Restaurant in Gent, Belgium
Michelin-recognised French cooking at honest prices.
Lys d'Or is Gent's most accessible entry point for Michelin-recognised French cooking, holding a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 and rated 4.8 across 200 Google reviews. At €€€, it sits below the city's starred competition on price but not on discipline. Book a week or two out — reservations here are straightforward, which is part of the point.
If you're weighing Lys d'Or against Gent's higher-profile French options, start here: this is the address that delivers Michelin-recognised French cooking at €€€ pricing, in a city where the next step up in ambition typically means a €€€€ bill. For a returning visitor to Gent who already knows Vrijmoed or Oak Gent, Lys d'Or is the logical next reservation — more classically grounded, easier to book, and priced to make a second visit realistic.
Lys d'Or sits on Charles de Kerchovelaan 81 in Gent, operating under the French culinary tradition in a city better known for its inventive Flemish-leaning restaurants. The Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 is the clearest credential available here: it signals consistent kitchen quality that the Michelin inspectors considered worthy of acknowledgment, without the full star pressure that reshapes a room's pricing and atmosphere. At this level, you're looking at a restaurant that has been doing something right, repeatedly, and has the recognition to prove it.
The visual register at Lys d'Or is what you'd expect from a French address in this category: composed plating, a dining room that takes itself seriously without tipping into stiff formality. That matters practically — it's a room where a business dinner and a celebratory meal for two would both sit comfortably. Google reviewers back this up with a 4.8 rating across 200 reviews, which is a signal worth taking seriously. In a city with no shortage of strong options, a 4.8 sustained over 200 data points suggests consistent execution rather than a single good run.
The French cuisine framing is worth unpacking for anyone planning a Gent visit. Most of the city's celebrated addresses , Souvenir, Vrijmoed , lean into modern Flemish or creative contemporary formats. Lys d'Or occupies a different position: French technique as the primary grammar, applied with the discipline that earns repeat Michelin attention. For a regular returning to Gent after an earlier visit to the creative end of the spectrum, this is a useful counterpoint , more structured, more reliant on classical execution, and a genuine test of whether the kitchen can make the familiar feel worth the trip.
On wine, the French cuisine anchor is a practical guide to what you should expect the list to reflect. A restaurant earning consecutive Michelin Plates in the French tradition, in Belgium, is almost certainly working with a wine program weighted toward French appellations , Burgundy, the Rhône, Bordeaux, Loire , because the food demands it and the format rewards it. Belgian fine dining at this tier has historically maintained wine programs that treat the bottle as integral to the meal rather than incidental. Whether the list here matches that standard is something to probe when you book: ask specifically about the by-the-glass selection and whether the sommelier can guide pairings course by course. That conversation will tell you quickly whether wine is central to how Lys d'Or thinks about the meal, or whether it's secondary. Given the Michelin attention and the French framing, the expectation is that it's the former , but verify before you commit to a pairing menu if that's your priority. For context on what French wine programs can look like at the highest tier, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier set the benchmark , Lys d'Or operates in a different weight class, but the French tradition is the same reference point.
Booking is easy by Gent fine dining standards. Unlike the weeks-out waits you'll encounter at starred addresses in the region , Hof van Cleve and Boury in Roeselare require serious forward planning , Lys d'Or's booking window is accessible. A week or two of lead time should be sufficient for most evenings, with weekends requiring a touch more notice. That accessibility is part of the value proposition: Michelin-acknowledged French cooking that doesn't demand you plan your trip around a reservation slot.
For returning visitors to Gent who have already worked through the city's creative modern restaurants, Lys d'Or is where you go when you want the discipline of French classical cooking applied seriously, at a price point that doesn't require a special occasion to justify. It pairs naturally with a broader Gent visit , see our full Gent restaurants guide, hotels guide, and bars guide for the full picture. If you're exploring further afield in Belgium, Zilte in Antwerp and Bozar Restaurant in Brussels give useful regional benchmarks at a similar or higher ambition level.
Quick reference: French cuisine, Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025, €€€ pricing, 4.8/5 Google (200 reviews), Charles de Kerchovelaan 81, Gent. Booking difficulty: easy.
Lys d'Or is a Michelin Plate-recognised French restaurant on Charles de Kerchovelaan in Gent, which puts it in a different register from the city's more experimental Flemish addresses. The price range sits at €€€, so expect a considered spend rather than a casual drop-in. Book ahead — Michelin recognition at this price point in Gent means tables move. First visit, come for the French format rather than tasting-menu theatrics; this is a cooking-first room.
Specific menu items are not documented here, so ordering specifics should be confirmed directly with the restaurant. What the Michelin Plate recognition signals is consistent kitchen execution across the menu, so trust the seasonal set offerings if they're available on the night. Ask the front-of-house for their current recommendation — at €€€ pricing, the staff should be equipped to steer you.
Vrijmoed and Souvenir are the natural comparisons if you want more creative or chef-forward cooking in Gent. Oak Gent and Publiek are stronger picks for a lower-commitment dinner with a contemporary feel. Bar Bask suits groups wanting something looser and less structured. Lys d'Or sits in its own lane for those specifically after classical French execution with Michelin-level consistency at the €€€ mark.
Group suitability details are not confirmed in available venue data. At €€€ pricing with French service expectations, Lys d'Or is likely better suited to tables of two to six than large group bookings. check the venue's official channels at Charles de Kerchovelaan 81 to confirm private dining or group seating options before planning an event around it.
At €€€ with back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, Lys d'Or delivers verifiable quality for the spend. It is not the cheapest way to eat well in Gent, but it is one of the few French addresses in the city with an independent quality signal attached. If classical French cooking is what you're after, the value case is solid. If you'd rather spend €€€ on something more adventurous, Vrijmoed or Souvenir are the redirects.
No dietary policy information is documented for Lys d'Or. French kitchens at this price point typically accommodate restrictions when given advance notice, but confirm specifics when booking — particularly for vegetarian, gluten, or allergen requirements. Don't assume; call or email ahead.
Solo dining comfort depends on the room layout, which is not detailed in available data. At €€€ with a French service format, solo diners are generally accommodated but may feel more at ease at a counter or bar seat if available. If solo dining experience matters to you, Oak Gent or Publiek are more reliably casual solo options in Gent. Lys d'Or is worth the solo visit if French cooking at this level is your reason for the trip.
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