Restaurant in Gent, Belgium
Oak's casual sibling — sharing format, real value.
DOOR73 is the sharing-plate annex of Oak, run by sous-chef Eric Ivanidis with a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 and a 4.8 Google score. At €€€, it delivers Oak-lineage kitchen quality in a looser, more social format — particularly strong on vegetable-forward plates. Book here when you want serious cooking without Oak's formality or price tag.
If you have already dined at Oak Gent and want a more relaxed, sharing-format version of that kitchen's sensibility, DOOR73 is the right next step. It sits at €€€ pricing, holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, and scores 4.8 from 378 Google reviews — a combination that puts it firmly in Gent's reliable mid-upper tier without demanding Oak's budget or formality. Book here for a social, plate-passing dinner rather than a structured tasting experience.
DOOR73 functions as the annex to Oak, the restaurant where chef Marcelo Ballardin built his reputation in Gent. Eric Ivanidis, who served as Ballardin's sous-chef at Oak, runs the kitchen here. That lineage matters for the returning visitor: the technical grounding is genuine, drawn from a serious kitchen, but the format at DOOR73 is deliberately looser — sharing plates built around international comfort references rather than a linear tasting progression.
The sharing format changes how you should approach a second visit. On a first trip, the instinct is to spread across categories. Coming back, you can be more deliberate: the vegetable-forward options, flagged consistently as a strength in the Michelin recognition notes, reward attention. A menu that takes vegetables seriously across both starters and mains is less common at this price point in Gent than it should be, and it gives the kitchen a way to rotate with the season in ways that protein-anchored menus cannot.
Spatially, DOOR73 sits on Hoogstraat 73 in central Gent. The address puts it within easy reach of the historic core without sitting in the most tourist-dense stretch. The sharing-plate format naturally encourages a certain room energy , tables tend to stay longer, order in waves, and the pace is driven by the kitchen's rhythm rather than a set tasting clock. If you are returning after a first visit, consider where you sit: a position closer to the kitchen pass, if available, lets you track the flow of dishes and time your ordering without having to flag service repeatedly.
The counter or bar-adjacent seating at sharing-plate restaurants like DOOR73 changes the experience in a specific way. You are not watching a chef compose a single tasting sequence for you , you are seeing a kitchen manage many simultaneous sharing-plate orders, which is a different discipline. Sitting close to the action here is less about ceremony and more about reading momentum: when the kitchen is firing well, proximity helps you lean into it. It also tends to generate more direct interaction with the team, which at a restaurant of this size and ambition is often where the most useful ordering guidance comes from.
On the Michelin recognition: a Plate in both 2024 and 2025 signals consistent quality without the weight of star expectations. For the returning visitor, this is actually useful framing , it means the kitchen is cooking to a reliable standard, not swinging for creative reinvention each season. You can come back with confidence that the execution will be there. The 4.8 Google score across nearly 400 reviews reinforces that this is not a one-visit novelty.
For context against Belgium's broader modern cuisine scene, DOOR73 occupies a different register than destination-level restaurants like Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem or Boury in Roeselare, and is not competing with Zilte in Antwerp for top-table status. It is a neighbourhood-anchored, sharing-format restaurant with serious kitchen credentials , closer in spirit to Publiek than to Oak's parent-level ambition. That positioning is a feature, not a limitation.
If you are planning a wider Gent dining trip, DOOR73 pairs well as a mid-week or early-evening option alongside a more formal meal elsewhere. For the full picture of what the city offers, see our full Gent restaurants guide. If you are staying overnight, our Gent hotels guide covers the main options, and our Gent bars guide is useful for before or after.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. DOOR73 does not appear to require weeks of advance planning, though weekends in Gent's dining core fill faster than the difficulty rating might suggest. If you are visiting on a Friday or Saturday evening, book at least a week ahead. Midweek is more flexible. No booking method is confirmed in our data , check the restaurant directly or via standard Gent reservation platforms.
| Detail | DOOR73 | Publiek | Souvenir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | €€€ | €€€ | €€€ |
| Cuisine format | Sharing plates | Modern Cuisine | Modern Flemish, Creative |
| Michelin recognition | Plate (2024, 2025) | , | , |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Vegetable focus | Strong | Moderate | Moderate |
DOOR73 does not operate a conventional tasting menu , the format is sharing plates. If a structured, sequential tasting is what you are after, Vrijmoed or Oak Gent will suit you better. DOOR73's value is in the flexibility of the sharing format, the Michelin-recognised kitchen quality, and the €€€ price point , meaningful value if that combination fits what you want.
