Gillis

Where Ghent's Old City Meets a Modern Meat Counter

Hoogstraat runs through one of Ghent's most historically layered neighbourhoods, a street where Flemish guild architecture and contemporary shopfronts share the same stone blocks. It is the kind of address that lends a restaurant authority before anyone has sat down. Gillis occupies that context deliberately: exposed wood, soft lighting, and industrial detailing inside a room that reads as both considered and unstuffy. The atmosphere sits closer to a serious neighbourhood restaurant than a formal dining room, which is precisely the register that Ghent's dining scene has been gravitating toward over the past decade.

That neighbourhood character matters for understanding what Gillis is doing. Ghent has a more compact premium dining scene than Antwerp or Brussels, but it punches above its size. Vrijmoed holds two Michelin stars for its modern Flemish creative cooking; Oak Gent and Publiek each carry one star; Souvenir works the same creative Flemish territory at a slightly lower price bracket. Within that competitive set, Gillis takes a different line: not tasting-menu abstraction, but a sharing-format approach built around product quality and fire, with dry-aged beef as the throughline.

The Sharing Format as Editorial Argument

Belgium's premium dining conversation has, for the better part of two decades, been dominated by the tasting-menu format. The counter-movement, a return to generous, communal plates where the table rather than the kitchen controls the pace, has gained ground across Flemish cities, and Gillis represents one of its more coherent expressions in Ghent. The sharing concept here is not a casual afterthought: it is the organising principle of the meal, with plates designed for communal division rather than individual presentation.

The kitchen anchors the menu in Flemish ingredients and technique while applying contemporary refinement to the execution. Hand-cut Holstein beef tartare, slow-cooked Duroc pork belly, and pork cheek croquettes served with Belgian pickle mayonnaise all appear on the menu, each one a recognisable Flemish reference point rendered with enough precision to feel current rather than retro. The steak programme draws from carefully selected producers across Europe, with dry-aged cuts prepared on a bespoke grill and carved at the table.

That combination of sourcing specificity and fire technique positions Gillis within a broader category shift happening across Europe's serious meat-focused restaurants. The bespoke grill, the attention to ageing method, the preference for leading cuts across geographies rather than single-origin dogma: these are the markers of a kitchen that takes the technical side of this format as seriously as any tasting-menu operation takes its passes. The result is a format that rewards sharing and repeat visits in roughly equal measure.

Recognition and Where It Places Gillis

In 2025, Gillis earned a place in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants, achieving its highest-ever ranking in the list to date. Star Wine List awarded the restaurant a White Star, published September 2023, recognising the quality of the wine programme alongside the food. These two data points together sketch the ambition: this is not a steakhouse in the mass-market sense, but a restaurant where the wine list is expected to carry its own weight.

The wine programme, curated with an emphasis on Old World producers, leans toward Burgundy, the Rhône Valley, and Piedmont. The emphasis on structured, provenance-led selections from those three regions is a meaningful statement in a restaurant where beef is the primary lens: these are wines chosen to stand up to intensity and fat, not to provide neutral backdrop. The White Star recognition from Star Wine List confirms the curation is operating at a level above what most meat-focused restaurants in Belgium manage.

For broader context within Belgium's restaurant scene, Gillis sits in a different peer group than the Michelin-decorated fine dining tables that define the country's international reputation. Places like Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, Boury in Roeselare, or Zilte in Antwerp operate in the tasting-menu register that earns Michelin attention. Gillis's recognition comes from a different axis, one that values sourcing, technique, and product rather than progression and composition in the classical Michelin sense. That distinction is worth understanding before booking.

Service and the Front-of-House Register

Front-of-house at Gillis is led by Jozefien Candries, and the service tone reflects the room's general disposition: professional and attentive without formality. Belgium's better neighbourhood restaurants have always done this well, a warmth that reads as genuine rather than scripted, and Gillis operates in that tradition. The staff's knowledge of the wine list is relevant here given its depth; expect the kind of guidance that goes beyond simple food-pairing suggestions.

That combination of knowledgeable service and a room designed for conversation rather than ceremony reinforces Gillis's position as a table suited to long dinners. The sharing format extends the meal naturally, and the wine list provides sufficient range to move through several bottles without repeating yourself.

Ghent Beyond Gillis

Hoogstraat's location near the historic centre makes Gillis easy to combine with Ghent's wider food and drink offer. The city's bar scene, covered in our full Gent bars guide, includes options worth knowing before or after dinner. For visitors staying overnight, our Gent hotels guide maps the accommodation options by neighbourhood and format. Those interested in the city's wine retail and tasting scene can find relevant listings in our Gent wineries guide, while our Gent experiences guide covers the broader cultural programming.

For dining comparison, a food affair represents a different register within Ghent's restaurant scene entirely, while the full Gent restaurants guide maps the city's options across price tiers and cuisine types. Beyond Belgium, those drawn to serious product-led cooking at the international level might look at Le Bernardin in New York or Atomix for a sense of how rigorous technique manifests across different formats and cities. Within Belgium's coastal corridor, Willem Hiele in Oudenburg and Bartholomeus in Heist represent comparable seriousness in a seafood register. For reference in Brussels, Bozar Restaurant occupies a different category but similar level of recognition.

Planning Your Visit

Gillis is located at Hoogstraat 23, 9000 Gent, a short walk from the Gravensteen and the city's medieval waterfront. Given the restaurant's 2025 ranking in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants and its established local following, booking ahead is advisable; demand at this level in a city of Ghent's size means tables at preferred times fill quickly. Specific hours, pricing, and current booking methods are leading confirmed directly with the restaurant, as these details were not available at time of publication.

FAQ

What dish is Gillis famous for?

Gillis has built its reputation primarily around dry-aged beef, sourced from selected producers across Europe and prepared on a bespoke grill. Within the broader menu, the hand-cut Holstein beef tartare, slow-cooked Duroc pork belly, and pork cheek croquettes with Belgian pickle mayonnaise are among the dishes that appear consistently in coverage of the restaurant. Chef Bram Candries's approach to sourcing is central to the kitchen's identity, and the restaurant's 2025 placement in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants reflects that focus. The wine programme, recognised with a White Star from Star Wine List, is an additional point of distinction within Ghent's dining scene.

Should I book Gillis in advance?

Yes. Gillis holds a 2025 ranking in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants and has a committed local following in Ghent, a city where the premium dining scene is concentrated enough that the leading tables fill consistently. Booking in advance, particularly for weekend evenings, is the sensible approach. For visitors combining Gillis with other Ghent dining, the city's Michelin-starred options at Vrijmoed, Oak Gent, and Publiek operate at similar demand levels and require the same forward planning.