30 editor picks across Belgium.
30 belgian restaurants worth the trip across Belgium, editor-ranked. All cuisines in Belgium.
Zilte, Viki Geunes's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Antwerp, builds its menu on fish, crustaceans and shellfish; menus run from €210 to €340.
OrderThe menu: fish, crustaceans and shellfish form its basis, complemented by terroir products from Zilte's trusted suppliers.
TipZilte is closed on Saturday and Sunday, so plan a weekday visit.
Two Michelin stars in central Ghent: chef Michaël Vrijmoed pushes Belgian produce through fermentation and global technique, with a dedicated Purs vegetarian.
OrderThe Purs vegetarian tasting menu, seven courses built around single seasonal vegetables.
TipBook the 7-course format on a Friday evening, when the kitchen serves its most ambitious version of the menu.
Hertog Jan at Botanic in Antwerp is Gert De Mangeleer's two-star room inside the Botanic Sanctuary, opened in 2021 after his three-star Zedelgem chapter.
OrderThe omakase tasting menu; the kitchen leans on the garden, beehives and greenhouse on the hotel grounds.
TipOnly open two weeks per month. Maximum 22 covers. Book three months ahead for the dinner sittings.
Bistro Bruut sits on the Meestraat canal in Bruges, cooking modern Flemish food on regional produce. Gault&Millau rates the kitchen 16 points.
OrderThe set lunch menu; the kitchen runs a tight, produce-led card that changes with the season.
TipOpen Monday to Friday only, lunch and dinner. Ask for a canal-side table when you book.
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.
OrderThe shrimp croquettes, the plain mussels or the creamy gratinated fish pan.
TipReserve a table online through the restaurant's own reservation system.
Comme Chez Soi is a Belgian restaurant at Place Rouppe 23 where five generations of one family have kept the same vision of gastronomy for a century.
TipOpen Wednesday to Saturday with a midday sitting from 12:00 and an evening sitting from 19:00; closed on Monday, Tuesday and Sunday.
Comme Chez Soi, at Place Rouppe 23, has stayed in one family for a century: five generations pursuing a demanding, sincere and deeply human gastronomy.
Roots is a Michelin-listed gastro-bistro in Patershol where chef Kim Devisschere's West Flemish heritage drives menus that change with the seasons.
OrderSix-course dinner menu with wine pairing: West Flemish seasonal sourcing at its fullest expression.
TipBook at minimum three weeks ahead; this is one of the most consistently difficult tables to secure in Ghent.
One Michelin star in a loft-style bistro on Ham street: Olly Ceulenaere champions lesser-known Belgian vegetables and local produce at every turn.
OrderThe five-course dinner menu, where the vegetable-led cooking is most focused.
TipLunch is three courses from €55 and usually has last-minute availability where dinner books out weeks ahead.
Zet'Joe at Langestraat 11 in Bruges is Geert Van Hecke's restaurant of refined, unique gastronomy, with dishes such as grey shrimp from Zeebrugge.
OrderDishes on the menus include partridge in vine leaf and navarin of brill and king crab.
TipThe menus are served per table only, and the last orders are at 13:00 and 20:00.
Menssa is Christophe Hardiquest's restaurant on Avenue de Tervueren 453, with cuisine guided by instinct and vegetarian dishes held to the same standard.
OrderThe five-sequence seasonal menu, or à la carte with a starter, main and dessert.
TipAt weekday lunch the chef offers a shorter format for those who want it; the seasonal menu runs to five sequences.
Menssa, at Avenue de Tervueren 453, is chef Christophe Hardiquest's table, cooking from what is around him, with vegetarian dishes as demanding as any.
Michelin Guide-listed bistronomic gem in Patershol: Kim Devisschere applies rigorous seasonal sourcing and West Flemish heritage to five-course menus.
OrderThe six-course dinner menu with wine pairing, where the produce quality is given room to speak at length.
TipBook at least three weeks ahead; this is one of the hardest tables in Ghent to secure.
Le Pristine in Antwerp is Sergio Herman's modern Belgian-Italian dining room in a 1960s modernist building. Crudo, wood-grilled fish and pasta.
OrderThe crudo of the day and a wood-grilled fish; the pasta course rotates with what was shopped that morning.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The Cafe two doors down is the better-value breakfast and lunch option.
Nage relocated from Reyndersstraat to a Congresstraat corner space in the 2060 quarter and now serves casual seasonal cooking with a natural-wine list.
OrderA spread of small plates paired with the natural-wine flight.
TipOpen Friday to Monday only; reserve a week ahead for weekend service.
