With the arrival of the Holy Food Market, my lovely Ghent became a foodie hotspot richer. Located in the 16th century Baudelo Chapel, the Holy Food Market, follows the lead of the famous food halls in Barcelona, Copenhagen and Rotterdam. But then with a way more nicer interior. According to the website the Holy Food Market consists of 16 food restaurants, but I don’t really feel that the beer and cocktail bars, Cuberdon stand and the Darcis chocolate store qualify as a ‘restaurant’. So technically they’re 12, from which my fellow foodie friends and I have tried 10 so far. Are you ready to go on an a culinary adventure with us?
AVO
All avocado fans have to go to AVO. Their entire concept involves around the popular vegetable. I tried the ‘Mr. White’ bagel with chicken, avocado and guacamole mayonnaise and it was absolutely delicious. But you can also try some very renewing food combinations, such as desserts with avocado. S. tried the brownie and she absolutely loved it.
Karnivoor
Karnivoor is heaven on earth for meat lovers. The classic dishes are brought to a whole new level and their cold cuts plate is perfect for apero time.
Frank & Brut
Hotdogs with Champagne or Burgers with cocktails? Well, yes please. The burgers are good, but maybe a bit too big of a portion in my opinion, especially when you order some sides as well.
Taberna Lisboa
With its traditional tapas, Taberna Lisboa brings the real Portugese cuisine to Ghent. The tapas plate is absolutely amazing and you don’t have to be in Belem to try the sweet ‘pasteis de nata’ because the ones in Ghent are equally as good.
Sea Me
One of the best concepts in the Holy Food Market is Sea Me. If you want fresh and pure seafood with a nice glass of wine, this is where you need to go. I can highly recommend the mussels, which not only smell great, but taste great as well. On Weekdays they also serve a decent lunch for the price of € 12 including a glass of wine.
Bubba
From all the stands, Bubba is my favorite! The freshly handmade croquettes are just too good to be true. There’s quite a large variety in flavors, going from the classic cheese croquettes to croquettes with truffle and Ganda ham. So that makes it difficult to choose. The good news is: they offer a small tapas portion – perfect for cocktail hour – with several different croquettes for only € 5,00. But, the cheese croquet is just so yummy that I recommend that you take the normal portion.
HOS-T
Possible the most fit concept in the market… if it wasn’t that they use crackers instead of ‘wafers’, which I seriously don’t get. We tried the salmon and avocado hos-t. The salmon cracker was really good, but the one with avocado was too dry for my taste.
Iovine’s Pizza
I truly love Italian food, and especially pizza, but when I tasted the Pizza Margherita from Iovine’s Pizza I was so disappointed! I tried this pizza because it’s such a tasty classic, and if you add some buffalo mozzarella it’s always a winner. Unfortunately not this time. The crust tasted really burned, although it wasn’t and that ruined the entire taste of the pizza. My friend S. tried the Pizza Tartufo during a later visit, and she really liked that one, so she keeps telling me to give them a second chance. So maybe they just had a real bad day?!
Yalla Yalla
One of the true discoveries for me at the market is Yalla Yalla, because I wasn’t familiar with the Lebanese cuisine at all. Of course the well-known falafel is on the menu, but we decided to go for the daily lunch special and thanks to that we got to know some very tasty new flavors.
Magnum Pleasure Store
At the Magnum Pleasure Store you can create your own guilty pleasure. You can have the classic Magnum’s from the stores as well, but what’s the fun in that right? So… I chose to pimp my own ice cream. You have to start with a vanilla base, then you chose a milk, white or dark chocolate coat, followed by 3 toppings such as M&M’s, coconut sprinkles or nuts. Well let’s say… I scream, You scream, We’ll all scream for this Magnum ice cream.
So 10/12 done… 2 more to go. My top 3: Bubba, Sea Me and AVO, and yes exactly in that order. I’m pretty excited though to find out what Marussia and Malar’s are bringing to the table. It’s a good thing that Ghent now has it’s very own food market, but being to La Boqueria in Barcelona, I don’t think it’s comparable to that at all! What I miss in Ghent, is the fact that you can buy fresh and local ingredients to cook with at home. But still, one of the things I like the most about food markets is that everyone can eat what they want and that you are still able to sit together (and try each other’s food, what else ?).
Practical information
- Address: Beverhoutplein 15 – 9000 Gent
- Open: Monday to Friday from 11am to 10pm – Saturday & Sunday from 11am to 11pm