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Portobelfino Food Identity independently reviewed
Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

Portobelfino

A fine dining restaurant in Sint-Niklaas where a French base is carried through with Asian accents, cooked from menus that follow the market rather than a standing card.

Food Identity How restaurants source, cook and care. Independently reviewed

Portobelfino

A fine dining restaurant in Sint-Niklaas where a French base is carried through with Asian accents, cooked from menus that follow the market rather than a standing card.

The essentials, at a glance


Documented practices
Independently
reviewed
Seasonal cooking
Plant-forward menu

Documented practices

Seasonal cooking Menu rebuilt daily from market supply
Plant-forward menu Vegetables hold multiple courses, multiple techniques

Style
Fine dining
Cuisine
Asian
French
Fusion
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room
Dog-friendly
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide
Recognised by
We're Smart Green Guide

The delicious details

Portobelfino sits on the Houtbriel in Sint-Niklaas, a family restaurant that chef Ritchie De Clercq runs with his father Rony as host and Lina Vanhese as hostess. The cooking takes a French base and carries Asian accents through it.

There is no fixed card. Menus follow what the market offers, with the lunch changing daily and the longer evening menu published only as an example. Vegetables hold several courses in their own right and are worked through more than one technique, from a celeriac fondant with wild mushrooms to the roasted beetroot and salsify that come with beef picanha.

A terrace runs outside and a separate room seats up to 30. The kitchen also serves an early sitting for guests heading to the concert halls ten minutes away.

Menu
What's on the table, and what's left off

The kitchen serves market-driven menus rather than à la carte: a lunch that changes daily with what comes to market, and a five-course evening menu published as an example. Vegetables hold whole courses in their own right, prepared through several techniques. Fish and shellfish run through the menu, while vegetarian courses sit in regular rotation.

Dining here runs through menus rather than à la carte: a lunch of three or four courses that changes daily with the market, and a five course evening menu.

Vegetables hold several courses in their own right, among them a celeriac fondant with wild mushrooms and beurre blanc, and they shape the garnishes elsewhere, as with the roasted beetroot and salsify served with beef picanha. Fish and shellfish run through the menu, from a scallop crudo with cauliflower pannacotta to the catch of the day with a cannelloni of savoy and fennel.

Vegetarian courses sit in the regular rotation. Guests are asked to note any dietary requirements when booking, so the kitchen can take them into account.

Cuisine

Asian
French
Fusion

Dietary options

Vegetarian options
Allergies & intolerances
How this kitchen handles the EU-14 allergens
Handled on request
Public sources point to a working level of allergen accommodation, but no dedicated preparation area. Treat this as a starting point and confirm directly.
Always confirm your allergy directly with the restaurant when booking.
Researched from public sources · diningwiththestars.be · not yet confirmed by the restaurant
Impact score
How this restaurant rates
1 - Starting

Two areas of the kitchen's practice are confirmed, by what the restaurant publishes and by outside review: how closely the cooking follows the season, and the place vegetables hold on the menu.

Menus are not fixed. The lunch changes daily with what the market brings, and the evening menu is published as an example rather than a standing card, so dishes turn over as produce comes in and out of season. The current example menu is built on cold weather produce: celeriac, salsify, roasted beetroot, savoy, fennel and pear. Earlier menus the restaurant has published carry a different, differently seasoned set of dishes. Most dishes therefore change with the season and seasonality is stated as the guiding principle.

Vegetables also take whole courses rather than sitting at the edge of the plate, prepared through several techniques. Portobelfino is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide, a guide given to restaurants that put fruit and vegetables in a leading part on the menu, which notes that the chef works a great deal with plant ingredients across the menu.

The impact dimensions

Seasonal cooking✓

Plant-forward menu✓

Menus are market driven, with the lunch changing daily and the evening menu published as an example rather than a standing card.

The restaurant describes its lunches as changing daily with market supply and publishes the evening menu as an example rather than a standing card. Gault&Millau independently credits the chef with working from varied and balanced menus inspired by market supply.

Rotation is visible in observable menu differences: the current example menu centres on cold weather produce (celeriac, salsify, roasted beetroot, savoy, fennel, pear) while an earlier snapshot on restaurantguru carries different dishes with different seasonal characters. Most savoury courses therefore change with the season.

Strongest sourcegaultmillau.be ↗

Vegetables hold several courses in their own right and are prepared through multiple techniques, and the restaurant is listed in the We're Smart Green Guide.

The We're Smart Green Guide lists the restaurant and states that the chef experiments a great deal with plant-based ingredients, which therefore have a prominent role on the menu across multiple forms and techniques. An example evening menu gives one of five courses to a vegetable in its own right (a celeriac fondant with wild mushrooms and beurre blanc) and builds vegetable preparations into several others (savoy and fennel cannelloni, roasted beetroot and salsify, cauliflower pannacotta).

Owner-uploaded menu snapshots show the same pattern, with roughly 30 to 45 per cent of savoury courses vegetarian or vegetable centred. Vegan options are not evidenced on any channel, so the kitchen is not structurally plant led.

Strongest sourceWe're Smart Green Guide ↗
Visit & practical info
Address, price, and more
Address
Houtbriel 24, 9100 Sint-Niklaas, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Open in Google Maps ↗
Price
€€€
Format
Eight to twelve seats; lunch and five-course dinner; book ahead
Style
Fine dining
Good to know
Terrace
Private dining room
Dog-friendly
Web
portobelfino.be
Reviewed by My Treats
Last reviewed 15 Oct 2026
Reserve To website
Link copied
How we score
The My Treats impact scale

Every restaurant is assessed against SEERO, our six-dimension sustainability framework — covering sourcing, seasonality, waste, animal products, social impact, and plant-forward cooking. Each finding is weighted by how strongly it is corroborated. The combined result is translated into an impact score from 1 to 5.

The five levels

SEERO is an acronym for Starting, Engaged, Endorsed, Recognised, Outstanding:

Starting First verified signals of sustainable practice.
This place
Engaged Credible practice across two dimensions.
Endorsed Meaningful practice across three or more dimensions.
Recognised Strong practice across four or more dimensions, with independent corroboration.
Outstanding Top-tier practice, confirmed by recognised third-party audit.

How a level is reached. Each level needs two things together: a minimum number of dimensions covered, and a minimum overall strength of evidence across them. A dimension only counts once its evidence is specific and substantiated — a passing mention doesn't qualify. Meeting only one of the two keeps a restaurant a level lower.

Scores of four or five require human validation and, at the top tier, an external audit. Scores are based on publicly available evidence and restaurant submissions at the time of assessment.

Full methodology→
Impact dimension
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How this dimension works
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How evidence is weighted
Self-declared Stated by the restaurant on its website, menu or in a submission. Plausible, but not yet independently corroborated.
Researched Found through independent research; one credible third-party source backs the claim.
Vouched Corroborated across more than one independent source. Some gaps may remain.
Audited Fully corroborated across independent sources or by a recognised third-party certification.
What the sourcing checkmarks mean
✓ Full check — independently verified: corroborated across more than one source, or audited / third-party certified (vouched or audited).
✓ Light check — self-declared or from a single source. Not yet independently verified.
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