Le Roannay

Is Le Roannay worth booking for a special occasion?

Yes; and for the Ardennes region, it is genuinely hard to beat at this price tier. Le Roannay holds a Michelin Star (2025), backed by a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, which confirms this is not a one-year anomaly. Chef David Gallienne is cooking Modern French at a level that justifies a dedicated trip to Stavelot, at €€€ pricing it sits one tier below the €€€€ field of Belgian fine dining; making it the most accessible Michelin-starred option in the area for a celebration dinner. If you are planning a special occasion near the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Le Roannay is the clearest answer in the region.

The Restaurant

Le Roannay sits at Rue de Spa 155 in Stavelot, a few kilometres from Francorchamps, in the Ardennes countryside that shapes much of this corner of Belgium. The setting is the kind of address that functions well for occasion dining precisely because it does not feel like a city restaurant competing for attention: the atmosphere is measured, the energy is calm without feeling flat, the room is built for conversation. For a date or a milestone dinner, that is exactly what you want, a room that serves the meal rather than competes with it. The ambient tone here leans quiet and composed, which means it holds up well into the evening. This is not a venue where the noise level spikes after 10 PM and makes conversation a battle; the pace of service and the format of the meal are both designed to run long and unhurried.

David Gallienne leads the kitchen with a Modern French framework, which at this level of recognition means technically precise cooking built around classical French foundations with enough contemporary thinking to keep the menu from feeling dated. The Michelin Star held across two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) is the clearest external signal of consistent kitchen execution. For occasion dining, reliability matters as much as ceiling quality.

The €€€ price range positions Le Roannay meaningfully below the €€€€ tier that covers most of Belgium's leading Michelin addresses. You are not compromising on the quality of the experience to save money here, you are getting a starred kitchen at a price point that makes the decision easier to justify, whether this is a birthday, an anniversary, or a business dinner that needs to land well. For groups travelling to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit area, where dining options at this level are sparse, Le Roannay carries the added value of being the obvious first choice without a strong competitor at the same price and quality in the immediate vicinity.

As a late-evening option, the format suits those who want a full, paced dinner rather than a quick meal. Modern French tasting menus at this standard are built to occupy two to three hours comfortably, which means arriving at a reasonable dinner hour and finishing late is entirely by design. The calm atmosphere makes it a better late-dinner choice than many restaurants in this tier, where a livelier room can feel discordant once the evening runs long. If you are racing from the circuit or arriving from Liège or Cologne after a long day, the unhurried pace of Le Roannay is an asset rather than an inconvenience.

For context on how Le Roannay sits within Belgian fine dining more broadly, it is worth knowing that the country's Michelin-starred tier is genuinely strong. Addresses like Boury in Roeselare, Zilte in Antwerp, and Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem set a high national benchmark. Le Roannay competes in that conversation while offering the Ardennes as a destination in itself. If you are building a trip around dining, pairing Le Roannay with a visit to L'air du Temps in Liernu or Willem Hiele in Oudenburg gives you a broader picture of what Belgian fine dining looks like across different regions and styles. For Modern French with European reach, the comparison set extends to Sketch in London and Schanz in Piesport, both operating at a comparable or higher tier.

Beyond the restaurant itself, if you are planning a wider trip to the area, Pearl's guides cover the full picture: restaurants in Francorchamps, hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences. For dining elsewhere in Belgium at a similar occasion level, Bozar in Brussels, Castor in Beveren, De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis, Cuchara in Lommel, Bartholomeus in Heist, and d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour are all worth considering depending on your itinerary.

Practical Details

Reservations: Book well in advance, Michelin-starred restaurants in Belgium at this price point fill quickly, Le Roannay's combination of accessible pricing and a starred kitchen makes demand high relative to seat availability. Treat this as a hard booking, not a walk-in option. Budget: €€€ per head, a meaningful step below the €€€€ tier covering most comparable Belgian addresses, strong value for the quality on offer. Leading for: Anniversaries, birthdays, business dinners, any occasion where the meal is the event. Location: Rue de Spa 155, Stavelot, accessible from Spa, Liège, the Francorchamps circuit. Most comparable starred addresses in Belgium price at €€€€, so Le Roannay sits at a meaningful discount without the quality gap you might expect. If Modern French tasting menus are your format, this is one of the better value calls in the country at this level.