Restaurant in Rekkem, Belgium
Serious Modern Cuisine, Easy to Book
La Cravache holds two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024–2025) and a 4.8 Google rating, making it the strongest fine dining case in Rekkem at the €€€€ tier. Booking is Easy relative to comparable Belgian venues, and the seasonal Modern Cuisine menu makes a return visit as worthwhile as the first. Book two to three weeks out for weekends.
At the €€€€ price tier, La Cravache asks for a serious commitment from a diner in Rekkem — a small commune on the Belgian-French border that most visitors pass through rather than stop for. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) say you should stop. The recognition signals a kitchen operating with consistent technical discipline in Modern Cuisine, and a Google rating of 4.8 across 273 reviews confirms the dining room is delivering on that promise visit after visit. If you have been once and enjoyed it, the case for returning is strong — especially if you time your visit around the kitchen's seasonal rotation.
What you notice first at La Cravache is the care in presentation. Modern Cuisine at this price point is defined by what arrives on the plate: precise, considered, visual before it is anything else. The name itself , French for "the riding crop" , signals a certain deliberate sharpness, an aesthetic that prioritises control. For a returning diner, that translates into a room where the visual language of each course is part of the experience, not incidental to it. Expect plates that look considered rather than casual, in a setting that positions itself as a destination rather than a neighbourhood option.
Rekkem sits at the western edge of West Flanders, close to the French border and within reach of Kortrijk and Lille. That geographic position matters when thinking about the kitchen's sourcing calendar: West Flemish producers operate in a short but productive growing season, and kitchens in this region that take Modern Cuisine seriously tend to anchor their menus firmly to what is available locally and what is at peak quality. The seasonal rotation at La Cravache is the main reason to plan your visit rather than simply show up. Spring brings lighter, vegetable-driven plates; autumn shifts toward richer, earthier compositions. If you visited in one season and were considering a return, the second visit will feel meaningfully different from the first , which is exactly the point.
Booking at La Cravache is rated Easy, which is genuinely useful information in a Belgian fine dining market where weekend tables at comparable venues can disappear weeks in advance. That said, easy does not mean walk-in territory for a Friday or Saturday dinner. Book one to two weeks out for a midweek table; give yourself two to three weeks for a weekend booking, particularly in spring (April to June) and autumn (September to November) when the seasonal menu transitions drive the most interest from local diners. If you are travelling from Kortrijk, Lille, or Ghent specifically for this meal, lock in the date before you arrange transport.
The Michelin Plate designation , awarded in both 2024 and 2025 , is a signal that the kitchen is on the radar of inspectors without yet carrying the pressure of a full star. That positioning is useful for the diner: you are eating at a kitchen that is cooking at a high level and has been externally validated, but at a table that is not yet oversubscribed. That window does not stay open indefinitely at restaurants that perform at this level. For the full picture of where to eat across the region, see our full Rekkem restaurants guide.
If your first visit covered the core tasting format, a return visit should be shaped around the current seasonal menu rather than repeating the same route. Ask when you book whether the menu has been updated since your last visit , the kitchen's commitment to seasonal rotation means the answer will almost always be yes. The most substantive shifts tend to happen between summer and autumn, and between winter and spring, so those transitional periods are the strongest case for a second booking. Pair your visit with a broader West Flanders itinerary: Boury in Roeselare and Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem are both within reasonable driving distance and operate in a comparable fine dining register, giving you a genuine regional circuit if the trip warrants it.
See the comparison section below for how La Cravache positions against peers in the Belgian €€€€ Modern Cuisine category.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Cravache (Rekkem) | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin Plate 2024, 2025 | Easy |
| Boury (Roeselare) | Modern Flemish / Creative French | €€€€ | Michelin ★★ | Hard |
| Castor (Beveren) | Modern European / Modern French | €€€€ | Michelin Plate | Moderate |
| De Jonkman (Sint-Kruis) | Modern Flemish / Creative | €€€€ | Michelin ★ | Moderate |
| Cuchara (Lommel) | Modern European / Creative | €€€€ | Michelin Plate | Moderate |
For more options in the area, see our full Rekkem hotels guide, our full Rekkem bars guide, our full Rekkem wineries guide, and our full Rekkem experiences guide.
