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.

Waterzooi dates to medieval Ghent when the Leie and Schelde rivers ran through the city and freshwater fish were the available protein. The name combines 'water' and 'zooien', a dialect verb for simmering. By the 15th century waterzooi was the dish of Ghent's guild feasts. The original recipe used freshwater fish; as rivers were diverted and city growth reduced the catch, cooks shifted to chicken (waterzooi van kip), but the fish version is the authentic Ghentian one. Every brasserie from the Graslei to the Patershol serves a version.

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