Restaurant in Garnwerd, Netherlands
Michelin-verified cooking, village prices, no fuss.
Bij Hammingh holds back-to-back Michelin Plates (2024, 2025) and a 4.3 Google rating at 694 reviews — rare credentials for a restaurant in a village of fewer than 300 people. At the €€ price point, it delivers Michelin-verified modern cuisine without the booking difficulty or cost of the Netherlands' starred rooms. Worth the drive if you are anywhere in Groningen province.
Getting a table at Bij Hammingh is easier than you might expect for a Michelin-recognised restaurant, and that accessibility is part of the point. This is one of the very few places in the Netherlands where you can sit down to modern cuisine that has earned back-to-back Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) without the weeks-out scramble that defines booking at comparable rooms. If you are willing to make the drive to the small village of Garnwerd in Groningen province, the reward is a meal that punches well above what the €€ price tag suggests. Book it.
Garnwerd has fewer than three hundred residents. It sits in the flat, open terrain of the Groningen countryside, the kind of place most visitors pass through rather than stop in. That is precisely what makes Bij Hammingh significant. In a country where serious modern cuisine is clustered in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and a handful of prosperous regional cities, a Michelin-recognised restaurant in a village of this size is not a curiosity — it is a signal. It tells you that the kitchen is doing something compelling enough to draw people off the main road and into the agricultural heart of the north.
For the food-focused traveller, that kind of destination dining carries its own logic. You are not coming for a neighbourhood you already know. You are coming specifically for this restaurant, which sharpens the experience. Venues that anchor a small community the way Bij Hammingh anchors Garnwerd tend to operate with a different kind of seriousness — there is no foot traffic to fall back on, no tourist overflow to fill tables. Every cover matters, and that tends to show in the cooking and the service. See our full Garnwerd restaurants guide for additional context on what the village's food scene offers.
Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024, 2025) confirm that the Guide's inspectors find consistent, competent cooking here , not the technical ambition of a starred kitchen, but a clear level of quality that sets Bij Hammingh apart from ordinary village dining. At the €€ price point, that recognition matters. You are not paying starred prices and hoping for the leading; you are paying a moderate sum for cooking that has been independently verified as worth seeking out. That is a meaningful distinction. For comparison, the starred rooms in the Netherlands , De Librije in Zwolle, Ciel Bleu in Amsterdam, Inter Scaldes in Kruiningen , operate at €€€€ and require substantially more planning. Bij Hammingh is the more accessible entry point into Michelin-level cooking in the Dutch north.
The Google rating of 4.3 across 694 reviews reinforces the picture. A 4.3 average at that review volume is not a fluke or a run of enthusiastic early adopters; it is a consistent signal of guest satisfaction over time. For a village restaurant, 694 reviews also tells you that people are making the trip deliberately and then bothering to report back , which is its own form of endorsement.
The Groningen countryside rewards a visit in late spring through early autumn, when the flat agricultural landscape is at its most open and the light stays long into the evening. Driving to Garnwerd in summer means arriving in daylight, which makes the setting legible in a way that a winter evening drive does not. If you are combining the meal with a broader Groningen itinerary , the city of Groningen is the natural base , a weekend lunch in the warmer months gives you time to explore the area before or after the meal. Check our Garnwerd experiences guide and Garnwerd hotels guide to build around the visit properly.
Midweek bookings are likely to be quieter, as is typical for rural restaurants whose weekend covers fill with regional diners making a deliberate outing. If you want the room at its most relaxed, a Thursday or Friday lunch is usually the right call. There is no verified data on seasonal menu rotations, so contact the restaurant directly before booking if timing a visit around specific produce windows matters to you.
Bij Hammingh suits the food traveller who wants a serious meal without the formality or the price escalation of a starred room. It also suits anyone building an itinerary through the northern Netherlands who wants to eat well without backtracking to a major city. If you are already in Groningen province , visiting the Wadden Sea coast, the Martinitoren, or the Hunebedden further south , routing through Garnwerd for a meal at Bij Hammingh is a direct addition that meaningfully raises the quality of the trip. See our Garnwerd bars guide and Garnwerd wineries guide for options around the meal.
It is less suited to diners who want the full tasting-menu theatre of a starred kitchen, or who need the surrounding amenities , good hotel options nearby, a bar scene, late-night options , that a city dining destination provides. The village is the village. The trade-off for the quiet and the access is that Bij Hammingh is essentially the whole event. Plan accordingly.
Against the €€€€ rooms that define the leading of the Dutch modern cuisine category, Bij Hammingh occupies a different tier by design. De Librije in Zwolle and Aan de Poel in Amstelveen both carry Michelin stars and operate at significantly higher price points , the right choice if you want the full tasting-menu commitment and are willing to book weeks in advance. Bij Hammingh is the better call if you want Michelin-verified cooking at a moderate price, with no booking headache. These are not the same product; they serve different trip profiles.
