Restaurant in Paliseul, Belgium
Starred cooking, deep Ardennes, hard to book.
Le Gastronome holds a Michelin star (retained in 2024 and 2025) and operates at €€€ — a price tier below most equivalent Belgian starred kitchens. The 4.8 Google score from 348 reviews confirms it delivers. Book well ahead: this is a hard reservation in a small Ardennes town, and the trip rewards an overnight stay.
The most common assumption about Le Gastronome is that it operates like a rural retreat — charming, perhaps, but probably coasting on its setting. That assumption is wrong. Le Gastronome has held a Michelin star continuously through 2024 and 2025, and the 4.8 Google rating across 348 reviews suggests the kitchen is performing at a level that rewards the drive to Paliseul. This is not a countryside consolation prize; it is a destination worth building an itinerary around.
Le Gastronome sits on Rue de Bouillon 2 in Paliseul, a small town in the Belgian Ardennes. Contemporary cuisine at the €€€ price range — which places it a tier below most of its Michelin-starred Belgian peers, the majority of whom operate at €€€€. That gap matters when you're deciding where to commit a special-occasion booking. You're getting a Michelin-starred contemporary menu at a price point that most equivalently decorated tables in Brussels or Ghent can't match. For returning visitors, that value equation is part of the reason people come back.
The editorial question worth pressing at €€€ is whether the service holds up to the standard the star implies. Based on the volume and consistency of the Google score , 4.8 from 348 reviews is not a small sample , the front-of-house appears to be doing its job well enough that guests are not leaving disappointed. A Michelin star is audited annually, and retaining it in both 2024 and 2025 means the full experience, not just the cooking, passed scrutiny twice. That is the most reliable proxy available when you can't read a current menu or speak to a recent guest directly.
The atmosphere at a room like this in a town like Paliseul will run quieter than anything you'd find in Antwerp or Brussels. The ambient energy is composed rather than buzzing , expect a pace that lets conversation carry, a room that doesn't require you to raise your voice, and service cadence calibrated to a long sit. If you're coming from one of the Belgian cities and used to tighter, faster restaurant energy, the adjustment is worth making. The room rewards the slower gear.
For someone who has dined here before: the question is usually whether the kitchen has moved or held steady. Given the continuous star retention, there is no evidence of a dip in the kitchen's output. Return visits typically make sense when you want to work through a seasonal menu shift , the Ardennes context means the kitchen has access to good regional product, and contemporary format restaurants at this level tend to rotate their menus meaningfully across the year. If your previous visit was in summer, a winter or autumn return would give you a materially different plate set.
Booking difficulty is classified as hard. For a Michelin-starred restaurant in a small Belgian town, that is not a surprise , the table count is small, the reputation travels further than the geography, and the restaurant isn't sitting on a supply of last-minute cancellations in the way a larger urban room might. Plan your booking well in advance, particularly if you're targeting a weekend. Midweek visits are always more likely to yield availability, and if you're building a wider Ardennes trip, coordinate the restaurant booking first and arrange accommodation around it. For hotels and other options in the area, see our full Paliseul hotels guide.
No online booking method is confirmed in our data. Contact the restaurant directly at the address on Rue de Bouillon 2, and check their website for current reservation options. Hours are not published in our current record, so confirm service times before making the trip , particularly if you're travelling from outside the region.
Against Belgian contemporary dining more broadly, Le Gastronome occupies a specific and useful position: starred quality at a sub-€€€€ price point, in a location that has no real equivalent in the country's dining geography. Comparison venues like Boury in Roeselare, Zilte in Antwerp, or Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem are operating at higher price tiers with stronger urban infrastructure around them. Le Gastronome trades urban convenience for a quieter, more focused experience at a price that reflects the location rather than penalising you for it.
If you want starred dining with more menu transparency and easier logistics, Vrijmoed in Ghent or Bozar Restaurant in Brussels give you that urban access. If the Ardennes context is part of what you're after, Le Gastronome has no real alternative in its own backyard. You can also find wider dining context across the region in our full Paliseul restaurants guide, and plan around it with our full Paliseul experiences guide.
Workable, but not the obvious first choice for solos. The restaurant is in a small town in the Ardennes, which means the logistics of getting there and back without a car add friction. If you're driving and comfortable dining alone in a composed, quiet room, the experience holds up , the atmosphere at a place like this is conducive to solo dining in the sense that it's not loud or chaotic. That said, the format is almost certainly a set menu, which means a long sit, and without confirmed seating details we can't say whether a counter or bar option exists to make solo dining more sociable. If solo dining in Belgium is the priority, Zilte in Antwerp or Vrijmoed in Ghent give you more urban infrastructure around the meal.