Yes, with a caveat on timing. La Cravache's tasting-format Modern Cuisine is well-suited to solo diners who want to focus on the food rather than manage group dynamics. Book a midweek evening for the most relaxed experience, and confirm the format when you reserve , a single diner at a table set for two is standard at this price tier in Belgium. If solo bar-counter seating matters to you, ask when booking as seat configuration details are not confirmed in available data.
Call or contact the restaurant directly before booking if you have dietary restrictions. At the €€€€ tier with a Michelin Plate, kitchens at this level typically accommodate restrictions with advance notice, but no specific dietary policy is confirmed in available data. Do not leave this to the day , alert them at the time of reservation so the kitchen can adjust the seasonal menu accordingly.
Group bookings are possible, but confirm capacity and format directly with the restaurant. Seat count data is not available, which means private dining room availability and maximum group size cannot be confirmed here. For groups of six or more at this price tier, direct contact ahead of booking is essential to confirm whether the tasting menu format runs for the full table or can be adapted. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so the conversation should be direct.
At €€€€ with two Michelin Plates and a 4.8 Google rating from 273 reviews, the tasting menu format delivers consistent value relative to the price tier. The seasonal rotation is the strongest argument for the format: the kitchen's menu shifts meaningfully through the year, so the full tasting experience captures the most complete picture of what the kitchen is doing at that moment. For a returning diner, a second tasting menu visit in a different season will read as a different meal, which justifies the repeat spend. If you want à la carte flexibility at a comparable price, Castor or Cuchara may offer more menu choice.
Yes, at the €€€€ tier in Rekkem, it is. Two consecutive Michelin Plates and a near-perfect Google score from a substantial review base indicate the kitchen earns the price consistently, not just on good nights. The comparison that matters: you are paying the same tier as Boury or De Jonkman but booking into a room that is considerably easier to access. For that accessibility at this quality level, the price-to-effort ratio is strong.
Rekkem has a limited restaurant scene at this tier, so the practical alternatives are in the surrounding West Flanders region. Boury in Roeselare is the regional benchmark for Modern Flemish cooking but is significantly harder to book and carries a two-star price premium in experience. De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis offers a one-star experience at €€€€ and is a strong alternative if you are near Bruges. Castor in Beveren runs a Modern French approach at the same price tier with Michelin Plate recognition. For the full picture, see our full Rekkem restaurants guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Cravache | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Boury | Modern Frlemish, Creative French | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Comme chez Soi | French - Belgian, Classic Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Castor | Modern European, Modern French | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Cuchara | Modern European, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| De Jonkman | Modern Flemish, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Yes, and the Easy booking rating makes it one of the lower-friction options in Belgian €€€€ dining for a solo visit. At this price tier, solo covers can be harder to place at busier competitors — La Cravache's accessible booking window works in your favour. Confirm counter or single-seat availability when reserving.
check the venue's official channels ahead of your visit — at the €€€€ Modern Cuisine tier, kitchens at this level routinely accommodate dietary requirements when given advance notice. Do not leave it to arrival; tasting-format menus require preparation time to adjust.
Groups should book well in advance and confirm capacity directly with the venue. Modern Cuisine restaurants at the €€€€ tier in Belgium typically have limited covers per service, so parties of six or more may face constraints. Smaller groups of two to four are the format this price point is built around.
At the €€€€ price tier, La Cravache carries a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 — a signal that the kitchen is producing food at a recognised standard. If tasting-menu format suits how you eat, the combination of Michelin recognition and an Easy booking rating makes this a lower-risk commitment than peers where securing a table is the harder part.
For Rekkem, yes — the €€€€ commitment is justified by back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition and a booking experience that doesn't require months of planning. If you're weighing this against a comparable Belgian venue that is harder to get into, La Cravache is the more practical choice without giving up culinary credibility.
Rekkem itself has limited fine dining alternatives at this tier — the nearest comparable options sit in wider West Flanders or across the Belgian-French border. Within the Belgian €€€€ Modern Cuisine category, Boury in Roeselare and De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis are the most direct peers by format and recognition level.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
