't Oud Clooster

One of the best meals I had in Belgium. We thought we were in the back of the restaurant but the back is the front. Server was great and just attentive enough. Lots of food of the day items and a large menu to choose from. My red curry was a great take on red curry which is my measuring stick for an Indian restaurant. This is not an Indian restaurant but it was beautiful and very good. I could have used a bit more spice. The beef stew was very flavorful and the fries and salad were great. Thoroughly enjoyed our meal!

This place was cool! The entrance is kind of hard to see, even with the big sign hanging up above the door (I walked past it twice!) but the search is worth it. The interior and back terrace are nicely decorated and the story of the place is explained on the menu. The staff were patient and answered all my questions, and the service was top notch. The food was reasonably priced, as were the drinks, and both were phenomenal. I was served some delicious buttery and slightly spicy popcorn while waiting for my main dish. The proportions were generous. Highly recommend!

LOVED it! I tried the special of the day. Liege meatballs. Beautiful to look at, smelled wonderful and tasted out of this world! Great fries! The drinks are very good. Everything we ordered was excellent.

It's very important to make a booking in advance. They are very busy and it's easy to see why. The food was really good. And the staff very friendly and helpful. Wide selection of beers to choose from. We had a seabass special and a steak with blue cheese sauce. The seabass was really good but may not be on the menu if the future. The steak was slightly less tender than expected but was still really good. For dessert we had a cheese board and a tiramisu. With a latte and hot chocolate. Which made a perfect end to the meal. Not the cheapest place but well worth it.

It’s a very good Belgian food to bring my friends who visiting from oversea. Been here a few times and always happy with the food and service. We were very happy with the duck breast yesterday! Beef stew was decent. The fried chicken was on the dried side tho.

I was lucky to get a table without a reservation, but I recommend booking a few days in advance. All the tables were fully booked when I arrived. I came here based on a local Flemish colleague’s recommendation, and it was definitely worth it. I ordered the beef stew and beer. The stew was rich, flavorful, and delicious, though a bit heavy for me to finish on my own. Thankfully, the fresh salad and marinated citrus onion balanced the heaviness and helped me enjoy the whole meal. The dessert, with strawberries and mint, was refreshing and a perfect ending after such a hearty dish.

We were excited to try this place out, especially after seeing all of the positive reviews! However, we were not impressed by the food or the service (the atmosphere was nice). The duck breast was absolutely inedible, it was completely tough and rubbery. The burger was quite gamey. We did like the potato croquettes and fries. The service was super slow.

Super cozy place with nice lounge music, perfect for eating and conversation. I had stoofvlees met fridges and pintje. Really good Belgian fries and well done beef stew. Topped with primus beer. I am leaving satisfied. The waiters are also nice :)

Atmosphere: 5/5. Set in an old convent, very cool interior. Small but cozy. There is a back yard area where you can sit when the weather is nice. The restaurant is in the middle of town within a few blocks to the main town square. The menu has pictures of the nunnery attire, maybe how they brewed their own beer? They only had it in Dutch, no English menu. Food: 3/5. Bland food, which is not uncommon for Flemish cuisine, but meat was also quite tough. We tried the 2 most popular dishes, Brochette Oud Clooster, and Rundsstoverij met Westmalle Dubbel, and were not impressed. Both bland. The brochette was supposed to be medium rare but came out well done. Dry and tough. The dipping sauce has a hint of curry but wasn't enough to carry the whole dish. The stew has a yummy base, I could pick out the beer flavors (Belgians truly have the best beers in the world). Meat pieces were tough, which is a shame given this is a stew. They should have use a fattier cut of beef like chuck. Meme Gusta has a similar but much more flavorful Flemish stew. The no-bake cheese cake was light and refreshing. Good for 1 person, small to share between 2. Service: 2/5. They had no English menu. At this point I have come to Belgium enough to pick out a few familiar terms, but I would have liked to be able to see what other dishes they had. Had to aggressively flag down waiter whenever we needed something. they also charge €1.80 for tap water. This place is popular enough even for locals that one can't get in without reservations. We were told they only have 2 slots: 6-8 or 8-10. We picked the earlier one. The restaurant was only half full until about 7.

Make a reservation. Would have loved to eat here but learned a hard lesson after walking across Ghent. By 19:00 in middle November all tables were sold out.

Food was tasty. Servers were nice price was good. Good beer list. I had the beef stew in Richefort beer it was good.

