The restaurants worth a reservation in Ghent, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in Ghent: bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
24 places
Order The oysters: the kitchen sources them daily and the quality is the most consistent in the city.
Pakhuis occupies a converted warehouse behind a historic alley in central Ghent. The soaring glass-ceiling interior holds a kitchen that has stayed focused.
Order The Gentse stoverij, a dark-beer beef braise that defines the dish better than most kitchens in the city.
't Klokhuys is an authentic Patershol brasserie with mirror-and-blackboard interiors, serving stoverij, waterzooi and zurkelplets without compromise.
Order The all-you-can-eat spareribs format, which is the reason most tables are booked before the week starts.
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.
Order Green curry with chicken: the in-house paste.
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 €€.
Order The txuleta from the charcoal asador, available when the kitchen has sourced the right cut, which is most.
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.
Order Whatever the kitchen is most excited about that day, usually stated by the staff unprompted at the table.
Bib Gourmand-recognised bistro in Sint-Amandsberg run by two former colleagues who built a seasonal French-Belgian menu around local suppliers.
Order The mixed sharing platter, which gives the widest view of what the kitchen does with smoke and charcoal.
RØK in Hal 16 at Dok Noord builds its menu around fire: slow-cooked meats, charcoal-roasted vegetables and grilled fish come out in sharing formats that suit.
Order The fish main, which shows the kitchen's French training most cleanly.
Steendam 66, also known as Chez Bolle, is a cosy bistro with a strong French accent housed in a historic building near Sint-Jakobs church, where the kitchen.
Order The seasonal set lunch, which gives the kitchen's quality at its best accessible price.
Volta occupies a converted turbine hall on Nieuwewandeling, serving confident Belgian brasserie cooking with a well-annotated wine list and a canal-side.
Order Two or three sharing plates of whatever the kitchen is most animated about; the staff will tell you honestly.
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.
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Treck Hostel
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When you stay at Hotel Campanile Gent in Ghent, you'll be in the business district, within a 15-minute walk...
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Order Six-course dinner menu with wine pairing: West Flemish seasonal sourcing at its fullest expression.
Roots is a Michelin-listed gastro-bistro in Patershol where chef Kim Devisschere's West Flemish heritage drives menus that change with the seasons.
Order The full set menu, which shows the kitchen's texture and flavour-contrast discipline across multiple courses.
Epiphany's Kitchen serves 100% gluten-free vegan cooking on Burgstraat with optional meat or fish add-ons for mixed-preference groups to share.
Order The full sharing menu, timed in waves so the table never feels overcrowded with plates.
Soul Kitchen opposite the Bijloke park serves plant-based fine dining in a sharing format: seasonal, organic, locally sourced produce treated with the same.
Order The daily lunch plate, which changes with what the organic suppliers have delivered that morning.
Lekker Gec has been serving organic vegetarian cooking in central Ghent long enough to qualify as an institution. The daily plates track the season.
Order The daily lunch special.
A popular student lunch hotspot in central Ghent serving vegan and vegetarian plates that change daily with the organic supply. The kitchen keeps prices.
Order The plant-based burger: the kitchen's confidence in a format it has been perfecting since its founding.
Greenway on Nederkouter is one of Ghent's original vegan pioneers, serving a rotating menu of plant-based wraps, bowls and hot plates in a fast-casual format.
Order The daily bean-based special, which gives the kitchen its identity and sits at the core of every menu.
BOON is a vegetarian lunch bar across the street from the Castle of the Counts with a bean-forward menu that takes vegetable cooking seriously. The casual.
Order Whatever the week's organic delivery has inspired; the kitchen announces the menu via their social channels.
Lokaal is a vegetarian tea room and restaurant on Brabantdam with owners Arno, Jelmer and Bliki sourcing from nearby organic farms and rotating the menu.
Order The farmer's breakfast, which is the most direct expression of the sourcing ethos and the most requested dish.
Gust is a trendy breakfast and lunch bar with ingredients sourced directly from local farmers: the freshness shows in everything from bread to eggs.
Order The weekend brunch menu, when the kitchen is fully focused and the water view is at its best.
Haddok near the Oude Dokken waterfront at Dok Noord serves contemporary Belgian brunch and lunch plates with water views and a convivial mood.
Order Frites with vegan curry sauce: the most-ordered option and clearest expression of this plant-based frituur.
De Frietketel won Best Fast Food at the Belgian Vegan Awards in 2019: a fully plant-based frituur with a wider snack range than any competitor.
Order The brunch menu on weekends, which is when the kitchen is operating at its most concentrated.
Modest is a central Ghent brunch spot with a seasonal menu that stays sharply focused on quality and never tries to overcomplicate its offer.
Order The seasonal carrot-based signature plate, rotating monthly to show the kitchen's vegetable-forward vision.
Karoot on Phoenixstraat builds hearty vegetarian and vegan comfort food around the carrot, running a friendly low-key dining room in the centre.
Order The weekend brunch menu, which brings the Parisian concept into the sharpest focus.
Et Alors near the Graslei brings Parisian bistro energy to Ghent: animated room, seasonal French-Belgian food and a weekend brunch worth booking.
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