Hof van Cleve - Floris Van Der Veken

Verdict: One of Belgium's most serious dining addresses, and worth the considerable effort to book

If you are planning a significant meal in Belgium, Hof van Cleve belongs near the leading of your list. Under chef Floris Van der Veken, this two Michelin-starred restaurant in the Flemish Ardennes holds a 4.7 on Google across 713 reviews, sits at #15 on Opinionated About Dining's Classical Europe ranking for 2025, and scores 96.5 points on La Liste. It has appeared in the World's 50 Best Restaurants six times. The question for a first-timer is not whether the kitchen delivers — it does — but whether this particular format, in this particular location, is the right match for your occasion and your appetite.

What to expect when you arrive

Hof van Cleve sits at Riemegemstraat 1 in Kruisem, in the rolling countryside of the Flemish Ardennes south of Ghent. The setting reads as a working farmstead converted into a formal dining destination: expect a composed, architectural room rather than a rustic interior. Visually, the experience signals seriousness from the first moment , linen, precision, space between tables. This is not a casual drop-in; arriving here for the first time, you will immediately understand why advance planning is non-negotiable.

The cuisine is listed as Creative, and the current focus under Van der Veken is one worth understanding before you book. The We're Smart Green Guide, which evaluates restaurants on vegetable-forward cooking, awarded Hof van Cleve 5 Radishes with high distinction and a place in the TOP100 , the highest tier the guide issues. The Pure Plant menu is a core part of the kitchen's current identity, not a token option. If you are a first-timer expecting a classically French-influenced protein-led tasting menu, adjust your expectations: vegetables are central here, treated with the same technical rigour that Belgian fine dining has historically reserved for meat and fish. The We're Smart assessors noted each dish was flawlessly executed, flavours precise and balanced, with real conviction behind the plant-forward direction.

This is also a venue with genuine historical weight. Peter Goossens, who built Hof van Cleve into a three Michelin-starred institution and a name synonymous with Belgian haute cuisine, handed the kitchen to Van der Veken. The transition represents a deliberate evolution rather than a reset , the infrastructure, the standards, and the reputation remain, while the culinary direction has shifted toward the contemporary. For a first-timer, this context matters: you are dining at an address with decades of accumulated credibility, now operating under a chef who has made a clear, confident statement about where the cooking is going.

The drinks program

No wine list specifics are available in the current record, but context is useful here. At this tier of Belgian fine dining , Les Grandes Tables du Monde membership, World's 50 Best pedigree, La Liste top-100 territory , the expectation is a cellar of genuine depth. Belgian restaurants at this level typically maintain extensive European wine lists with particular strength in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and natural or low-intervention producers. For a first-timer, the practical advice is to allocate a meaningful budget for the pairing: at a restaurant of this standing, the wine service is typically where a significant portion of the total spend lands, and opting out of the pairing to save money tends to diminish the overall experience. If you have specific preferences or dietary needs around alcohol, flag them at the time of booking.

Booking and logistics

Getting a table at Hof van Cleve is genuinely difficult. Booking difficulty is rated Near Impossible, which means you should treat reservation pursuit as a project rather than a quick online click. Plan at minimum several weeks ahead; for peak dates , weekend evenings, holiday periods , expect lead times of two months or more. No online booking method is confirmed in the current data, so direct contact via the restaurant's official website is the safest approach. The address (Riemegemstraat 1, 9770 Kruisem) is in a rural location, which means you need private transport; this is not a restaurant you reach by public transit. Factor in accommodation in the Ghent region if you are travelling from outside Belgium, as the combination of a full tasting menu, a wine pairing, and a rural location makes driving home immediately after inadvisable. See our full Kruishoutem hotels guide for nearby options.

Price and value

Hof van Cleve sits firmly in the €€€€ tier. No specific per-head price is confirmed in the current record, but at two Michelin stars with Les Grandes Tables du Monde status and a tasting menu format, budget €200–€350 per person before wine as a planning assumption, with a full evening including pairing comfortably reaching €400–€500 per head. That is a significant outlay. Whether it represents value depends on what you are benchmarking against. Against comparable Belgian two-star addresses, the combination of awards density, We're Smart recognition, and the La Liste 96.5pt score suggests a kitchen operating at or above its price tier. Against a trip to Paris to eat at Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen or Arpège, Hof van Cleve offers comparable technical ambition in a more intimate, rural setting , which some diners will prefer and others will find isolating.

Who should book

Book Hof van Cleve if you want a serious, plant-forward tasting menu at a Belgian address with genuine international standing, and you are prepared for the logistics of a rural location. It is the right choice for a milestone occasion where the quality of cooking is the primary brief. It is not the right choice if you want a buzzing city-centre room, a flexible à la carte format, or a restaurant you can reach without a car. For Belgian fine dining with more urban energy, Zilte in Antwerp or Bozar Restaurant in Brussels offer different settings at comparable price points. For creative Flemish cooking at a slightly more accessible level, De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis is worth considering. For coastal Belgium, Bartholomeus in Heist and Willem Hiele in Oudenburg provide strong regional alternatives. Explore our full Kruishoutem restaurants guide for further context, and our Kruishoutem experiences guide if you are building a longer itinerary around the visit.

How It Compares