Coating apparatus for coating a food product with a batter, comprising: - a frame supporting an endless conveyor belt (15, 15') having an upper transport run to advance food products from an entry section (A, B) towards a discharge section thereof in a transport direction, the conveyor belt further having a lower return run, the conveyor belt extending between a front roller at a front end of the entry section and a rear roller at a rear end of the discharge section; - an upper batter applicator, wherein said upper batter applicator is positioned over the conveyor belt downstream of the entry section and configured to form, in operation, one or more curtains of batter flow from the upper batter applicator to the transport run of the conveyor belt in order to provide batter to an upper surface of the food products, - a batter pump assembly adapted to feed batter from a batter container to at least the upper batter applicator; - a wall structure provided at the front end adjacent the conveyor belt and in proximity of the front roller configured to cause, in operation, batter to be dragged with the conveyor belt and/or the front roller upwards towards the entry section, characterized by - a batter overflow device below the entry section of the conveyor belt, the batter overflow device (45, 46, 47) comprising a perforated surface having one or more perforations below at least a part of the entry section of the conveyor belt and a batter reservoir below said perforated surface, wherein the batter pump assembly is further adapted to feed batter to the batter overflow device so that in operation batter flows through the perforated surface and forms a lower batter layer on top of said surface, and wherein the entry section passes through said lower batter layer. - a frame supporting an endless conveyor belt (15, 15') having an upper transport run to advance food products from an entry section (A, B) towards a discharge section thereof in a transport direction, the conveyor belt further having a lower return run, the conveyor belt extending between a front roller at a front end of the entry section and a rear roller at a rear end of the discharge section; - an upper batter applicator, wherein said upper batter applicator is positioned over the conveyor belt downstream of the entry section and configured to form, in operation, one or more curtains of batter flow from the upper batter applicator to the transport run of the conveyor belt in order to provide batter to an upper surface of the food products, - a batter pump assembly adapted to feed batter from a batter container to at least the upper batter applicator; - a wall structure provided at the front end adjacent the conveyor belt and in proximity of the front roller configured to cause, in operation, batter to be dragged with the conveyor belt and/or the front roller upwards towards the entry section, characterized by - a batter overflow device below the entry section of the conveyor belt, the batter overflow device (45, 46, 47) comprising a perforated surface having one or more perforations below at least a part of the entry section of the conveyor belt and a batter reservoir below said perforated surface,