Where We Eat: Rendez-Vous, Ghent

Last week Alina and I took the opportunity of a family get together in Germany to bolt on a couple of days in Ghent...and it turns out that everyone who says it's a very pretty city is absolutely right!

For somewhere with a thriving pavement café culture and an equally thriving beer scene, it was a pretty enjoyable place to spend a couple of hot sunny days!

Wandering the streets, stopping frequently for a beer or a coffee...special mention here to Patron for a truly exceptional cup...and taking a bit of time to reflect on things we rarely get to think about in the hectic day to day. Pretty much exactly what holidays are for.

Two things struck us about eating and drinking in Ghent that sit in interesting contrast to how we experience things in London.

The first is that Stella Artois can be genuinely enjoyable when served ice cold in a small glass at a pavement café in Belgium! They also use different branding over there, which somehow makes the whole experience feel considerably more refined. We're not sure how they've pulled this off but we respect it!

The second is that whilst small plates and natty wine might feel a little ubiquitous and overdone in London right now...elsewhere in Europe it's very much still having its moment!

Which brings us to a very enjoyable lunch at the recently opened Rendez-Vous, where we settled into a window table, ordered Bitterballen and a very good sausage, drank some excellent natural wine and I worked my way through four glasses of Stella. Far more civilised than two pints, obviously.

All in all we can't recommend Ghent highly enough. Or the Stella for that matter!