Restauranger i Gent - och lokala specialiteter i Belgien

In co-operation with Visit Flanders

There are plenty of restaurants in Ghent, and today we can tell you about local specialities in Belgium. We went on a guided tour focusing on local food and local treats. We have also visited two good restaurants, one of which offered a journey through a dozen well-composed tasting dishes. Belgium for foodies simply!

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Restaurants in Ghent

We have now moved on from the cosy Unesco city of pier to Ghent, which is also a very nice and charming city. I (Helena) have actually been here once before, at a conference with my work. Even then I liked this city, although of course I had limited time to look around. Now we've had the chance to see a lot more! We'll start today by telling you about some great food experiences.

READ MORE: 10 things to see and do in Ghent, Belgium

Guided tour focusing on local specialities

We went on a guided tour focusing on local specialities. Great fun! The tour is called "Sneukelen Met Stijl" and is organised by the company VIZIT. They also have another tour, where you go between four different restaurants, each serving a different dish that together make a complete meal. For our part, the tour began with some interesting historical facts and a visit to the old meat hall, where meat is still hanging on the ceiling.

Kött i taket — The roof is built like an upside-down ship!

We continued to the charcuterie Slagerij Zwaenepoel, at Donkersteeg 33. Here we tasted "gentse kop", which is similar to jam, as well as liver paste and one of the sausages hanging on the wall. All meat products are made in the shop, and it feels like it's fresh. The sausage in particular was really good! Then we couldn't resist photographing the birds with their whole heads still attached ...

The tour went on to the cheese shop Het mekka van de kaas, which sells cheeses both from Belgium and other countries. If you like cheese, this is truly heaven! We tried two Belgian cheeses that were super good, one from Ghent and one from another part of the country.

After the cheese, we slipped into a luxurious little shop with a huge crystal chandelier on the ceiling, called Aux Merveilleux de Fred. Here you find really beautiful, and also very tasty, pastries.

The last stop on the tour was at a shop that looks like it came from grandma's time. Alice Magasin, located at Sint-Michielsstraat 3, sells products served in the restaurant of the same name, ranging from small pickled cucumbers to lots of different sweet pies. We chose to try a piece of cheesecake and a piece of a cake with pears and walnuts. Very tasty!

More specialities

In addition to what we got to try during the tour, we have seen a lot of other local specialities here in town. You can of course find Belgian chocolate and Belgian waffles here and there. We have also seen several carts selling some kind of fruit candy (we think, we have been too full to try!). There are also shops selling locally produced mustard. An interesting thing we learnt is that they usually serve cheese with mustard here!

READ MORE: We try Belgian waffles in Belgium

Restaurants in Ghent

We haven't had time to eat at many restaurants in Ghent, but two of the ones we have eaten at are really worth mentioning. We had lunch at restaurant Lepelblad, and here we ordered a delicious salad with chèvre, beetroot, blackberries and granola. Yummy!

READ MORE: Belgian beer - and breweries in Belgium
READ MORE: 4 good restaurants in Brussels - great Belgian food

Restaurant Souvenir and more food from Ghent

We have also had a restaurant experience worthy of the most ardent of foodies. If you like tasting menus with small well-composed dishes, accompanied by well-balanced wines, then we can warmly recommend the restaurant. Souvenir in Ghent, and their "Carte blanche".

We were served about ten small dishes. At least. In fact, we lost count after a while. What all the dishes had in common was that they were small, light and interesting. Among other things, we got a tasty cold tomato soup, a super good soup with mussels, a baked onion with lentils and two exciting fish dishes. And then desserts of course!

What also made the evening a great experience was the friendly and relaxed staff. The owner, Vilhjalmur Sigurdarson, comes from Iceland and is passionate about serving fresh local seasonal produce to people who appreciate good food.

The wine was served by a happy and relaxed sommelier, who gave us several interesting wines to try. Among other things, we were served several really good rosé wines. For one of the dishes, we got two different wines, along with the request to try and find out which one we thought was best. A super nice evening quite simply, which we will not forget in the first place.

Video about restaurants in Ghent

Peter has put together a film about the tasting menu and other food in Ghent. Feel free to check it out!

20 Comments

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Lena - gott för själen says:

What beautiful savoury dishes you were offered! And different. But cheese and mustard....