We got there right before they closed for the afternoon, and they were packed. Being out of towner's we really didn't realize this was a very popular place to eat. They did find us a corner to sit in by the door, downstairs, which was fine with me. The decor is eclectic with a nod towards the nuns that used to run the convent. They do have menus in English. I ordered a glass of their house white wine. It was just ok. Instead of chips and salsa, they brought some spicy popcorn to our table. I'm not a big fan of popcorn, but this had a unique taste to it, and I was starving. It was strangely good. Our meal came out with a bowl of French fries with a mayonnaise sauce as a side dish. (I think most meals we ate came with their famous fries) Main dish was a salad, and stew which was on the small serving size but tasty. Let me just say I DO NOT like cheese cake! But I had a taste of my daughters and it was the best cheese cake I have EVER tasted. In fact if I could get this cheese cake where I live, I would be a convert. (No pun intended )

Definitely not the place for a quick meal...the service is slow, the food comes out slow, alot of patient waiting is involved in eating here. The beef stew I tried, accompanied by fries were both very good. The side salad was confused...like it didn't know whether to be an iceberg, romaine, corn, or carrot salad and ended up being an odd mixture of all. I wouldn't mind coming back here to try other dishes but only if I had alot of time.

A bit overhyped by our hostel, but if you're looking for a place that even locals frequent as a point for its authenticity, then this is it. Service: make sure to get a reservation or be at their mercy. We were a walk in and luckily scored a reservation 2hrs later. It isn't a far walk from lots of stores and the city life, so plenty to do in the meantime! Actual waiter service is slow. Slow with the menu, slow to order, slow with the bill - but this isn't atypical for European service in my experience. Food: nothing memorable (literally; it's been 3 days and I've already forgotten). Think we got the baked salmon roll but that was too salty. The classic pasta was fine and filling. The mixed meat was well done, even though we asked for medium. All mediocre delivery. Prices are acceptable, ranging from 13-18 euros for most things. 3/5 ambience: it's in an old monastery, but you really can't tell with their dim lighting and cramped floorplan.

This is a nice building and in the summer it's fantastic in the courtyard if you can get a table. I felt the food was not up to my expectations for eating in Ghent but the staff was nice and friendly and the service was good. I think it would be much more fun just to hang out and drink and have snacks here then to have a full meal but this review is based on only one visit and given time and opportunity I would probably return.

I'm giving this place 4 stars simply because it's an old convent and the staff was accommodating. It is best to have a reservation, this place is small and gets very busy, you can call for reservations or online through the website. Food was just ok, Dutch food is bland so not the best place to spend 30€ on a meal, I would of rather had a few small cheap meals that were just ok, than this. But I can now say I've had Dutch food. Presentation was beautiful, I had Vol-au-vent which was similar to an American pot pie without veggies. Cheesecake was good, light, and mild and it was a huge piece enough to share.

Found this recommended as a highly rated place on yelp. Only here for a day and picked this as the place to come to. Was greeted by incredibly friendly staff that saved us a two seater table albeit we came late. They were very warm and helped us navigate the menu to pick something traditionally ghentian and delicious. Food was great and wine was also. Would definitely recommend. The ambience is very cute as well. Very warm and Inviting during the winter cold.

Was delicious and super friendly. Saltim Bicca was delicious. We had no booking and quickly they found a solution for us

This is a really nice and cozy building with a covent-y theme going on. The menu has a cute layout, and the staff is very friendly. I ordered the Bolognese, while my boyfriend ordered the grilled beef with tomato sauce (which also comes with salad and fries). Along with some beer, everything tasted great. I definitely recommend this place! :) Try the heuzen beer (or something along those lines, can't remember the full name, sorry!!) with some meat, it's quite delicious !

Wonderful lunch here on Monday! We visited Bruges this past weekend and decided to make a few hour stop in Ghent on our way back to Brussels airport. After hitting the major attractions we were starving and had just enough time for a quick lunch before catching our train. Despite arriving 20 minutes before closing time, the server assured us that they would be happy to serve us and promptly took us to a table outside. We settled on drinks and ordered the Chicken Pita and the Brochette Roquefort for our dishes. Less than 15 minutes later we were devouring our food, which definitely exceeded expectations. My chicken was seasoned with a curry mix of sorts and I was able to build my own pita with a variety of vegetables and two different kinds of sauce. J's brochette was a grilled kebab of pork served with a salad and a very light, but flavourful Roquefort sauce. It was grilled to order and tasted great. Our mains came with a crispy and delicious heaping of fries. Very enjoyable. As we were wrapping up the server called a taxi on our behalf and we made it to the station with 10 minutes to spare! We enjoyed a tasty lunch here and received excellent service. Highly recommend!

