fat is prized for home frying, and Frituur De Gentpoorte fries in plant-based fat. Ask at the stand.
