Keizershof — Restaurant in Ghent

This place was fantastic and could easily be over looked as one of the other more "touristy" type restaurants on the square. We were recommended this place by our airBnB host as being good local food. The restaurant space was simple with exposed brick and a high ceiling and nice lighting. A very welcoming space. One of the owners (I guess as he was in the painting on the wall - you won't miss it) greeted us and we found him a bit awkward. Not so warm. But the rest of the waitresses were lovely and gave exceptional service. Making a choice on the menu was difficult with a lot of really good options - there didn't seem to be any token dishes on the menu. The vegetarian operations didn't seem an afterthought. Each dish was listed with a recommended Belgian beer. The was a reasonable beer list on the wall and a nice wine selection. Our food was great. Desserts even better. Definitely a place to visit if in Ghent in that...

We were pretty exited to try local Belgian cousin, and even had to come back here twice (since the first time we came on Monday and they're closed). The atmosphere is very nice, the staff is also nice and friendly. The veranda on the second floor is very romantic. Unfortunately, the only true reason for visiting a restaurant (a pricie one I might add) is food, and here these guys failed big time. We ordered a stake and the beefstew. The stake was simply dry and "dead", with no flavors. The stew was very salty and the taste was simply not good. Even the french fries were dry and bad. It's very unfortunate cause the prices are pretty high and one could expect a nice dinner in return. But, I guess a touristic place is a touristic...

UNRECOMMENDABLE EXPERIENCE. THE OWNER WAS TERRIBLE. The service was good and cooperative. The food was fine, but the issue was with the payment. We were a group from different countries (Japan, Spain, Belgium, England, Germany, and Ireland). On the back of the menu, it stated in very small print that they do not split the bill. When it came time to pay, we explained that we were having issues due to being from different countries with different payment methods. The waitstaff, who were very kind, called the owner to explain the situation, and he was extremely rude and unpleasant. It's a shame. WE WILL NOT RETURN AND DO NOT...