Excellent little restaurant just nearby the city center. My wife had a goat cheese salad that she loved, and I had the beef and pork kabob that was also very good. Service was very polite and friendly.

Nice place for dinner. My girlfriend and I stopped by while visiting Ghent. I wanted an place out of the way and found this restaurant and it was impressive. Great service, amazing food and great beer.

We tried to step in on a weeknight, but it was packed. Made a reservation and came back the next night, and boy are we glad we did that. We lounged and ate for hours. Fantastic food (veggie friendly), good selection of wine and beer, and warm, inviting, non-touristy attitude. Everyone was jovial inside and the service was lovely. We were all shocked at how low our bill was at the end!

The wife did some research to find a restaurant on our first night in Ghent and she found this place. She made reservations immediately to ensure that we had a spot. Ultimately it was a good idea that she did. We weren't too familiar with the winding streets of Ghent yet, but we made it here pretty easy and it was close enough to our hotel for us to walk there in no time. Our first challenge came when we entered where we thought was the main door and the wife quickly closed the door as she was flanked by diners on either side of her. The main entrance is in a slight alcove off the street and up a few stairs. We assessed the situation and we figured that it must be the entrance. Some people that were leaving told us to just turn right upon inside to get to the bar area, which also included the waiting/reception area. So we make it inside and we were greeted somewhat. We were still getting used to this Belgium hospitality, but we also felt like we were bothering people with our presence. At this point, it was great that we had a reservation because they probably wouldn't had seated us. The tables are small and quite cramped but we were able to be seated and order quickly. The decor is definitely eclectic with various old religious artifacts and presumably empty bottles of booze on the shelves. It felt like an antique shop a bit. The ambience is dark with plenty of candles providing extra light. The first beer that I ordered was not available, so I got my second option at least, and the wife joined along. I ordered the traditional Flemish beef stew while the wife got a fish dish. Drinks and food came out quickly again and the portions were generous, especially the stew. The stew was particularly good and the sauce really hit the spot for me. I was definitely stuffed when I left. It was later in the evening, so we figured that we would get the check once done and we indicated no dessert. We ultimately had to ask for our bill after some time. So the food was definitely the highlight of our visit, and we just chalked up the service to how things are locally. It was our second or third meal in Belgium so we were still getting used to the customs here and beginning to set expectations. The final conclusion and result is a great traditional Flemish meal and I would return.

Very good, good portions too, I ordered the brochette, my table also ordered the meat stew, goat cheese salad, and fish stew, they were all very good.

Managed to score a spot at the bar without reservations. Kind of unheard of in Belgium, so make your reservations! The menu is in Dutch, so I made use of my phone to translate what I should order. The wait staff are kind though and will offer to translate for you if you need help. I ordered the Brochette Roquefort, and it was "lick your fingers" good. The bf ordered another delicious dish, which I can't recall, but I do remember both of us not wanting to share AND on top of that, we devoured every single bite of these enormous portions. All those fries were perfect for wiping up the sauce! A fantastic meal in Ghent ~ we'd go again if we were in that part of the world again.

Great atmosphere, food, and beer! I'm a vegetarian and had the veggie stew. It was fantastic! We didn't have a reservation, but we showed up within 10 minutes of the restaurant opening and we're able to snag a table. We saw others being turned away about 30 min later.

Great food, good service, quiet place away from the crowds and reasonable prices. Best meal on this trip to Europe.

't Oud Clooster is one of those cosy restaurants in Ghent you have to try! They have a big choice of food but hey, you are in Belgium so ask for "stoofvlees mee frieten". You won't regret it

This place is solid! The waitress helped me find something for my wife when I told her what my wife likes/doesn't and led me the right way!

