Ghent city guide

Kitsch, design, colorful gadgets, clothes, notepads, cool lamps, interior stuff and much more is what you can find in this shop. If you pass by, the shop window will definitely attract your attention and you will be unable to resist entering and leaving with a new purchase to color up your house interior. At least, that is what I catch myself doing at every single visit. Snooping around is part of this shop experience.

Even when not buying a new item, this place is great to get some inspiration to spice up your homes or to find the perfect Birthday gift! Polka dot cups, flower printed handbags, funny postcards, retro napkin holders..No doubt you will be able to find your taste at your price to spend.

Also for our little ones, you can find Petit Zsa Zsa across the street with more bright and colorful clothes and toys. A feast for the eye and a blow to the wallet!

You cannot overlook the shop window of Zoot Costumiers: you can find cute and colorful dresses, skirts and shirts combined in the most attractive way and with a clear wink to the fashion of the fifties. Not only retro clothing but also the matching accessories can be bought here: strawberry necklaces or cherry earrings, you name it!

The 2 girls who own the shop – Sofie Bos and Liv Muës – are also familiar with designing and offer an exclusive range of the collection fabricated under their own label. Other new and young designer stuff that you can score in this shop: the cool accessories of Tatty Devine, the nice skirts of Lovely Mariquita, the vintage bikini’s of Mama Maria Swimwear, the fifties dresses of Red Juliet…

Apart from new collections they have a small selection of secondhand shoes and clothing. All of the above to find at one spot, that means a very dangerous place for me to enter, but once in a while I allow myself to visit and have a look

This bar/restaurant nearby the ‘Nieuwe Beestenmarkt’ just outside the city center can be considered an old fashioned café where you can have a good drink, a nice meal and even a great party afterwards. The décor is characterized by the retro wallpaper, the brown colors and the snake plants covering the walls.

In summertime you can enjoy your food and drinks outside on the terrace but I can appreciate the warm interior and their good functioning stoves more during the winter season.

The menu offers traditional dishes: pastas and salads but also some Grandma’s specials such as: meatballs in sauce Madeira, Rabbit with prunes…At lunch time you can enjoy a soup and main course at a very reasonable price and a wide range of beers is completing the offer.

As this restaurant is very popular I advise you to make your reservation beforehand! Good luck and see you there soon!

Note – this restaurant has recently been redecorated. You can now enjoy the new and improved interior of this place!

I personally very much enjoy a Sunday morning going out of house for brunching. It gives me 100% guarantee to good coffee and a variety of healthy and a nutritious food to star the active – or in most cases -lazy day…

One nice place to have an enjoyable morning experience is Brooderie: not only does it offer you the chance to a biological breakfast; you can also crash here for a fresh made soup or a delicious slice of cake in between shopping or after a visit to the Design Museum just across the street.

The warm brown and yellow colors in the interior makes you feel at home in a split second! I am a fan of their large variety of quiches and their several brunch formulas. If you want the feeling to last longer, you can also buy their bread or even better: sleep over! Yes, they even exploit a Bed and Breakfast to spend a lovely weekend in Ghent City!

One of my favorite activities is spending weekends wandering around antique markets. In Ghent we have many of them and the weekly venue for secondhand lovers is the square at Saint-Jacobs. A small market you can visit each Sunday morning surrounded by some nice vintage shops and coffee shops.

My personal hotspot is the mobile coffee bar: La dolce Barista. The owner of this great invention has combined her 2 passions: flea markets and coffee. She has been doing this for years now and with great success!

Apart from the large variety of coffee, macchiato and cappuccino you are being seduced by her homemade cake and chocolate buns. Yummy! Quite the high-calorie breakfast, but what the hell! In order to find some warmth and love during cold winter days, this is the place to be. Cu there soon!

You can visit the mobile bar on each day of the week on a different market: flower market, antique market…