e Hotel de la Poste is
often quoted as a marvellous "spread," but the best restaurant in Ghent
is undoubtedly Mottez's, on the Avenue Place d'Armes. This is an
old-fashioned place with no appearance of a restaurant outside, and a
stranger would easily pass it by. Here one dines both _a la carte_ and
at _table-d'hote_; the _table-d'hote_ is well worth trying, though some
of the dishes can be safely passed over. The wines at Mottez's are very
good, and some special old Flemish beer in bottles should be asked for.
A great local dish is _Hochepot Gantois_, a mixture of pork, sausages,
and vegetables which only the very hungry or the very daring should
experiment upon at a strange place. Flemish cooking as a rule is fat and
porky, and there is a dish often seen on the _carte_ called _Choesels a
la Bruxelloise_, which is considered a delicacy by the natives, and it
is supposed to be a hash cooked in sherry or marsala; it is, however, a
dish of mystery. A _plat_ always to be found in Belgium (especially in
the Flanders district), is _Waterzoei de Poulet_, a chicken broth served
with the fowl. This is usually very safe, and any one going to Mottez's
at Ghent should try it there. _Carbonades Flamandes_ is another Flemish
dish which, if well done, can be eaten without fear. This is beef-steak
stewed in "faro," an acid Flemish beer, and served with a rich brown
sauce. _Salade de Princesses Liegeoises_ is a salad made with scarlet
runners mixed with little pieces of fried bacon. The bacon takes the
place of oil, while the vinegar should be used with rather a heavy hand.
When other salads are scarce, this makes a really toothsome dish. Of
all the Belgian _plats_, however, first and foremost must be placed
_Grives a la Namuroise_, which of course are only to be obtained in the
autumn. I have said that the Belgian is a bird-eater, and throughout the
country every species of bird is pressed into service for the table. A
stranger visiting the Ardennes will be struck by the remarkable silence
of the woods, which is caused by the wholesale destruction of the birds.
How the supply is kept up it is difficult to say, but no Belgian dinner
is considered complete without a bird of some sort, and when _grives_
are in season, thousands must be served daily. A _grive_ proper is a
thrush, but I fear that blackbirds and starlings often find their way to
the _casserole_ under the name of a _grive_. They should be cooked with
the trail, in which mounta