Frites Atelier | Gent — Restaurant in Ghent

Our visit to Frites Atelier was unfortunately disappointing from beginning to end, it was very busy upon arrival so we expected to wait for a reasonable amount of time, we ordered our food and got a buzzer to wait outside. We found a table outside, which was covered with sticky rings from previous customers beer glasses. The table wasn’t cleaned throughout our whole stay. Meanwhile I went to the bathroom as we waited, the toilet seat was soaked with urine. After a half hour wait our order still hadn’t arrived and we noticed that others who had arrived after us had already got theirs. I went to speak to the staff, I asked about the order, and they told me 10 more minutes. I told him we had already waited for half an hour and he would only repeat “there’s nothing I can do” which was frustrating. Ten minutes passed and still no fries. The same staff member came outside and we asked again about our order. He said he would check. He arrived with our order 5 minutes later. The fries were only warm. I asked to speak to a manager and the staff member said he would try to find someone. Nobody appeared. 50 minutes wait is...

We were in Ghent today and Belgian fries are of course a must. There was a long queue outside the "Frites Atelier". Always a good sign when there is something that costs money. So, we decided to stop there on the way back from our sightseeing tour. We got the last table outside and ordered inside at the counter. The waiters were friendly, helpful and patient with our menu choices. We ordered Frites & Homemade Sauce, Frites Special Parmesan & Basil and Cheddar Cheese Burgers. The fries were delicious, crispy on the outside and deliciously potatoy on the inside. The sauces were also delicious. We had mayonnaise (classic), ketchup, truffle and more. All super tasty. It tasted really homemade. The burgers were super juicy, topped with fresh ingredients, awesome cheesy and slightly spicy burger sauce - simply great. The bread roll was not soggy, which was a miracle considering how juicy it was. We were lucky that we arrived when it wasn't very busy at the counter, but we would have queued up...

As a Belgian myself ive always wondered if this place was worth the hype. Sergio Herman, the dutch cheff is well known, so we decided to give it a try.

It was good! But nothing to write home about. Personally for me these are not Belgian fries, they are too thick and dont taste like the usual Belgian fries.

I had the one with the beef stew(stoofvlees), it was okay, not bad but have had better in my other places. The Burger was extremely moist, togheter with all the sauce(cheese) it became abit unpleasant to eat.

The vegetarian option on the other hand was very delicious! The combination of the tomato with the potato matched very well!

I am glad I tried it, but I would feel very bad if tourists get the impression that these are Belgian fries. Theyre not, but they are special and unique, something different than all the...