Medieval towers, Michelin kitchens, and Belgium's best frites sauce.
Ghent has done something rare: it became a serious food city while refusing to take itself too seriously. The medieval core hides two-Michelin-star kitchens alongside frituur stands where locals queue for frites in beef-stew sauce with a side of mayonnaise. The city declared Veggie Thursday in 2009, one of the first in Europe, and the vegetarian scene that grew from that nudge now rivals any comparable city in Belgium. Waterzooi, the creamy chicken-and-vegetable stew, appears on every traditional menu; so does Gentse stoverij, a deep amber beef braise that goes into the fat sauce on your frites. Cuberdons, the cone-shaped raspberry jellies, are sold at Groentenmarkt by vendors who have been at those stalls for decades. Tierenteyn-Verlent has ladled its grainy mustard from barrels at the same corner since 1790. The Patershol neighbourhood, a tangle of cobblestone lanes north of the castle, concentrated so many good kitchens in such a small space that it became the culinary shorthand for the whole city. Dok Noord, a revived industrial port area ten minutes walk away, adds a second pole with craft breweries, smoked-meat counters and specialty coffee roasters. The Gruut city brewery produces herb beers from a medieval recipe that has never used a single hop.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Ghent, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Ghent.
Waterzooi van vis is Ghent's oldest civic dish: white-broth fish stew with North Sea catch, leeks, carrots and potatoes simmered in a cream-enriched vegetable stock, served in deep bowls with crusty bread.
Where: 't Klokhuys, Amadeus Gent 1, Pakhuis
Stoverij met frites is the canonical Ghent pub dish: beef slow-braised in Flemish dark beer with onion and bay leaf, darkened with a mustard-spread slice of bread on top, served over a cone of double-fried frites.
Where: 't Klokhuys, Amadeus Gent 2, Pakhuis
The cuberdon is a pointed purple sugar-gum cone in violet-raspberry syrup, produced in East Flanders: firm on the outside, liquid at the core, and sold from competing stalls on the Groentenmarkt since the 19th century.
Where: Cuberdon Stalls at Groentenmarkt, Bobonne Cuberdon, De Echte Gentse Neuzen
Ghent mustard from Tierenteyn-Verlent is drawn fresh from a wooden barrel in the 1790 Groentenmarkt shop: sharper and more aromatic than any industrial version, used in stoverij and across Flemish kitchens.
Where: Tierenteyn-Verlent Mustard Shop
Gruut Inferno is Ghent's herbal amber ale brewed without hops using a medieval gruit recipe of bay laurel, sweet gale and juniper at the Gruut Stadsbrouwerij on Rembert Dodoensdreef.
Where: Gruut Stadsbrouwerij, Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant
White asparagus from the Mechelen-Ghent growing belt, poached in salted water and served with browned butter, hard-boiled egg and parsley. The defining Flemish spring vegetable at Ghent brasseries from April to June.
Where: Vrijmoed, Publiek, Bask
Where to eat Vlaamse Asperges (Flemish White Asparagus) in Ghent →
Zeeland mussels steamed in white wine, shallots and parsley then served in the cooking pot alongside double-fried Flemish frites with mayonnaise: the canonical Belgian brasserie dish available in Ghent from late July.
Where: Pakhuis, 't Klokhuys
Where to eat Mosselen met Friet (Mussels with Frites) in Ghent →
Belgian speculoos is a spiced shortcrust biscuit with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and dark brown sugar: crispier than the Dutch version, carved from wooden moulds at Ghent bakeries.
Where: The Bakery by Joost Arijs, Himschoot Bakery
The Liege waffle is a yeast-leavened brioche waffle studded with pearl sugar that caramelises on the iron: chewier and more filling than the Brussels waffle, sold at street stalls and bakeries across Ghent.
Where: Waffles and Beer, Vrijdagmarkt
Belgian jenever is the ancestor of gin: a malt-wine spirit redistilled with juniper and botanicals, either served young (jonge jenever) or aged (oude jenever) in ceramic bolleke glasses at specialist jenever bars.
Where: 't Dreupelkot, Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant
Belgian praline: a shell of dark or milk couverture chocolate encasing a filling of butter ganache, gianduja or praliné cream, made by Ghent chocolatiers including Joost Arijs patisserie on the Vlaanderenstraat.