I cannot say enough amazing things about 't Oud Clooster. As my travel partner said, "one of my top 5 meals of all time." We had been recommended this place for dinner by our host, and called to make a reservation about an hour before we got there (on a Thursday). They had space for us, but were fairly full throughout our time there - they don't have many tables, so I would recommend calling ahead. The restaurant is in a former monastery, and is really interestingly decorated along that theme. The menu is entirely in Dutch, but we could figure out most of it. Even so, our waiter very graciously offered to translate all of the appetizers and entrees into English for us - and I'm very thankful, because we ended up changing our orders after that! Unfortunately, I don't know the Dutch names of the dishes we got, so you may need to ask because I would recommend them all. We ordered a starter of meatballs with mustard dipping sauce, which came out quickly and very warm. The meatballs were mixed with some sort of cream or cheese, so were very soft - the texture was a bit unexpected, but they were very good. I also ordered a jardin bleu tea, which was a floral tea - also very good, and came with two sweets. The entrees though....the entrees were amazing. The first two menu items are both chicken brochettes (on skewers): one comes with a slightly spicy tomato sauce (which is what I got), and one with a cream sauce. This. Dish. Was. Incredible. It came fully loaded with the most amazing sauce I have ever tasted. I would recommend this in a heartbeat, oh man. You NEED to try this. Seriously. So. Good. My friend ordered their beef stew-type dish, which was also really good, although I preferred mine. Both plates came just absolutely loaded with the main dish, but also included a salad and fries. The fries were combined for us and just came out in one bowl, which was fine. Anyway, amazingggg. We didn't have room for dessert, although they had a few options. They also had a specials board, which I think changes fairly frequently. There was a bar and many drink options, we just had one of their Belgian beers that they had on tap. Prices are pretty reasonable, between €10-€20 per entree (which includes the salad and fries). Seriously, if you're reading this review, you need to check this place out.

Great belgium food with friendly service and variety of local belgium beers! Do make sure to reserve before going though it is usually packed!!

busy , so be patient and enjoy your drink food is a mix of belgian/french cuisine with some other (oriental) dishes grat value for money

Awesome food. Awesome alcohol selection. Fast, prompt, friendly service. I highly suggest coming here. Ambiance is nice. Quiet. Lovely, cozy restaurant. Reasonable prices.

Ate here with 3 coworkers. Was recommended by the hotel desk as somewhere with a good place with nice traditional Belgian food. The atmosphere is pretty interesting. Friendly service. My meal was very good. Not the best I've had in Ghent but I'd eat here again because the service and food were fine.

I tried the authentic Flemish beef stew with beer that serves with salad and fries! It's located in a small street with a nice outdoor patio. I could tell it's a local hang out spot! Totally worth checking out if you are in Belgium. They also have a nice selection of Belgium beer!

Excellent food in a great quaint restaurant. We made reservations and were seated promptly. The pace is relaxed but the wait staff always were responsive. Very pleased

A little away from the main old town thoroughfare, this little restaurant serves traditional food and the reason we picked it. Perfect back garden eating area was a treat. Food was great, and staff were very friendly. I was in Ghent on business and found this on downtime, but if I ever get back to Ghent with my wife, I'll definitely share it with her.

This place offers a nice variaty of food and drink options, in a funny setting. The price is certainly not too high and the food tastes really good. Portions are pretty big.

We went to t' Oud Clooster for the first time tonight and loved it. We went early but had reserved a table and were glad we had done so. There are only five tables and a few bar stools inside (although there may be a separate inside area we didn't see), along with an outdoors seating area, which was a little chilly for our taste tonight. The place is old and atmospheric, comparable to a nice pub in the UK, but with absolutely delicious Belgian food. We don't speak Dutch but the very nice server translated the menu for us. My husband got a beef and beer stew, which he loved, and I got a beef brochette in a spicy tomato-based sauce (I don't know what it's called, but it's the first thing on the dinner menu). Both came with large, tasty salads and a big helping of fries and mayonnaise. At 6:30 or 7 it was quiet and easy to have a conversation. All the other tables had been reserved and filled up while we were there (and this was a Monday night). This is definitely one of the best places we've found in Ghent. We will be back.

My husband and I decided to eat here on our last night in Ghent. It's a wonderful space tucked in an unassuming part of the old city. The interior is dimly lit and cozy. Yes, it's romantic. The chef knows what he/she is doing. We ordered a pasta dish and the sole. Both were simply prepared but the execution reflects a chef with culinary skill. After dinner we had the desert special that was an apple cake with tiny bits of kumquat peel. Served warm with vanilla ice cream AND a dollop of whip cream. Wow. Be aware that the portions are very generous. It's not fancy but oh so charming. You will enjoy.

My wife and I spent a day / night in Ghent and had our dinner here. The atmosphere is really cool as it is set in a former nunnery. We had a candlelit dinner inside, and there were various items from the old nunnery around the interior. There is an outdoor courtyard option as well. We only speak English, and the server was very accommodating (even though it was his second language), and he was very helpful accommodating my wife's wheat allergy. While I could not find one online, they did have an English translated menu. I had the GARNAALKROKETTEN which was delicious. I highly recommend.

This place is classy and cool! The fact that the food was fantastic was the icing on the cake. Excellent background music and great atmosphere and ambiance. If you want good Belgian / Flemish food come here. The Belgians do. And you can't get a better beer selection. Looking forward to coming back and trying more.