BAVET — Restaurant in Leuven

Short summary: the service was terrible, the food was bad and there are better and cheaper alternatives in the neighborhood.

At the time of writing there were reservation time slots because of the COVID-19 regulations. We reserved a table for two, but when we arrived we were told there was no reservation made.

I ordered a "say cheese dog", with wheaty pasta, grated cheese and bacon as topping for the price of €16. This dish is the equivalent of a small whole-wheat spaghetti corbonnara. The bacon topping costs €2,5 extra and I really regret ordering it as it was burned. The bacon was no longer delicious and really hard to chew. The pasta wasn't whole-wheat at all, it was regular pasta, but according to the waitress this was whole-wheat pasta. The 4 cheese sauce had very little taste, I could recognize a bit of parmesan in it, but that's about it. It mainly tasted like cream.

As a drink I tried the homemade ice tea for €3,9. It wasn't bad at all, quite refreshing but had very little taste and was lukewarm, not iced at all.

Even though there were plenty of free tables left, we had to sit at a high table at the entrance next to other people which wasn't at a safe distance of 1,5m at all.

When we politely asked if we could have another table because one of us has chronic back pain and these seats had no back support, we were moved to a long table at the window which had 2 long narrow banks at each side..both without back support... According to the waitress this was the only available table and the other 6 free tables were apparently reserved. However, during our time slot, ALL of these tables remained free.

By the time we left, which was 1 hour later, only two of the other free tables were taken. While we were waiting in line to pay our check, two girls asked if they could have another table as well, and they could simply pick any of the other free tables..

On the background was some weird unknown rock-metal music which sometimes was loud enough to disturb a conversation. The acoustics inside weren't pleasant either, it was difficult to have a conversation without...

It's really more about the experience than the food here. It's not bad food by any means but it's really the setting/decor, the funny menus (all dishes are under €20), and the silly bibs (which do come in handy) that make it a fun choice. Plus, the portions are HUGE, so make sure you've got the appetite for it. The nacho starter looked like it could have been a meal all on it's own, especially if you got all the extra toppings added.

I was really hoping for an alfredo option, but the closest you can get is their cheese sauce. The menu is pretty limited, even though you can build your own combos or choose one of theirs. It boils down to a bolognaise or a cheese sauce with a variety of toppings, all generously heaped on top of either classic, whole wheat, or gluten-free spaghetti noodles. There are vegetarian and vegan options available.

Since this was my first time eating there, I went with the Holy Grail, which is half (not so) spicy bolognaise and half cheese sauce, topped with bacon, crispy fried onion flakes, parmesan, and sriracha. It was tasty, but didn't blow my mind and I had a lot of leftover sauce. Mine had more bolognaise but I actually preferred the cheese sauce. I snagged a meatball from a family member and those were tasty too.

Went back another time and tried the OMG They Killed Kenny with some added meatballs and that was...

I am writing this review from the point of view of a delivery rider rather than a customer at one of Bavet restaurants in Leuven, Belgium. Since the beginning of 2023, I have had bad experience taking orders from this restaurant. Their pickup location is a small window in the basement which closes most of the time because of the cold weather. There used to be a bel that we could ring to notify the employees but it was gone. Now we have to knock on the window with all our might and hope that someone will (ocassionally) reply. They keep us waiting without a hint most of the time. Riders have to either give up waiting or desperately pray for a voice. I hope that the restaurant will treat takeaway riders more fair. Dont get me wrong though, the employees are not rude or disrespectful but this is purely due to poor management. Some peopel might say "Well, just reject the orders from Bavet and move on.", however, riders do not usually want to reject orders because we will risk receiving less orders from the app. Hope things will change...