Le Pristine in Antwerp is Sergio Herman's modern Belgian-Italian dining room in a 1960s modernist building. Located in Theaterbuurt. Priced at €€€€.
OrderThe crudo course of the day, then a wood-grilled fish plate.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The casual sister Le Pristine Cafe shares the same Lange Gasthuisstraat 13 address for breakfast and counter lunch.
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.
OrderThe monthly menu or the suggestions beside the regular card, each with a generous portion of vegetables.
TipReservations are taken by phone only, and only tables inside can be reserved, not the terrace.
Bar Pêche on Bollandusstraat, just off Britselei, is chef Semmy Roumans's small bistro built around seasonal fish, vegetables and natural wine.
OrderThe day's fish main, paired off the list with a glass of natural white.
TipThe intimate dining room books up fast; reserve a fortnight ahead for weekend tables.
Bistrot L'îlot in Antwerp is a 30-seat seasonal bistro on Eilandje. Chef Sander De Saegher runs the kitchen with a tight short-menu approach.
OrderThe four-course seasonal menu with a natural-wine pairing; the kitchen leans Loire and Burgundy.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. Book a fortnight ahead; only 30 covers per service.
Bistrot du Nord in Antwerp keeps one Michelin star for hearty classical bistro cooking. Michaël Rewers leans on meat and tripe in a tiled vintage room.
OrderAnything off the meat menu; tripe and braised cheek are the chef's signatures.
TipClosed Saturday and Sunday. Lunch is the better-value entry, around 50 euro for three courses.
Bistrot L'îlot in Antwerp is Sander De Saegher's seasonal bistro on Eilandje, opened end of 2017 after his Graanmarkt 13 sommelier years. Priced at €€€.
OrderThe four-course seasonal menu with the natural-wine pairing.
TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The bistro seats only 30, book ahead even on a Tuesday.
Restaurant Patrick Devos at Zilverstraat 41 in Bruges is a gastronomic restaurant focused on seasonal, local and organic produce and vegetables.
OrderThe 6-course plant-based menu of seasonal vegetable dishes.
TipSince 2023 a 6-course plant-based menu of seasonal vegetable dishes has been served alongside the fish and meat menus.
Rotisse, at Rue Paul Devaux 4, serves rotisserie chicken the Brussels way with Belgian specialties, a 5 minute walk from the Grand-Place of Brussels.
OrderRotisserie chicken, creamy mussels or the Caesar salad.
TipThe business lunch is 22 euros for a main course, one beverage and coffee or tea; the kitchen serves all day, every day, from 12:00 to 22:30.
50 fifty runs a bistronomy sharing-plate format on Ottogracht with vegetable-led seasonal plates rated 4.8 out of 5 by local reviewers. Located in Binnenstad.
OrderTwo or three sharing plates of whatever the kitchen is most animated about; the staff will tell you honestly.
TipCome with four people to try the widest range without over-ordering; the room accommodates groups well.
Inside the Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof on Hoogstraat, chef Paul de Groote runs a five or six-course tasting menu rooted in classical French technique.
OrderThe six-course menu on a Wednesday or Thursday, when the kitchen is at full concentration.
TipThe Sunday lunch at €17.50 to €27.50 per course is the most accessible way into this kitchen.
Brewers' Kitchen on Oude Beurs is a small Belgian-French dining room where the chef pairs seasonal plates with craft beers from local breweries.
OrderThe hand-cut steak tartare to start and the dame blanche to finish, both house signatures.
TipClosed Tuesday and Wednesday. The chef works the room and the stove, so the pace is unhurried; book the early sitting on busy nights.
Au Vieux Saint Martin has been a Brussels landmark on Place du Grand Sablon since 1968; the Niels family's ancestor invented the Filet Américain in 1924.
OrderThe Filet Américain, a recipe created by Joseph Niels in 1924.
TipThe restaurant takes no reservations, so walk in any day; the kitchen runs non-stop from noon to 23h and the last order is at 23h.
In 't Spinnekopke is a Belgian estaminet at Place du Jardin aux Fleurs 1, 1000 Brussels.
TipClosed Mondays and Tuesdays. Groups larger than 10 persons are not accepted.
Les Brigittines is a restaurant at 5 Place de la Chapelle in Brussels, run by master cook Dirk Myny, with a carte and an evening menu, Monday to Friday.
TipClosed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays; the restaurant is open Monday to Friday and reservations are taken on 02 512 68 91.
La Quincaillerie at Edelknaapstraat 45 in Ixelles, Brussels, is a brasserie with Belgian cooking, seafood and local products, plus a weekly lunch menu.
TipClosed on Mondays. On Saturday only dinner is served, and dogs are welcome in the restaurant.
