Tasting menus, Michelin stars and the chefs redefining Ghent.
Tasting menus, Michelin stars, and the kitchens redefining what fine dining means in Ghent.
Two Michelin stars in central Ghent: chef Michaël Vrijmoed pushes Belgian produce through fermentation and global technique, with a dedicated Purs vegetarian.
Order: The Purs vegetarian tasting menu, seven courses built around single seasonal vegetables.
Tip: Book the 7-course format on a Friday evening, when the kitchen serves its most ambitious version of the menu.
One Michelin star and 24 seats in a Ghent medieval lane: Marcelo Ballardin fuses Italian-Brazilian roots with North Sea ingredients and Asian technique.
Order: The dinner seven-course menu, where the international combinations are given fullest expression.
Tip: Lunch Tuesday to Friday offers a four-course format at a gentler price, and the room is equally relaxed.
One Michelin star in a loft-style bistro on Ham street: Olly Ceulenaere champions lesser-known Belgian vegetables and local produce at every turn.
Order: The five-course dinner menu, where the vegetable-led cooking is most focused.
Tip: Lunch is three courses from €55 and usually has last-minute availability where dinner books out weeks ahead.
Michelin Guide-listed bistronomic gem in Patershol: Kim Devisschere applies rigorous seasonal sourcing and West Flemish heritage to five-course menus.
Order: The six-course dinner menu with wine pairing, where the produce quality is given room to speak at length.
Tip: Book at least three weeks ahead; this is one of the hardest tables in Ghent to secure.
Inside the Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof on Hoogstraat, chef Paul de Groote delivers a five or six-course gastronomic experience trained under.
Order: The six-course menu on a Wednesday or Thursday, when the kitchen is at full concentration.
Tip: The Sunday lunch at €17.50 to €27.50 per course is the most accessible way into this kitchen.
Housed in a converted turbine hall at Nieuwewandeling, Volta serves confident Belgian brasserie cooking with an upmarket edge and a wine list that rewards.
Order: The seasonal set lunch, which delivers the kitchen's quality at its most accessible price.
Tip: The terrace along the canal is one of Ghent's finest outdoor dining spots on a warm evening.
Bib Gourmand-rated Bask converts a former petrol station into a fire-lit Basque asador, with turbot, txuleta and guinea fowl from their own farm.
Order: Txuleta from the Basque-style charcoal grill, served to share with market vegetables from their own farm.
Tip: Book the counter seats facing the asador for the full show; the smoke and theatrics are the point.
Bib Gourmand-rated bistro in Sint-Amandsberg run by two former colleagues, with a seasonally refreshed menu that leans on local producers strongly.
Order: The daily changing lunch menu, the most honest expression of what the kitchen is doing with today's delivery.
Tip: Call ahead to confirm this day's menu style; it shifts more frequently than most similarly-priced kitchens.
Ghent's most serious vegan fine-dining room: a sharing-plate format built around seasonal organic produce from local farms, served in a calm space opposite.
Order: The full sharing menu, timed to arrive in waves so you never have too much on the table at once.
Tip: Book Thursday through Saturday evenings for the full menu; the Sunday lunch is shorter but equally well-sourced.
A French-influenced bistro in a handsome historic building near Sint-Jakobs church on Steendam, with confident cooking that plays classical French technique.
Order: The fish main course, which shows the kitchen at its most focused and technically rigorous.
Tip: The lunch menu is shorter and represents excellent value against the dinner format.
Tucked inside the Hal 16 food hall at Dok Noord, Officina Raffaelli serves fresh Italian pizza and Tuscan regional dishes sourced as close to the Italian.
Order: The fresh pizzas and pasta dishes, where the Tuscan sourcing ethos shows most clearly.
Tip: Combine a meal here with a beer from Dok Brewing Company next door for the full Dok Noord experience.
A Michelin Guide-listed creative restaurant in Sint-Amandsberg, where the kitchen takes seasonal Belgian produce in directions that borrow from across Europe.
Order: The menu of the day, which changes frequently and tracks the kitchen's best current thinking.
Tip: The Friday lunch is the one daytime service and often has more availability than the evening slots.
Alix is a warmly decorated coach house near Sint-Pieters station serving seasonal Belgian cooking with a French accent in an honest, personal dining room.
Order: The weekend brunch menu, which pushes the kitchen into more playful territory than the regular dinner service.
Tip: Walk in for lunch and you stand a decent chance of a table without a booking; evenings fill quickly.
A sharing-plates concept on Ottogracht with a strong vegetable focus: the menu rotates with the season and the kitchen splits its attention evenly between.
Order: Two or three sharing plates of whatever the kitchen is most excited about that week.
Tip: Come with a group of four to maximise the number of plates you can try without over-ordering.
Dedicated vegan restaurant in central Ghent with a kitchen that goes beyond bean patties: creative preparations of plant proteins and seasonal vegetables.
Order: The full set menu if available, where the kitchen's commitment to texture and flavour contrast shows most.
Tip: Check their social media for the current week's menu before booking; it changes more often than the printed card suggests.
Editor picks in Ghent include Vrijmoed, OAK, Publiek, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.