Where: The Bakery by Joost Arijs
A side-by-side tasting of Belgium's five Trappist beers: Westmalle Dubbel and Tripel, Chimay Bleue, Rochefort 10, Orval, and Westvleteren 12.
Where: Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant, De Dulle Griet Beer Bar, Het Trappistenhuis, De Hopduvel Beer Shop, Dok Noord Beer Hall
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Ghent.
Pakhuis occupies a converted warehouse behind a historic alley in central Ghent. The soaring glass-ceiling interior holds a kitchen that has stayed focused.
Signature: Oysters, Moules frites, Smoked salmon
't Klokhuys is an authentic Patershol brasserie with mirror-and-blackboard interiors, serving stoverij, waterzooi and zurkelplets without compromise.
Signature: Gentse stoverij, Waterzooi, Zurkelplets
Amadeus in Patershol built its reputation on all-you-can-eat spareribs served in warm candlelit rooms since it opened in the city's oldest quarter.
Signature: All-you-can-eat spareribs, Irish Coffee
Le Baan Thai has anchored Thai cooking in the Patershol since 1988 and earned the 2026 Michelin Bib Gourmand for a short menu run. Priced at €€.
Signature: Green curry, Tom kha gai, Pad kra pao
Bib Gourmand-rated Bar Bask occupies a converted gas station at the edge of Dok Noord, with a wood-fired Basque asador for txuleta, turbot and lobster.
Signature: Txuleta, Turbot over asador, Lobster
Bib Gourmand-recognised bistro in Sint-Amandsberg run by two former colleagues who built a seasonal French-Belgian menu around local suppliers.
Signature: Seasonal market menu, Local produce plates
The oldest residential quarter of Ghent, a tangle of cobblestone lanes between the castle and the canal. Restaurants are packed so tightly here that choosing one means turning down twenty others.
Best for: Flemish classics, Fine dining, Cocktail bars, Indonesian
Ghent's most photographed strip, where medieval guild houses line both banks of the Leie. Terraces here fill fast on warm days; the iconic view repays the tourist-area prices.
Best for: Terrace dining, Brasseries, Tourist-friendly Belgian
A revived 19th-century port complex ten minutes north of the medieval centre. Industrial warehouses now hold craft breweries, specialty roasters, a food hall and one of Belgium's best beer bottle shops.
Best for: Craft beer, Specialty coffee, Street food, Food hall
A historic market square that was the political and commercial heart of medieval Ghent. The Friday morning food market still draws locals; the surrounding streets have some of the city's best beer cafes.
Best for: Belgian beer bars, Friday market stalls, Traditional brasseries
The elegant commercial square at the city's south end, anchored by the Sunday flower market. Good for brunch cafes and wine bars around the perimeter.
Best for: Brunch, Wine bars, Sunday market stalls
The neighbourhood around the main train station, gradually smartening up. A scattering of independent coffee shops and casual bistros serves the student population from the nearby university campus.
Best for: Cafes, Budget eating, Casual bistros
Peak food season: April to June and September to November. Summer sees Gentse Feesten in mid-July, ten days when the city eats and drinks outdoors. August is quiet; some kitchens close for two weeks.
Local dining hours: Lunch 12:00-14:30, Dinner 19:00-22:00. Kitchens in the Patershol often close earlier than city-centre brasseries. Most brown cafes open from early afternoon and stay open past midnight.
Tipping: Service is not automatically included. Rounding up or leaving 5 to 10 per cent for good service is appreciated. Cash tips are preferred; card tip prompts are rare.
Ghent's signature dishes include Waterzooi van Vis, Stoverij met Frites, Cuberdon (Gentse Neuzen), Tierenteyn Ghent Mustard, Gruut Inferno (Herbal Beer). See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
TableJourney editors map Ghent by district. Patershol, Graslei and Korenlei, Dok Noord, Vrijdagmarkt are among the strongest for food, each with its own guide.
Editor picks in Ghent include Vrijmoed, OAK, Publiek, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.
TableJourney covers 5 editor-picked food tours in Ghent, with what each shows you and how much to budget.
TableJourney's Ghent dietary chapter covers vegan, vegetarian, gluten_free, halal, kosher venues, each editor-picked with what to order and how to ask.