Visited while driving through on the way from Germany to Paris. Nothing outstanding, but a must visit for beer geeks. Had some food and a draft Orval with the Family. Glad I stopped.

Petit Orval on draft, normal and old Orval in bottles. Great to have some beers and a meal after visiting the ruines. The food was nice too.

Jonge and Petit Orval. If you sit outside you can see the monastery. I was surprised how commercial it was and the number of tourists there were visitng. Bought a 12 pack of Orval at the shop for 16 Euro’s. Not the cheapest Orval in Belgium funny enough. The man in the shop told be that Petit Orval never had been bottled. I told him it wasnt true and we almost had a big embarrasing argument going on. Long away from Antwerp/Brussels (200Km). If located there it is a 1 day trip. Food at Ange Garden is delicious.

Very nice ( tough modern ) place that’s very nice to have a drink and grab something to eat ( of the very good menu btw ! ) when you’re visiting the Abbey. The beer altough offocurse Orval only has 2 beers is great and the food , if you offcourse like Abbey cuisine / Belgian food is very good ! very nice place , must say that !

The trappist Abbey is a must visit for all beer geeks although it is a bit outside the beaten track in Belgium. The Orval beer is widespread and is even easy to get in Norway! But, I came to try Petit Orval (Orval Vert) fresh from tap. A lovely beer! At Ratebeer it is listed as 3,5 % and at Ange Gardien as 4,5 %. To bad that the service was extremely slow. Sitting by a table for 10-15 minutes waiting to order a beer is way to long. The place was not crowded at all. My message: Hurry up! (Visited July 3rd 2012)

They’ve got petit orval. That is it.

Visited last Friday at lunch time, right after visiting the abbey grounds -which make for a lovely stroll and a good feel of the heritage. Ange Gardien is located in a rather big, quite modern building. When we were there, only the ground floor was open, which meant we had to wait about 15 minutes for a place to sit. Very decent food, well made and quite affordable. Choice of bottled fresh and aged Orval, and on draught the unique Orval Vert (green, petit Orval). The Orval Vert is utterly splendid when fresh, and when I was there it was fresh, really fresh. It would definitely be my session beer of choice (and I do envy the monks).
A MUST visit for beer lovers!

Visited twice, a few years back and last year, but unfortunately it was closed for renovation the last time. Spaceous building, only visited the ground floor, big benches, lots of tiles (looks a bit like a big butcher’s shop), a very old-fashioned Belgian style bar. Had the Petit Orval and the regular Orval which were great, some Orval cheese (not really spectacular, rather tasteless). Of course this is a must-visit when you’re in the area, if only for the Petit Orval. The surroundings and the abbey are beautiful, absolutely worth the trip. Like Rastacouere said, if you want to visit just one Trappist brewery, Orval should be your choice.

Notice: The Restaurant reopened on July 2011. It is especially significant that they serve Orval Vert 4.5 on tap exclusively. Food was nice but, to my disappointment, troutie was not treated any more.

The infamous Orval restaurant is located just a few hundred meters up the road to the grandest Trappist abbey. The restaurant is actually huge, on 3 or 4 levels with enormous windows. Surprisingly modern like most Trappist abbeys attached restaurants. While we visited on a weekend, this one was particularly touristic, even attracting a bus of Japanese despite the fairly remote location. The fresh Orval was served 4 months old, I’d have been curious to try it younger, but it was not possible. The diluted version is worth the curiosity and still a great beer by any standards, but inferior by a fair margin. While we ate well in all Trappist restaurants, L’Ange Gardien will hold a special place in my heart. The menu is very varied and interesting. I had an excellent Orvaliflette for a mere 9.30 euros and my girlfried had a foie gras and seasonal wild mushroom tagliatelle meal that was plain sublime. In the last few weeks, we’d had similar plates in many tables including Toqué, generally acknowledged as the best in Montreal and the Ange Gardien plate was actually tastier. The portion was huge, not even considering its 13 euros price tag and trust me none was leftover. Exceptionally photogenic areas. The beautiful surroundings including lakes, fountains and ruins can be visited for 5.50 euros, a no-brainer. If you’re going to visit one Trappist, pick Orval.