Restaurant in Hofstade, Belgium
Michelin-recognised Modern French, village setting, solid value.
Restaurant Cloche holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, making it the most credentialled Modern French option in Hofstade at €€€ pricing. With a 4.8 Google rating across 123 reviews and an easy booking rating, it is a well-supported choice for a special occasion or weekend lunch. Book two to three weeks ahead for Saturday and Sunday slots.
Restaurant Cloche holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, placing it in a small group of recognised Modern French kitchens in the Aalst area. At €€€ pricing, it sits one tier below the €€€€ heavyweights in the Belgian fine-dining circuit, which is exactly where its value proposition lives. If you are planning a special occasion dinner or a considered weekend lunch in the Hofstade area and want Michelin-acknowledged quality without the full outlay of a three-hour tasting marathon, this is a serious option. Book it. But give yourself two to three weeks of runway, particularly for Saturday evening and Sunday lunch — those are the slots that disappear first.
The Michelin Plate is not a star, and it matters to be clear about what that means: the designation recognises good cooking without placing the kitchen at the same level as star-holders like Hof van Cleve or Boury. What it does signal is that inspectors have eaten here, found the kitchen consistent, and considered the cooking worth a specific mention. For a village restaurant in Hofstade-Dorp, that is a meaningful credential and a reasonable basis for trust.
The editorial angle that makes sense for Restaurant Cloche is the weekend service. Modern French kitchens at this price point in Belgium tend to perform leading when the format aligns with the meal occasion, and a Saturday or Sunday lunch at €€€ gives you the full kitchen experience at a pace that suits conversation and celebration. You are not rushing through a midweek prix-fixe. The room has time to breathe, the kitchen is not juggling covers at volume, and the experience quality , which the Google rating of 4.8 across 123 reviews supports , tracks well with what guests report.
For a special occasion, the framing matters. A birthday dinner or an anniversary lunch at a Michelin Plate restaurant in a village setting carries a specific character: more intimate than a city dining room, less theatrical than a starred tasting-menu experience. If the person you are bringing values a considered room over spectacle, and good Modern French cooking over innovation for its own sake, Restaurant Cloche fits that brief. For guests who want the full bells-and-whistles Belgian fine-dining experience, Vrijmoed or Le Chalet de la Forêt would be a stronger match.
Restaurant Cloche operates in the Modern French register , technique-led cooking built on classical foundations, with Belgian sourcing and the kind of menu structure (starters, mains, desserts, likely a set lunch formula) typical of Michelin Plate restaurants in this category. Specific dishes are not confirmed in the available data, so any claim about signature plates would be speculation. What the Plate recognition does confirm is that the kitchen is cooking at a level that passed inspector scrutiny in consecutive years. Consistency across two Michelin cycles is worth noting: a one-year mention can be a fluke; a second year suggests the kitchen is holding its standard.
For regional context, Modern French cooking in Belgium sits on a spectrum from classical bistro to progressive tasting-menu formats. At €€€, Restaurant Cloche likely occupies the considered-but-accessible middle of that range , not the experimental edge, but well past brasserie territory. That positioning suits a broad range of occasions without demanding that diners arrive with specialist knowledge of the cuisine.
The address is Hofstade-Dorp 21, 9308 Aalst , a village setting rather than a city centre location, which means driving or arranging transport is the realistic approach. Hofstade sits within the Aalst municipality, reachable from Ghent and Brussels without major difficulty. If you are coming from Brussels or Ghent for a special meal, factor in the return journey and plan accordingly , particularly if wine is part of the evening.
Booking is rated Easy, which means you are not dealing with the weeks-long queue that applies to starred venues in Ghent or Brussels. That said, easy does not mean walk-in-ready on a Saturday night. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm availability, particularly for weekend slots. Hours and online booking details are not confirmed in the current data, so a direct inquiry is the practical first step. Check our full Hofstade restaurants guide for updated listings and booking links as they become available.
See the comparison section below for detail on how Restaurant Cloche sits against the €€€€ Belgian fine-dining field.
Specific dishes are not confirmed in public data, so any named recommendation would be speculation. What the Michelin Plate recognition across two consecutive years does indicate is that the kitchen performs consistently in the Modern French register. Ask the front-of-house team when you arrive , at this price point and with this recognition level, they should be able to guide you clearly toward the kitchen's current strengths.