The sharing-plate format is well-suited to groups , it removes the pressure of individual ordering and encourages the table to eat together. For larger groups (six or more), call ahead to confirm seating arrangements. No specific group policy is confirmed in our data, so direct contact is the safest approach.
Booking difficulty is Easy, which means you are unlikely to face weeks-out waits. For Friday and Saturday evenings, a week's notice is sensible. Midweek bookings can often be made a few days out. Gent is a university city with consistent local dining demand, so do not leave weekend bookings to the last minute.
No dress code is confirmed in our data. The sharing-plate format and the annex relationship to Oak suggest a smart-casual register , less formal than Oak itself, but not a jeans-and-trainers room. Gent dining culture is generally relaxed without being sloppy; smart casual is a safe call.
Yes, with caveats. The Michelin Plate and 4.8 Google rating give it credibility for a celebratory dinner, and the sharing format makes the meal feel sociable rather than stiff. If the occasion calls for a more ceremonial, course-by-course experience, Oak or Vrijmoed would be more appropriate. For a relaxed but genuinely high-quality special dinner, DOOR73 works well.
At €€€ with a Michelin Plate and a 4.8 Google score, DOOR73 sits in a strong value position for Gent. You are getting Oak-lineage kitchen skill in a less formal, more accessible format. Compared to Oak or Vrijmoed at €€€€, the price difference is real and the quality gap is smaller than you might expect. For the sharing-plate format specifically, it is among the better-value options in the city.
At the same price tier (€€€): Publiek for modern cuisine with a similarly easy booking process; LOF and Nonam for different flavour profiles at comparable spend. If you want to spend up, Vrijmoed and Oak Gent at €€€€ are the obvious steps up in formality and ambition.
The sharing-plate format is less natural for solo diners than a counter-service or à la carte structure, since portions are calibrated for sharing. That said, solo diners can work through two or three plates without difficulty, and sitting at or near the counter (if available) makes the solo experience more comfortable. It is not the obvious solo-dining call in Gent, but it is manageable if DOOR73 is specifically what you want.
DOOR73 does not operate a conventional tasting menu — the format is sharing plates, which gives you more control over what lands on the table. That format suits the international comfort-food concept well, and the Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms the kitchen is delivering at a consistent level. At €€€ pricing, it represents better flexibility than a locked-in tasting sequence.
The sharing-plate format is a practical fit for groups: dishes circulate naturally and the menu's range of starters and mains — with a noted emphasis on vegetables — gives mixed-preference tables plenty to work with. For larger parties, book ahead and flag group size at reservation, as Gent's dining core fills on weekends.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, so a few days ahead is generally sufficient on weekdays. For Friday or Saturday evenings, aim for at least one week out — DOOR73 sits in Gent's busy central dining area and benefits from strong foot traffic. It does not require the weeks-in-advance planning of higher-demand neighbours like Vrijmoed.
DOOR73 is the relaxed annex to Oak — the sharing-plate concept signals a deliberately casual register. Clean, comfortable clothing is appropriate; there is no indication in the venue's positioning of a formal dress expectation. Think neighbourhood dinner rather than tasting-room occasion.
It works for a low-key celebration where the priority is good food and a convivial table rather than ceremony. The Michelin Plate recognition and Oak-connected kitchen give it enough credibility to mark a moment, but if the occasion calls for a more formal or theatrical experience, Oak Gent itself is the stronger call.
At €€€, DOOR73 sits in the mid-to-upper bracket for Gent, but the sharing format means you can calibrate spend more easily than at a fixed-price restaurant. Two consecutive Michelin Plate awards suggest the quality-to-price ratio holds. For the same investment, Bar Bask or Publiek offer different formats, but DOOR73's Oak-trained kitchen gives it an edge in culinary pedigree.
Vrijmoed is the higher-commitment option — longer format, stricter booking window, stronger awards profile. Oak Gent is DOOR73's own origin point and worth booking if you want more structure from the same kitchen lineage. Publiek and Bar Bask both offer accessible dining in Gent at comparable or lower price points. Souvenir is the choice if you want a more ingredient-focused, minimal approach.
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