Mémé Gusta

I tried this traditional Flemish restaurant for the first time and I was truly impressed. The food is excellent — and coming from an Italian, that really means something. Everything was genuinely delicious. The service was outstanding. The waitresses were extremely kind, spoke multiple languages, and were incredibly helpful. I felt very well taken care of from start to finish. The location is great too: right near the center of Ghent and just steps away from the castle. It was a really pleasant surprise, and I will definitely come back. Highly, highly recommended.

A perfect evening with a wonderful menu. Hearty cuisine featuring traditional Belgian dishes. Service and food of a very high standard, yet all in a casual atmosphere. This makes dining fun.

Nice space. Clean and tastefully decorated. Servers are very busy as they are few and many tables. The food were delectable and portions are generous. The vol-au-vents is the best I have tasted so far. I especially love how they have food options not readily available elsewhere - calf's brain, veal tongue. Reservation is needed as it gets full.

Came here on our first night visiting Belgium and it was a wonderful experience. They have digital menu in Dutch, but one can easily translate it to English through the browser. We ordered vol au vent, Flemish stew and the dishes were amazing, definitely a highlight of our trip. The service was also prompt and the waiter was very kind to answer our questions about the menu.

Definitely recommend to come here and taste the best pork stew in your life. Ordering here has a gimmick using play card to scan which is unique. Afterward, having good welcome with bread, salted butter, lard, and little shrimp. I order the most famous dish here - Stew Mémé Gusta with salad, fries and warm apples (Pork, brown beer, onion). This dish is far than miracle, melted in my mouth, cooked perfectly for long hour I can feel.

I recently had lunch here with friends on a Saturday, and overall, we had a pleasant experience! The warm welcome and cozy interior set a great tone right from the start. We particularly enjoyed the fresh shrimp, which paired wonderfully with the bread, butter, and delicious pork fat alongside our cocktails. We opted for just the main courses, and we were delighted by the remarkable flavors of the Belgian dishes. One unique touch was the sauce served straight from a saucepan, adding to the dining experience. However, I have to mention that some of the portion sizes felt a bit small for the men in our group, and the wait time was longer than we anticipated. As Belgians, we found it to feel like your typical brasserie, albeit on the pricier side. I can see this being a fantastic spot for tourists looking to enjoy authentic local cuisine. It truly captures the essence of what a good Belgian restaurant should offer—food that reminds you of your grandmother’s cooking. Is it worth it? If you’re a tourist, absolutely! For locals like us, it’s a solid choice but perhaps not the most affordable option if you're looking for the same dishes elsewhere. The combination of a warm welcome, high-quality food, and a cozy ambiance made for a memorable dining experience overall!

If you are in Ghent and are looking for an amazing traditional Belgian cuisine - Mémé Gusta is the perfect restaurant to eat at. Everything in this restaurant is perfect - the service, the food and the atmosphere. Ona, who took care of us on two separate occasions, is absolutely the best! She is caring, attentive and knowledgeable about everything that the restaurant offers. We truly enjoyed their mussels, stews, steaks and desserts. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed!!!

We absolutely loved the pork stew and cheese croquettes! The steak bearnaise wasn't the best, however. Although the steak was cooked well, the meat was quite tough and didn't seem to be the best quality. The service was lovely!

When I was in Ghent, I wanted to try out some authentic Belgian food and so I was led to Meme Gusta by recommendations online. I didn't have a reservation so I just went when the restaurant opened, and luckily I was able to get a table. The interior is nice and cozy, and the restaurant filled up pretty quickly after I entered. For the food I got the Meme Gusta beef stew that they were known for as well as a croquette. The beef stew came with salad and a side of fries, so this dish is a good one to share between a couple people. I liked the sauce of the stew a lot since it wasn't something I had before, with a bit of sweetness to it which went well with the fries. The croquette was crayfish I believe, and the crisp to it was very good. Overall, I think this restaurant is worth visiting and the portion sizes are good for sharing!

Well, this place is super popular and hard to get a reservation. Luckily I was able to grab one for when they opened. The atmosphere is casual, trendy and in some ways quite eclectic. It just is a nice place for a great meal, and lots of locals come here. The service is very friendly yet professional and as often English is widely spoken too. I had a Duvel beer to start and also got sparkling water. Water at the table is common now, unlike the past. We were brought a very interesting amuse bouche, a tiny container of the smallest crustaceans I have ever seen. No bigger than a thumb nail! They were quite a show stopper to peel and eat too. I'd say they were just OK and made for smelly fingers. The bread and butter served was exceptional quality. We both choose the "Queen's Snack", a hearty array of chicken chunks, pork meatballs, and assortment of other items in a creamy light sauce. It was a substantial plate and quite delicious. It came with the ubiquitous fries, which were so tasty and a salad. I highly recommend this place as everything is indeed top notch and it's not stodgy or overly expensive, yet good quality and value.