Hug Lena

24 August 2018 - 7:03

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Very nice, interesting and tasty dishes! 🙂 We tried cheese and mustard once and it worked well, but I still prefer cheese without mustard 😉.
  
  24 August 2018 - 9:32
  
OnTripDK says:

Ghent is a lovely city. I actually like it better than Bruges because there are too many people. Quite funny I have been on the same trip as you have been and I also had lunch at Lepelblad. Nice restaurant.

/Annette

24 August 2018 - 8:32

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  We also like Ghent! Lively, but still nice and relaxed atmosphere with all the students. And as I said, not just a tourist city. Nice that you were also on the tour and on leoelblad! 🙂
  
  24 August 2018 - 9:35
  
Steve says:

Speaking of awesome. I think you are great at finding, and showing, gems along your travelling routes.

24 August 2018 - 10:54

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Thanks Steve! We like finding pearls! 🙂
  
  24 August 2018 - 16:57
  
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

I had no idea that Ghent was such a 'food city'.
I felt like I was in a paltry coma just reading this post.
The tasting menu looked really cool!

24 August 2018 - 13:47

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  The tasting menu was something special, for sure! And there are plenty of goodies here 🙂
  
  24 August 2018 - 16:57
  
Husisblogg says:

It's almost like tapas, all these small dishes. But so good to try some local specialities.
Have a nice weekend!

24 August 2018 - 18:03

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  We love small dishes, especially in restaurants that dare to experiment! 🙂
  
  24 August 2018 - 20:49
  
Reiselinda says:

Now I got hungry even though we just went out to eat!

24 August 2018 - 20:22

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Haha, yes I get hungry when I think about these experiences 🙂 .
  
  24 August 2018 - 20:50
  
BP says:

Dregel, dregel! Thank you for the culinary tour. As Steve says, you have been world champions in finding both culinary and other gems during this trip.

PS. Even in France, chickens and other birds are sold with both head and feet. The worst thing is that neither the head nor the feet are cut off before the bird is cooked. DS.

24 August 2018 - 20:59

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  I can almost imagine that you can find birds with heads and feet in France! We remember seeing at least small birds being sold whole there (and a lot of other unexpected meat ;)). Maybe we in Sweden have become too used to the fact that meat hardly looks like what it really is anymore ...
  
  24 August 2018 - 23:44
  
Bara brittiskt says:

Ghent is nice because it's not as touristy as Bruges. Our favourite "fritkots" can be found here at the Vrijdagmarkt. There are no better fries. 🙂

24 August 2018 - 21:49

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  Agree that Ghent is a relaxed and pleasant city and less touristy than Bruges, which we also like (although Bruges is incredibly charming in its own way!). We probably missed buying Fritkots right there, but we have eaten it in other places 🙂.
  
  24 August 2018 - 23:46
  
Lena i Wales says:

I have forwarded this post to a friend who is going to Ghent in the autumn. She has lived there for a few years, but it was a while ago and certainly something new for her.

25 August 2018 - 14:09

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  How nice that you wanted to pass on the post! Some of the places we visited were actually quite new. We will also come back tomorrow with a post on "things to do in Ghent". On the other hand, there may be more obvious things, if your friend has lived in Ghent.
  
  25 August 2018 - 20:12
  
Inga Magnusson says:

My prejudice is that Holland and Belgium have no food culture. I think they have been influenced throughout history by so many different countries' food traditions that they have not developed their own food. But I could be completely wrong. It has been a very long time since I visited the area.

26 August 2018 - 10:03

- Comment by post author
  
  Helena says:
  
  There are certainly influences from many places because these countries are "in the middle", but I understand there are also their own dishes, such as waterzooi in Belgium. And they've also developed French fries 😉.
  
  31 August 2018 - 14:32

Restaurants in Ghent - and local specialities in Belgium

In co-operation with Visit Flanders

Restaurants in Ghent

Guided tour focusing on local specialities

More specialities

Restaurants in Ghent

Restaurant Souvenir and more food from Ghent

Video about restaurants in Ghent

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20 Comments

Lena - gott för själen says:

Helena says:

OnTripDK says:

Helena says:

Steve says:

Helena says:

Britt-Marie Lundgren says:

Helena says:

Husisblogg says:

Helena says:

Reiselinda says:

Helena says:

BP says:

Helena says:

Bara brittiskt says:

Helena says:

Lena i Wales says:

Helena says:

Inga Magnusson says:

Helena says:

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