Jilles Beer & Burgers Oostende — Restaurant in Ostend

One of the finest burger places at the Belgian coast. Located at the seafront it's absolutely great to watch the sun set and enjoy a great burger with a great beach side atmosphere. The menu caters to both carnivores, vegetarians and vegans. The menu also has a small selection for kids. With each burger the menu offers a helpful selection of recommended beers. Burger prices are very steep if compared to prices at a golden arches fast food chain, but you get much more than the tasteless bun and third grade meat. Here buns are premium bread and sizeable, and the burgers, both meat and non meat versions are distinguishably of a premium quality. The burger itself is accompanied by a jar of mayolike based apple and other vegetable mix- interesting concept. This might not be to everyone's liking though- as the traditional way of serving burgers in Belgian would be with a larger salad and fries- at a comparable price. If you want fries, they cost extra, but worth it-though one portion per two people would for most people be enough (large hand cut , baked in grease, yet not over-greasy and perfectly crunchy and soft in all the right places). As to drinks, as mentioned they have a very satisfying selection of beers that are matched with the burgers, as well as tasty home made jar served lemonades. Places fill up quickly on sunny evenings so come early or call ahead. Service is generally friendly and accommodating, however... On the down side, every single table around us was served a wrong order. Clearly the order system, though seemingly hi-tech with mobile devices and special buzzing watches, was no match for the sunny summer evening crowd. Double check your bill when paying as we did not receive all the orders we made, yet were charged for them. The non-supplied orders were deducted once pointed out, as was the case with the people around us. When leaving I was stopped non-discretely at the exit and asked whether I had not forgotten to pay, by the same waiter I had paid to at the cash register five minutes earlier. Again, after a verification in the system, a technical mistake apparently- though a waiter should at least remember a paying client's face for more than five minutes... Order mixups, being billed for non delivered food, being stopped from leaving in public and asked to pay when one has just paid to the same waiter- these are all mistakes which should not occur in an establishment which clearly has put in effort to bring an impressive menu with quality food in an otherwise pleasant setting to those willing to pay premium prices for premium food. Despite the downsides, definitely a place I will be revisiting with my colleagues and friends, and hopefully this time without the technical and human glitches in...

Info: I am a solo traveller and often eat alone. This is the only time I have ever felt compelled to write a review, let alone a negative one.

Pros: Burger was okay Views of the beach were brilliant

Cons: Once i asked to pay, and waited 5 minutes for the bill to come, I sat in the pictured position and waited patiently (i truly believe) for someone to come AND TAKE MY MONEY FROM ME.

I waited for 40 minutes as one waitress very politely turned away 9 groups (I counted) of 2-4 people that could have happily had my table. In the meantime, I watched 3 different tables around me pay their bills and walk out. Each time, the waiter or waitress walked directly past the below pictured setup with the card reader in their hand.

When a waitress eventually came to take my money from me, i explained how long I had been waiting. She seemed very busy and stressed - I understand that. Ostende is terribly busy right now. However, what was a shame was that all she could tell me was that she was sorry and then question why I did not put my hand up to get THEIR attention.

I still paid for that meal in euros aswell as my time.

I stay very close to this restaurant and will be for the next 3-6 months. I was intially quite looking forward to having such a conventiently located burger restaurant nearby. I can honestly say i would have likely eaten here around 2 times per week due to location and the view.

I will not be anymore and I recommend that you...

We went there bc of the 4 star rating and when we saw there was free beer for gingers, my wife asked if she could have one. The way the waitress responded was rude and she refused bc she thought my wife wasn't a natural red head. In any case she didn't want the beer..it was merely a conversation starter/making a joke to the waitress. When we ordered our food we were surprised that our burger didn't come with fries but instead a side salad aka cole slaw with apples. So we ordered a fry to share but the portion was not enough for two ppl to share, so we ordered an extra fry. I was almost done with my meal when we asked the waitress to check the kitchen for the other fry. She responded rudely, stating that it takes 4 min to cook but we have already been waiting for about 10 min. Then she didn't go back to check. Instead the other waiter dropped off our fries and more than half were at room temperature. Aside from all of that, the Angus beef was chewy and tasted like a frozen patty. The bun was undercooked and dough. This wouldn't have been a big deal if it as a 5 dollar burger but 16 euro I want a properly cooked burger with fries. When our waitress asked how the meal was we were honest and that just made her even more rude towards us. I will never go back or recommend this restaurant to any of my friends. You are merely paying for an ocean front view with alot of construction and kids...