Restaurant review #40 – Nectar is a organic vegetarian restaurant in Kortrijk / Courtrai, a city in the south of Flanders (60km from Bruges). Restaurant Nectar is only open for lunch, during weekdays, a common feature among vegetarian restaurants with a typical ‘plat du jour’ offer (similar vegetarian plat du jour restaurants, which are also only open for lunch are for example De Bron in Bruges, Grenoble in Sint-Niklaas, De Graankorrel in Ostend and Avalon in Ghent). We sometimes jokingly refer to these types of restaurants as ‘toefjesrestaurants‘, because they typically serve a variety of little heaps (=toefjes) of several vegetables and grains on one plate (macrobiotic inspired).

vegetarian restaurant Nectar, Kortrijk

As stated above, it is a vegetarian restaurant, and not a vegan restaurant. I had read conflicting posts on social media about whether or not you should ask for vegan in advance (some stating you have to make a reservation and specifically ask for vegan, other saying you can just drop in).
We were in Kortrijk some weeks ago and had no set plans for lunch yet, so we decided to drop in and ask. The waitress inquired in the kitchen whether vegan for two was possible, and it was quickly confirmed we could have lunch. As it was a sunny day, we sat outside, on the sunny terrace in front of the restaurant, which was very enjoyable.

Here’s the menu of vegetarian restaurant Nectar. You can choose between a varied dish (cold + warm + grains), a warm dish (all warm preparations of the day + grains) or a vegetable dish (warm + cold vegetables). Each one respectively small (10€) or large size (11€).

Menu at vegetarian restaurant Nectar

Menu at vegetarian restauant Nectar

For drinks we had an apple juice (2,10€) and a lemonade (2,60€)

drinks, apple juice (2,10€) and lemonade (2,60€)

We ordered a small varied dish and a large varied dish, and baked seitan on the side (3,70) for each of us.

small varied dish (which was actually the size of a large one, I think she made a mistake), 10€

Large vegetable dish (no grains), 11€

Baked seitan on the side, 2,70€

all in all cheap, but not really our thing

All in all not that bad, but we are not really fans of such old-school ‘toefjesrestaurants’. When comparing with the other ‘plat du jour’ restaurants, this plat du jour at Nectar was better than in restaurant Grenoble (could hardly be worse, see our review about Grenoble here), but the plats du jours we have eaten at De Graankorrel (Ostend), or De Bron (Bruges) did have more flavour and more bite. And if compared to for example Avalon in Ghent, where the plat du jour is mostly a pleasure for your taste buds, this was rather a dull culinary experience: boiled down vegetables, no or hardly any distinct flavours, and no spices or sauces available to spice things up a bit.
I asked if any of the desserts are sometimes vegan, and the waitress confirmed they sometimes are – but not today (referring to an apple crumble as an example), but I wouldn’t really bet on it.
The main dish is really cheap (certainly considering it’s organic), but not really a large portion. Just enough for me, although Jim could easily have eaten twice such plates.

Nectar, location
Sint Jansstraat 17
Kortrijk
website: http://nectarkortrijk.be/nl
056/38.09.95

See our lists of restaurants where vegans are welcome in the menu section of The Bruges vegan! List restaurants in Bruges and outside  Bruges.

vegetarian restaurant Nectar, interior – there’s also room upstairs