de lieve — Restaurant in Ghent

We spotted this place when walking from our hotel around the corner. It looked so lovely when peering through the window, with a menu with homely winter dishes, we decided to book for the following evening.

The evening starting off very promising: entering a warm and cosy room with a great Friday-night buzz in full-swing (we were there for their 2nd sitting of the evening: a rare concept these days?) for our 2 seats at the bar.

However, it all went a bit pear-shaped after that. My cocktail chosen from the menu was shown as being made with a Reserve bourbon, but I watched it made with a budget Irish whiskey. I saw others being made with this too. Not wanting to start the evening off badly by making a fuss I let it slip.

I ordered Beef Bourguinon. What arrived was some chicken in a sauce in a pot. I told the wait-staff I think this is chicken. The server sent someone else to us and I had to repeat it. A third person came over and I had to repeat it them again. They told me it was beef: special beef from the cheek of the cow. I repeated for the 4th time that this looked like chicken, had the texture of chicken, had the shape of chicken and definitely tasted of chicken. The beef-cheek story was repeated.

It was taken away and I was then soon told that the "chef" had "opened the wrong packet, it was packet destined for next week's menu". The person (I don't know their name as although all the staff wore little metal, pin-on name-badges they all had the same name: that of the restaurant) then told me that this complaint had happened before; "chef" opening wrong packet and passing-off chicken as beef.

I waited 20mins for another packet of boil-in-the-bag beef to be re-heated. My other dishes got cold. My wife's meal got cold. When the beef arrived, all 5 of the 2cm cubes were delicious: but my, such a tiny portion. They did bring out fresh frites to go with it. (I guess the marginal cost of these was around €1?).

When the bill was presented we had a full charge for my meal, full charge for my wife's cold meal. When challenged, I was told that I had got what I had paid for and therefore was being charged in full (bar the €1 fries). The concept of hospitality and what a shared evening meal in such an establishment really means was totally lost on them. I was told it was my wfe's issue for letting her meal get cold. I took the oppotunity to call them on the Old Fashioned too. The cocktail-maker admitted it was an error. I did mention that it was an error multiple times in making it with inferior products. The cost was removed eventually.

After a huge mistake by the kitchen, after an unnecessary denial of the problem, the staff had the opportunity to apply common-sense to help mollify 2 very unhappy customers. They chose not to even after being presented with many chances to do so. The person dealing with us said they would do more and were "only following the rules of the head office". I now discover that this local bistro is just one brand of a much larger chain of establishments: not all it might seem on the surface.

Have now read the other reviews here. I guess the restaurant doesn't read them or if they do, fail to respond.

For all of the above, I can...

Good food, small portions, big price.

It was the first time at this restaurant and I had a mixed opinion about the place, the food and their menu. They offer a small food selection with simple plates, some of them typical from the area. Their wine selection is very big, so I am sure you will find something you like.

I already knew it was going to be expensive, but when I saw the food on my plate and I saw how much money I was going to pay, I had some regrets about my choice. Food was tasty but quite simple and certainly more expensive than in other quality restaurants.

In some cases, prices have around 10€ inflation compared to similar restaurants in the area (I am not talking about touristic ones). Portions are small, so you are expected to take a first and a second or even a dessert. Otherwise, you will feel hungry.

Be prepared to spend around 60€ without drinks or dessert if you choose for a first and a second course.

As an example, we took a tomato salad (22€), mussels (19€) combined with "ribstuk" (39€) and pasta vongole (32€). Even if the food was very tasty, I found portions very small for the price you pay, so I guess this is the reason I can't rate with more stars. Even if they were friendly and the food was nice, I didn't find the price being fair.

Do I recommend this place? Yes I do, but make the good choice. I would suggest selecting the pasta vongole but don't spend your money on an overpriced tomato salad, for example.

If you are used to eat a lot or having big portions, this is definitely not your place. If you appreciate good food, you don't really care that much about quantity, and money is not a problem, please come to this place because food is very tasty.

TIP: if you choose for meat, please, let the waiter know how much you want your portion to be cooked, otherwise they won't ask and you will receive meat in the way they like it to be prepared.

Take a look at the pictures so you have an idea about their selection at the time of writing this review.

By the way, don't expect a fancy restaurant. It has a classical setting but it is quite hipster. Dress code allows wearing everything (at our visit some people were wearing elegant clothes and other people were wearing...

Disappointing service for the price — not worth €82 per person.

We were a group of five friends trying to enjoy the end of the weekend. Although we didn’t have a reservation, we appreciated being given a table with the condition that it would be available until 20:00. We arrived at 18:40, which seemed reasonable for a relaxed dinner.

The service was polite, the food was fine, nothing remarkable, but nothing to complain about either. However, the experience quickly took a turn. At 19:52, while we were still waiting for extra fries we had ordered, we were told we had 10 minutes left at the table. We understood the time limit, but the tone was abrupt and unwelcoming, especially considering that several tables were still free and there was no one waiting to be seated.

At 20:06, while still finishing our food, we were presented with the bill without being asked if we wanted coffee or dessert, or even being offered the option to move inside, which was completely empty at the time.

If the restaurant couldn’t provide a proper experience within the timeframe, that should have been made clear from the beginning. At €82 per person, this level of service was simply not acceptable. We left with the feeling of being rushed out rather than welcomed, not exactly how you want to end a weekend...