Restaurant in Heffen, Belgium
Seasonal vegetables, easy booking, real value.
Meteor in Heffen holds Michelin Plate recognition for 2024 and 2025, a 4.6 Google rating from 325 reviews, and sits at the €€ price tier — making it the clearest value case for organic, vegetable-forward cooking in the Mechelen area. Booking is easy, the seasonal menu responds to a nearby kitchen garden, and it outperforms its price tier consistently. Note vegetable preferences when you book.
A Google score of 4.6 across 325 reviews is a reliable signal in Belgian dining — it means regular diners keep returning and recommending, not just a single wave of opening-night enthusiasm. At the €€ price tier, Meteor in Heffen sits at a point where the cost-to-quality ratio is genuinely hard to argue with, particularly for a kitchen holding two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions (2024 and 2025). If you have been once and are wondering whether to go back or go deeper, the answer is yes — and you should communicate your vegetable preferences clearly when you book.
Meteor operates out of Sint-Amandusstraat 5 in Mechelen, a location that puts it within reach of Antwerp and Brussels without competing directly with the more formal dining rooms in either city. The physical setting reflects the kitchen's philosophy: this is not a room designed to intimidate. The spatial register is relaxed enough to suit a longer weekend lunch or a low-key special occasion, which makes it a practical choice when you want the food to do the work rather than the architecture. For diners who have already visited once, that approachability is worth factoring into your next booking , Meteor is the kind of room where the second visit tends to feel more settled and more rewarding than the first.
The connection to a nearby vegetable garden is not incidental to the experience. Michelin's own note on the venue flags that chef Maarten van Essche uses it to track what is available on a given day, which means the menu has a genuine seasonal responsiveness rather than a fixed-format organic claim. For a return visitor, this is the strongest argument for coming back at a different point in the year , the dishes you had in spring will not be the dishes available in autumn.
Meteor's cuisine classification is organic, and the kitchen's emphasis sits firmly with vegetables , though Michelin's commentary notes the menu is not exclusively plant-based. The phrase to hold onto from the award notes is "pure plant or not," which signals flexibility. If you are returning with a guest who eats everything, you do not need to pre-negotiate the entire menu. But if vegetables are your preference (or your dining companion's), the booking note to indicate that is practical advice, not a formality , it appears to shape what the kitchen prioritises for your table.
At the €€ price point, this is not a long tasting menu format in the manner of Boury in Roeselare or Vrijmoed in Gent, both of which operate at €€€€ and require a significantly larger commitment per head. Meteor gives you Michelin-acknowledged quality at a fraction of the price, which is the clearest single reason to book it over a higher-tier alternative if the organic and vegetable-forward format appeals to you.
For diners considering a weekend or daytime visit, Meteor's combination of a relaxed room, seasonal organic produce, and a price tier that does not require a special-occasion budget makes it a stronger brunch or lunch candidate than most Michelin-recognised venues in the region. The vegetable-garden sourcing is particularly well-suited to a morning or midday format, where lighter, produce-driven plates tend to land better than they do at dinner. If you are advising someone on their first visit, a weekend lunch is the format to suggest , you get the full quality of the kitchen without the formality that attaches to evening dining at this recognition level.
For context on the broader organic dining category in Belgium, Barge in Brussels and Archibald De Prince in Luxembourg are both organic-classified venues worth comparing if you are building a trip around this kind of cooking. Within the Mechelen and Heffen area specifically, Meteor is the reference point , see our full Heffen restaurants guide for the broader picture.
Booking is rated easy, which at a Michelin Plate venue is a genuine advantage. You do not need to plan weeks in advance the way you would for Hof van Cleve or Zilte in Antwerp. A booking window of several days to a week ahead should be sufficient for most visits, though weekend slots at a well-reviewed room this size are always worth securing earlier rather than later. The key practical step remains the same whether you are a first-timer or a return visitor: note your vegetable preferences at the time of booking. The kitchen appears to use that information to calibrate what it sends out, so skipping that step means you may get a more generic read of the menu than the kitchen is capable of delivering.
