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.
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 weekend brunch menu, which pushes the kitchen into more playful territory than the regular dinner service.
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 Aeropress with the house Colombian: a clean, sweet cup that travels from bean to cup in under five minutes.
OR Coffee's Sint-Pieters lab is the original Ghent location, serving slow brews and breakfast sandwiches in a bright room near the university campus.
Order Cheese roll: a dense, savoury roll with a strong Gruyere filling, sold warm from 07:30.
Boulangerie Bloch has been baking at this Sint-Pieters address since 1899, with an Alsatian-influenced range: diverse breads, quiches and cheese rolls.
OR Coffee sources direct-trade arabica from South American and African farms and now runs its Ghent Coffee Lab on Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat after vacating Dok.
The original Ghent OR Coffee Lab near the university serves the full slow-brew range alongside breakfast sandwiches and barista-led filter education sessions.
On this list, shown aboveLekker GecPacha Mama
Vooruit is a 1914 socialist arts palace that hosts Ghent's most culturally ambitious club nights: electronic acts, hip-hop and experimental sound in a grand art-nouveau ballroom.