Ok where do I start, make reservations or you will not eat here. It is the most popular restaurant in Ghent. We got a reservation at 8:30pm which was 1 1/2 hours after arriving at the restaurant. Well it was well worth it. We had the roast beef for two with vegetables and mashed potatoes. It was amazing and we walked out stuffed. The staff could not have been nicer although severely challenged with a packed restaurant they maintained a smile and happy attitude. Unbelievably professional and friendly even at 10pm when we left. The place was still jumping. The food is great and so are the drinks but the staff is the best aspect of this location

Love it, portion is big, and super taste stew. Menus is cool poker cards, and they give you bread and shrimp for free. I went for solo, they don't have online reservations for solo tho, only for 2 ppl +

This is quite a unique place. It serves traditional Ghent cuisine (shrimp and cheese croquettes, stew, etc.) but the atmosphere is neither conservative nor nostalgic. This feels like a dynamic cool vibrant restaurant; with super young energized waiters and a contagious good vibe. The space is nice enough, and cozy in a refined way. Not very expensive and food is served in very generous quantities. A fun and advisable option if you are in Ghent.

I cannot recommend the stew harder. I was never a stew person until this day. Order the apple steamed meat stew. It's a short rib like beef with warm apples on the side. They pair well with the meat. Drinks are very good as well. Often very busy and hard to get a table for good reason.

We picked this restaurant to try out all the traditional Belgian dishes. Ambiance: 5/5 spacious, bright, not too loud, overall a good date spot Food: 3/5 1. Shrimp croquettes: small gray shrimp in a cream sauce, covered in batter and fried. €9 per piece!!! We got this to try out the Ghent small gray shrimp. They looked more like a tiny crawfish, the peeled ones were 1/5 or so the size of a typical crawfish tail. 2. Meme Gusta stew - pork stew with brown sauce. Very tender and yummy. Sauce was a bit sweet, with pieces of small whole onions. This was our favorite of the night €23. 3. Eel in green sauce - whole pieces of bone in eel in a sauce of puréed water crest and cilantro. The eel itself tasted fresh and not fishy. Sauce is in on the bland side. €35 4. Side dishes, came with our entrees. One small sad salad with mayo; a bowl of twice cooked fries (in lard). Fries could have used some salt. They came with mayo, (which has a gray shade from mustard?) We left most of the fries. Service: just okay. We had reservation, and the table needed some cleaning before we were seated. Maybe this is a European thing, but nobody came to check on us regularly. After waiting around we decided to wave at servers to come over to take our order. The rest of the night whenever we needed something we waved at the wait staff. To pay we had to walk to the counter. Personally I found this service a bit lacking. Overall: good to try once; won't come back if I have other options

Absolutely amazing food here! Don't trust the 3.5 stars... it's excellent! The pork stew was one of the tastiest dishes I've ever eaten. So flavorful and tender. Would definitely eat there again.

The food here was above average in tastiness, but also above average in price. There were no printed menus (that's a strongly negative feature on the service side). The customer needs to have a smartphone that functions in Flanders, to access online menus via the code glued / stapled to the tabletop. And the restaurant "regrets (!!) that they are no longer able to accept cash" in payment. Only credit cards or PIN cards. That's another negative on the service side, voor me. The decor is pleasant enough. There are other restaurants that serve traditional Gentse cooking, so would try some of them instead of coming to this one again.

Excellent food and services! Felt like you walked in to your grandma's kitchen! Everything was so tasty and fresh!! We had the stew, fried and apple.. they were so so good. Also had creme brûlée...yum! Reasonably priced too!

This place looked charming as I walked down the street, so I gave it a try. They have a decent amount of options on the menu and large portions, but my particular meal (I had eel in a green sauce) was not very flavorful. Also, I waited a full 30 minutes before the waitress came to my table, even though she greeted me and told me I could sit anywhere. She proceeded to clean tables around me and run food for the next 30 minutes. The menu is in Flemish but the staff will explain the items for you. They do not take credit cards, only cash and Belgian bank cards. While this spot is closest to my airbnb and would be so very convenient for lunch, I just don't have the time to wait every day for mediocre food.