Within the €€ modern cuisine bracket, Bistro Sophie in Eindhoven and De Aubergerie in Amersfoort are comparable in price positioning, though both sit in larger urban centres where the surrounding dining options give you more flexibility. If city access matters, those are the stronger logistical choices. Bij Hammingh wins on distinctiveness and on the signal that comes from two consecutive Michelin Plates in a village of this size.
For travellers drawn to organic and produce-led modern cooking, De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen is worth the detour , it operates at €€€€ but has a strong identity that Bij Hammingh, at its price point and scale, does not try to compete with directly. The question is what you are optimising for: if it is value and accessibility in the Dutch north, Bij Hammingh is the clearest answer in the region.
There is no verified data on bar seating at Bij Hammingh. Given the village setting and the restaurant's scale, seating arrangements are likely more limited than at a city-centre room. Contact the restaurant directly before your visit if bar or counter seating is important to you.
At a €€ price point with back-to-back Michelin Plates, the value case for whatever menu format Bij Hammingh offers is strong. No specific tasting menu details are in the verified record, so confirm the format when booking. What the awards signal is that the cooking justifies the price, which at this tier is a lower bar to clear than at a starred room.
Yes, for what it is. Two Michelin Plates at a €€ price range is a rare combination in the Netherlands , you are getting independently verified quality without the €€€€ outlay that comparable ambition usually requires. The trade-off is location: you need to want to be in Garnwerd, or to be passing through the region anyway.
The location is the main thing to plan around. Garnwerd is a genuine village, not a picturesque suburb , bring a car, check hours directly before you go (not in the verified record), and treat the meal as a destination in itself rather than one stop among several. The Michelin Plate recognition means the cooking is worth the effort, but the logistics require more intentionality than a city-centre booking.
It works well for a low-key special occasion where intimacy and quality matter more than surroundings or spectacle. The rural setting and Michelin recognition give the meal a sense of occasion without the formality of a starred room. For a milestone where maximum theatre is the goal, a starred venue like FG in Rotterdam or De Lindehof in Nuenen will deliver more production value.
Garnwerd itself has a very limited dining scene , Bij Hammingh is the anchor. For alternatives in the wider region, De Groene Lantaarn in Staphorst is a comparable rural destination with Michelin recognition. If you are willing to travel further for more ambition, De Lindenhof in Giethoorn and Tribeca in Heeze operate at €€€€ and offer the full starred-kitchen experience.
No booking method, phone number, or website is in the verified record, which makes it harder to advise on this. As a general rule for any modern cuisine restaurant at this level, dietary requirements are leading flagged at the time of booking rather than on arrival. Reach out directly through whatever contact details you can source before your visit.
For more on eating and drinking in the region, see our full Garnwerd restaurants guide, and browse Brut172 in Reijmerstok for another off-the-beaten-track Dutch modern cuisine room worth knowing about.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bij Hammingh | €€ · Modern Cuisine | €€ | Easy |
| De Librije | €€€€ · Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Aan de Poel | €€€€ · Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| De Nieuwe Winkel | €€€€ · Organic | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Fred | €€€€ · Creative French | €€€€ | Unknown |
| De Lindehof | Contemporary Dutch, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Bij Hammingh and alternatives.
Bar seating is not confirmed for Bij Hammingh. Given the village scale of Garnwerd and the €€ price positioning, this is almost certainly a table-service restaurant without a dedicated bar counter. check the venue's official channels before planning any walk-in bar visit.
The value case is strong. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024, 2025) at a €€ price range is a rare pairing in the Dutch dining scene — you are getting independently verified cooking at a price that most starred rooms would charge just for the amuse-bouche. Specific menu formats are not confirmed in the record, so check directly with the restaurant before booking a specific format.
Yes. Back-to-back Michelin Plates at €€ means the inspectors keep coming back and the bill stays accessible. For the Groningen region, that combination is hard to beat without stepping up to a starred room and a significantly higher price point. The main cost is the journey, not the meal.
Plan the logistics first. Garnwerd is a working village with under 300 residents — you will need a car, and public transport connections are minimal. Confirm hours and availability directly before making the trip, since no website or phone number is in the public record. The Michelin Plate gives you confidence in the cooking; the rest is planning.
Yes, if the occasion calls for intimacy over spectacle. The rural Groningen setting and Michelin recognition make it a credible choice for a birthday or anniversary where you want quality cooking without a formal city-centre dining room. It is less suited to large group celebrations where atmosphere and scale matter more than the food itself.
Garnwerd has no comparable dining options — Bij Hammingh is the only reason most people stop here. For alternatives in the wider region, De Groene Lantaarn in Staphorst (a Michelin-starred room) raises the ambition and the price; Fred in Groningen city offers a more accessible urban option if the rural drive is not your preference.
No booking contact or website is confirmed in the verified record, which makes advance communication harder to plan. As a general approach for any Michelin Plate restaurant running modern cuisine at this scale, call ahead or email as early as possible — restrictions are far easier to accommodate with notice than on arrival.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
