Restaurant in Axpe, Spain
Traditional Basque at an honest €€ price.
A Michelin Plate farmhouse restaurant in Axpe dating to 1745, Mendi Goikoa Bekoa delivers traditional Basque cooking at a €€ price point with views of Anboto mountain from its valley terrace. Rated 4.6 across 900 reviews, it is the right booking for travellers who want honest, product-led cooking in a genuinely atmospheric setting rather than a formal tasting menu experience.
With a Google rating of 4.6 across 900 reviews, Mendi Goikoa Bekoa sits at the more accessible end of Axpe's dining options — priced at €€ and holding a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025), it is the kind of place that rewards food-focused travellers who want genuine Basque cooking without the multi-course theatre of the region's big-ticket venues. If you are making the drive into the Atxondo valley specifically to eat, this is a credible choice. If you want the full tasting menu experience, look elsewhere in the Basque Country.
The building dates to 1745, and the dining room makes that history work for the meal rather than against it. Stone walls, wood beams, and an internal terrace that looks out over the valley give the space a settled, unhurried quality that is harder to find in city restaurants. The setting beneath Anboto mountain adds a specific geographic logic to eating here: this is food rooted in a place, served in a building that has been part of that place for nearly three centuries. For travellers who factor atmosphere into the decision, the spatial experience at Mendi Goikoa Bekoa is one of the stronger arguments for booking. The farmhouse has also added guestrooms, which makes it a practical option for anyone building an overnight itinerary around the Atxondo valley rather than treating it as a detour from Bilbao.
Chef Jon Yurrebaso runs an à la carte built around Basque tradition, supplemented by seasonal suggestions and a set lunch menu. The kitchen's identity is grounded in product: grilled dishes feature prominently, and the menu includes combinations such as steamed molletes (buns) with Txistorra sausage — the sausage itself sourced from Aldaz, a meat producer in Etxarri Aranatz , paired with cured egg yolk. That level of sourcing specificity, noted in the Michelin documentation, signals a kitchen that takes its ingredients seriously without dressing them up unnecessarily. The à la carte format gives diners more control than a tasting menu, which suits the €€ price point and the relaxed service register the restaurant operates in.
The Michelin Plate designation, retained in both 2024 and 2025, confirms cooking that meets a consistent standard without claiming the starred tier. For context: a Michelin Plate means good cooking, not transformative cooking. At this price level, that is a fair and honest credential. It also appears in Opinionated About Dining's Casual list for Europe (2025), which positions it clearly as a comfortable, unfussy room rather than a formal dining occasion.
The €€ price range is the frame through which to read everything here. At this level, Mendi Goikoa Bekoa is not competing with Azurmendi in Larrabetzu or Arzak in San Sebastián on service depth or kitchen ambition. What it offers instead is a relaxed, honest service style that matches the farmhouse setting and the traditional cooking register. The OAD Casual designation confirms this: the experience is designed to be comfortable and unpretentious, not polished to a hotel-restaurant standard.
Whether that earns the price depends on what you are coming for. If the draw is a specific, place-rooted Basque meal in a 278-year-old farmhouse with views of Anboto, the value case is clear. If you expect the attentiveness and pacing of a starred venue at any price point, this is not the right booking. For the food-focused traveller who wants depth without formality, Mendi Goikoa Bekoa delivers an honest exchange: good product, a kitchen that respects its sources, and a room that gives you something to look at while you eat. The 4.6 rating across 900 reviews suggests that most guests find the balance correct.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which reflects both the €€ positioning and Axpe's distance from major urban centres. The village is not a destination that sees casual footfall; most guests are making a deliberate trip. That means you are unlikely to face the weeks-in-advance booking pressure of Bilbao or San Sebastián restaurants at a similar quality tier. The set lunch menu is worth factoring into your timing , midday visits in the current season, when the valley is at its most visually immediate, align well with the restaurant's spatial strengths. The guestrooms mean an overnight stay is possible, which removes the time pressure of a day trip entirely.
For a fuller picture of eating and staying in the area, see our full Axpe restaurants guide, our full Axpe hotels guide, our full Axpe bars guide, our full Axpe wineries guide, and our full Axpe experiences guide. If you want another creative option in Axpe, Txispa offers a Spanish/Japanese creative format that sits at the opposite end of the local cooking spectrum.
See the comparison section below for how Mendi Goikoa Bekoa sits against the Basque Country's bigger names.