Build the trip around the restaurant, not the other way around. Paliseul is not a town you pass through , it's a destination. Le Gastronome holds a Michelin star (retained in both 2024 and 2025), operates at €€€, and sits in Belgian Ardennes countryside that rewards an overnight stay. Booking is hard, so contact them well ahead of your intended date. The cuisine is contemporary, which almost certainly means a tasting menu format , come with time and an appetite for a multi-course progression. Check our Paliseul hotels guide and bars guide to build the evening around the meal.
Yes, particularly relative to peers. A Michelin star retained across consecutive years at €€€ , rather than €€€€ , is a strong value signal in the Belgian starred dining context, where most equivalent kitchens charge a full tier more. The 4.8 rating from 348 reviews reinforces that guests are not leaving feeling shortchanged. The one caveat is access: if the cost of travelling to Paliseul (accommodation, transport) is factored in, the total outlay rises, and for some diners a similarly priced but more accessible starred table in Brussels or Antwerp will make more practical sense. If you're already planning an Ardennes trip, it's a direct yes.
Specific dishes aren't confirmed in our current data, and inventing them would be misleading at a kitchen that almost certainly rotates its menu seasonally. What we can say: at a Michelin-starred contemporary restaurant at this price tier in Belgium, a tasting menu is the expected format, and that menu will likely be the leading way to experience what the kitchen does. Order the full menu rather than looking for à la carte options , if à la carte exists, confirm it when booking. For broader context on Belgian contemporary dining menus, our Paliseul restaurants guide covers the regional picture.
Yes , this is one of the stronger arguments for booking it. A Michelin-starred contemporary table at €€€ in a quiet Ardennes town gives a special occasion the combination of seriousness and intimacy that's harder to find in a city restaurant. The composed atmosphere, the long-table format, and the absence of the urban noise that comes with equivalent Brussels or Antwerp rooms all work in its favour for birthday dinners, anniversaries, or milestone meals. The main logistical ask is planning ahead: hard booking difficulty means you need lead time, and an overnight stay makes the experience significantly more comfortable than a same-day return trip. See our Paliseul hotels guide for accommodation options nearby.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Gastronome | Contemporary | €€€ | Hard |
| Boury | Modern Frlemish, Creative French | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Comme chez Soi | French - Belgian, Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Vrijmoed | Modern Flemish, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| La Durée | French-Belgian, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Cuchara | Modern European, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Le Gastronome and alternatives.
Solo dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant in a small Belgian town is a specific call. Le Gastronome's contemporary format and €€€ price range suit a solo diner who is there for the food rather than group atmosphere. Booking difficulty is high regardless of party size, so reserve well in advance. If solo counter seating matters to you, confirm the format directly with the restaurant before booking.
Le Gastronome is not a city restaurant you can drop into — it sits in Paliseul in the Belgian Ardennes, which requires planning to reach. It holds a Michelin star (retained in both 2024 and 2025), so the cooking is the draw, not the location. Booking is hard; this is not a walk-in venue. Treat the trip as a destination meal rather than a casual dinner and plan transport and accommodation around it.
At €€€, Le Gastronome sits below the top tier of Belgian fine dining on price while delivering consistent Michelin-starred contemporary cooking — two consecutive stars confirm this is not a one-year anomaly. Against peers like Comme chez Soi or Boury, the price point is more accessible, though you are trading urban convenience for a rural Ardennes setting. If starred quality at a sub-€€€€ spend appeals and you are willing to travel, the value case is solid.
Specific menu details are not available in our current data, so we cannot point to individual dishes. What the Michelin star and contemporary cuisine classification signal is a kitchen operating to a defined seasonal and creative standard. check the venue's official channels or check their current menu before your visit to understand whether a set menu or à la carte format applies.
Yes, with caveats. A Michelin-starred meal in the Belgian Ardennes at €€€ is a strong occasion choice if the recipient is interested in contemporary cooking and comfortable travelling to a small town. The difficulty of securing a reservation adds to the sense of occasion. It is less suited to large groups or anyone who needs urban surroundings; for a city-based special occasion in Belgium, Comme chez Soi or Vrijmoed are closer alternatives.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
