Koekoek Tavern — Restaurant in Ostend

Good chicken, not dry, juicy and tasty. I craved roasted chicken and got served what I expected. We both got the dish with French Fries and mayo, and applesauce. I must say that I was disappointed that the apple sauce was basically out of a glass pot, the kind you buy yourself from the supermarket when you're too tired to cook (did not expect a restaurant to be too tired to cook 😋). Keep in mind they do not hand out cutlery (just a spoon if you ordered the apple sauce). It is expected to eat with your hands as being part of the experience. I did not mind this part but what I did mind was the post meal lemon towelettes they gave... They were completely useless like dried out cardboard and didn't wipe up any greasy mess. I think, even if I truly believe that the restaurant is making a nice profit with low spending costs (one meal is 15€), that quality towelettes and fresh compote wouldn't be too much of a hassle for this establishment... Also when a guest asks for cutlery, it couldn't hurt to hand it out... Was I satisfied with my dinner? Yes very much so. The experience however not so much. Extra stars for...

We ordered a half chicken and fries to share and we got one plate with one little two-pronged wooden fork, no knife at all. Clearly they intend you to eat chicken by hand. Despite the difficulties the chicken was good but a far cry from being the supposed "best chicken in town".

Service was barely existent - They're one of those restaurants that follow the new trend of having customers order over an app, and the app wasn't working for us. One waiter (or busboy) was able to take our order, another waiter had difficulties speaking French and English with us.

All in all, it's a fine place and great ambience to grab a drink and some little snacks but not for a meal. Some personal criticisms from me, they use a lot of one-time use cups for the fries and plastic cups for the sauces they provide. I'd much rather have cutlery and plates, bowls and...

We visited this restaurant before, so we were very disappointed about our experience today. We booked two days in advance in person, a table for 8 people for 12h30. When we arrived at 12:20, we were ignored at the entrance. When we finally at 12:40 got a waitress to speak with us, we told her that we had a reservation. She immediately told us the table was given away because we were 30min too late. This was ridiculous as our reservation was for 12h30 and we were there in advance. Another waiter came to tell us his colleague probably wrote down the wrong time. The funny thing was that we actually did the reservation with him. The service was very unprofessional and unfriendly. They will never...