Within Axpe itself, Txispa is the main alternative, offering a creative Spanish/Japanese format that contrasts sharply with Mendi Goikoa Bekoa's traditional Basque focus. If you are willing to travel, the Basque Country has a strong bench at higher price points: Azurmendi in Larrabetzu (€€€€, three Michelin stars) is under an hour away and represents a completely different register. For traditional Basque cooking in a more urban setting, Ama Taberna in Tolosa and iBAi by Paulo Airaudo in San Sebastián are worth considering. Mendi Goikoa Bekoa's specific advantage is the farmhouse setting and the overnight option , neither alternative matches that combination.
The OAD Casual designation and the €€ price point set the tone: smart casual is the practical answer. The farmhouse context and relaxed service style mean there is no case for formal dress. Comfortable clothes suited to a rural valley setting , particularly if you are walking or staying overnight , are entirely appropriate. This is not a room that rewards dressing up, and overdressing would feel out of step with the experience.
The grilled dishes are the kitchen's clearest strength, consistent with the traditional Basque cooking register that Chef Jon Yurrebaso operates in. The steamed molletes with Txistorra sausage (from Aldaz in Etxarri Aranatz) and cured egg yolk represent the kind of sourcing-led combination the kitchen does well. At lunchtime, the set menu is worth considering for value and pacing. The seasonal suggestions on the à la carte are worth asking about , given the current season, those additions are likely where the kitchen's freshest thinking sits.
Yes, with some caveats. The à la carte format works for solo diners, and the relaxed, unfussy service style removes any awkwardness around pacing or table pressure. The internal terrace with valley views gives solo travellers something to engage with beyond the meal itself. At €€, the cost is manageable without feeling the need to order across multiple courses to justify the table. The guestrooms also make it a practical solo overnight destination if you are exploring the Atxondo valley independently.
Mendi Goikoa Bekoa is not primarily a tasting menu venue. The kitchen's core format is à la carte, supplemented by a set lunch option and seasonal suggestions. If a tasting menu experience is your specific goal in the Basque Country, you would get more from a booking at Azurmendi or Arzak, both of which operate at €€€€ and deliver the full multi-course format with corresponding service depth. At Mendi Goikoa Bekoa, the value case is in the à la carte and the set lunch , not in a tasting menu progression. Book here for traditional Basque cooking in a remarkable physical setting, not for the structured tasting format.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mendi Goikoa Bekoa | Basque | €€ | This restaurant, in the shadow of the legendary Anboto mountain and occupying a charming farmhouse (now with guestrooms) that dates back to 1745, is firmly focused on tradition, taking guests’ tastebuds on a journey through the authentic flavours of the Basque Country. It boasts a charming internal terrace overlooking the valley, with the same combination of stone and wood evident throughout the property. The traditionally inspired à la carte, including impressive grilled dishes and successful combinations such as steamed “molletes” (buns) with Txistorra sausage (made by the Aldaz meat company in Etxarri Aranatz) and cured egg yolk, is complemented by a few seasonal suggestions and a set menu at lunchtime.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Quique Dacosta | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| El Celler de Can Roca | Progressive Spanish, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Axpe for this tier.
Etxebarri is the obvious answer — it sits in the same village and holds a Michelin star built entirely around live-fire cooking, but at a significantly higher price and with a booking lead time of months rather than days. If you want to stay in Axpe at the €€ level with traditional Basque cooking and no reservation stress, Mendi Goikoa Bekoa has few direct rivals locally. For higher ambition in the region, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu is the step up.
The setting is a working farmhouse dating to 1745 with stone walls and wood beams, and the €€ pricing signals an unpretentious room. Neat casual is appropriate — think a clean shirt or blouse rather than a jacket. There is no indication from the venue's positioning or Michelin Plate status that formal dress is expected or necessary.
The kitchen's identity is grilled dishes, which the Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 is largely built on, so those are the anchor of any visit. The steamed molletes with Txistorra sausage from the Aldaz meat company and cured egg yolk is a documented standout combination. At lunch, the set menu is the practical choice if you want structure at the most accessible price point.
The à la carte format and farmhouse setting make solo dining workable — you are not locked into a long tasting menu format, and the internal terrace overlooking the valley gives single diners a view worth sitting with. The €€ price range also means the solo bill stays manageable. It is a more comfortable solo proposition than a high-commitment omakase-style counter.
The set menu here is a lunchtime option rather than a full tasting menu format, so the commitment and price are lower than at multi-course Michelin-starred peers. At €€, it is a practical way to sample the kitchen's seasonal suggestions alongside the à la carte strengths. If a full tasting menu experience is what you are after, Azurmendi or Arzak are the regional options built around that format.
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