Yes. A Michelin Plate rating, a 4.8 Google score across 123 reviews, and a village setting that keeps the atmosphere intimate rather than corporate all point in the right direction for a celebration. At €€€, it is a meaningful spend without requiring the full commitment of a €€€€ tasting menu. If your guest values considered cooking in a quieter room over a grand-occasion restaurant in the city, this fits well. For a more theatrical special occasion, Zilte in Antwerp or Le Chalet de la Forêt in Uccle would raise the production value.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in the available data. At a village-format Modern French restaurant of this size and style, a dedicated bar counter for dining is not a standard feature , but contact the venue directly to confirm before assuming either way.
No specific dietary policy is confirmed in the current data. Contact the restaurant directly before booking if dietary requirements are a factor. Modern French kitchens at Michelin Plate level generally accommodate restrictions with advance notice, but do not assume without confirming.
A tasting menu format is not confirmed in the available data. At €€€ pricing with Michelin Plate recognition, there is likely a set menu option alongside à la carte, but the specific format requires confirmation with the venue. If a full tasting-menu experience is your priority, Hof van Cleve or Boury are the stronger reference points in the Belgian market at €€€€.
For Modern French or Modern Flemish cooking in the broader region, consider Vrijmoed in Gent for creative cooking at €€€€, La Durée in Izegem for French-Belgian at a similar tier, or Cuchara in Lommel for Modern European with a creative slant. All three sit at €€€€. For a fuller picture of the local area, see our full Hofstade restaurants guide.
At €€€ with two consecutive Michelin Plate years and a 4.8 Google rating from over a hundred reviews, it represents solid value for the recognition tier. You are paying for a kitchen that has passed inspector scrutiny twice, in a setting that does not carry the overhead of a city fine-dining room. Compared to €€€€ alternatives in the Belgian market, it is a lower-commitment entry point to Michelin-acknowledged cooking. Worth it for a special occasion or a considered weekend lunch.
Group capacity is not confirmed in the available data. Village-format fine-dining restaurants at this price point typically have limited total covers, which can make large group bookings (eight or more) harder to place. Contact the restaurant directly to discuss availability and whether a private room or reserved section exists. For groups, early contact , at least a month ahead , is the practical approach.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant Cloche | €€€ | — |
| Boury | €€€€ | — |
| Comme chez Soi | €€€€ | — |
| Vrijmoed | €€€€ | — |
| La Durée | €€€€ | — |
| Cuchara | €€€€ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
No specific dishes are confirmed in public data, so a named recommendation would be speculation. That said, two consecutive Michelin Plate years (2024 and 2025) signal that the kitchen is consistent in its Modern French format — technique-led, classically grounded cooking. Ask the team for the chef's current focus when you book; at €€€ pricing, staff at this level are typically forthcoming with guidance.
Yes. Two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions and a village setting at Hofstade-Dorp 21 make it a credible choice for a birthday, anniversary, or business dinner where you want substance without a large-city price premium. The intimate scale of a village-format kitchen tends to work better for two or a small group than for large parties — confirm capacity when booking.
Bar seating is not confirmed in the available data. Village-format Modern French restaurants at this price point rarely operate a dedicated bar counter in the way a city brasserie would. check the venue's official channels to confirm seating options before assuming walk-in bar access is possible.
No specific dietary policy is on record. At a Michelin Plate-level Modern French kitchen, the kitchen can typically adapt with advance notice, but that is not guaranteed. Contact them directly before booking if dietary requirements are a factor — do not leave it to arrival.
A tasting menu format is not confirmed in the data, though at €€€ with Michelin Plate recognition it is a reasonable expectation alongside à la carte options. If a set menu is available, it is usually the better way to see what a Modern French kitchen can do at this level. Confirm the current menu format when you reserve.
There are no direct comparators in Hofstade itself at this level. For Modern French or Modern Flemish cooking in the broader region, Vrijmoed in Gent operates at €€€€ with a more creative, produce-led approach; La Durée in Izegem is a French-leaning option; Cuchara offers a different register at a lower price point. If you want Michelin-starred cooking in Belgium, Comme chez Soi in Brussels and Boury in Roeselare are both in a different tier. Restaurant Cloche is the most accessible entry point in the Aalst area.
At €€€ with back-to-back Michelin Plate years in 2024 and 2025, it represents reasonable value for recognised Modern French cooking outside a major city. You are not paying Brussels or Gent city-centre prices for the same tier of recognition. If €€€ is at the upper end of your budget, this is a stronger bet than an unrecognised kitchen at the same price point.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