Phone and website details are not currently listed in our database , check directly via the address at Sint-Amandusstraat 5, 2801 Mechelen, or search current contact details before you travel. For accommodation near the venue, our Heffen hotels guide has current options. If you are pairing the meal with wider Mechelen or Antwerp plans, our Heffen bars guide and experiences guide cover what else is available nearby.
At €€, Meteor sits in a different tier entirely from the main field of Belgian fine dining. Boury, Vrijmoed, La Durée in Izegem, and Cuchara in Lommel all operate at €€€€ , which means Meteor offers Michelin-acknowledged cooking at roughly half the outlay or less. If your priority is the highest technical ceiling in Belgian creative cuisine, those venues set the benchmark. But if you want produce-led, organically sourced food with genuine seasonal responsiveness and no need to plan months ahead, Meteor delivers that at a price point none of the €€€€ field can match.
Against Comme chez Soi, the comparison is one of format and philosophy rather than quality tier. Comme chez Soi is a formal, classic French-Belgian institution with deep historical credentials; Meteor is a younger, lighter, produce-driven room. They are not competing for the same booking. If the occasion calls for ceremony and a grand dining room, Comme chez Soi is the answer. If you want something that feels current, ingredient-focused, and easy to book at a fair price, Meteor is the stronger choice.
For the specific organic and vegetable-forward category, the closest Brussels comparison is Barge, but Meteor's Michelin Plate recognition and its direct vegetable garden sourcing give it a stronger credential at this niche. Diners who have visited Willem Hiele in Oudenburg or Le Chalet de la Forêt in Uccle and want a Flemish equivalent at a more accessible price tier should look at Meteor as the logical next booking.
Seat count is not confirmed in our current data, but the €€ pricing and relaxed room format suggest Meteor is more suited to small groups of two to four than large party bookings. If you are planning a group visit, contact the venue directly to confirm availability and whether the kitchen can accommodate multiple dietary preferences simultaneously. Noting vegetable preferences at the time of booking remains advisable regardless of group size.
No dress code is listed, and the tone of the venue , a Michelin Plate organic kitchen at the €€ tier in Heffen , points toward smart casual rather than formal. This is not a white-tablecloth room in the manner of Comme chez Soi or Boury. Neat, presentable clothing is appropriate; a jacket is not required. If you are coming from a city and heading straight to dinner, standard city daywear will not be out of place.
The relaxed, produce-led format and accessible price tier make Meteor a reasonable solo option, particularly for a lunch visit. Belgian organic kitchens at this recognition level tend to run counter or small-table seating rather than large banquet layouts, which suits solo diners. Confirming seating arrangements when you book is worth doing , and noting your preferences at that point ensures the kitchen calibrates the meal appropriately for one rather than defaulting to a shared format.
At the €€ price tier with two consecutive Michelin Plate awards, the value case for Meteor's tasting format is strong. You are getting seasonally responsive, organically sourced cooking with a named kitchen reputation at a price point significantly below the €€€€ field. Whether the specific menu format on offer justifies the spend depends on your preference , communicate your vegetable preferences when booking to ensure you get the most considered version of what the kitchen does rather than a more general run through the menu.
Yes, with a specific framing. Meteor works well for occasions where the food and setting should feel considered but not ceremonial. A birthday lunch, a low-key anniversary, or a celebratory weekend meal all fit the room. If the occasion requires formal service, a grand dining room, or the symbolic weight of a multi-star address, venues like Boury or Comme chez Soi are more appropriate. Meteor's strength for special occasions is that it delivers a genuinely memorable meal without the formality tax of the higher-tier field.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meteor | Organic | Chef Maarten van Essche is on top form! Not only are the vegetable dishes pure and delicious, he radiates happiness. This his new place where he can fully indulge, pure plant or not. Definitely a must do as far as we're concerned, but do indicate when booking that lots of vegetables are your preference. By the way, the vegetable garden is not far away and makes the chef keep his finger on the pulse of what nature has on offer on a daily basis. Good job Maarten!; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Easy | — |
| Boury | Modern Frlemish, Creative French | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Comme chez Soi | French - Belgian, Classic Cuisine | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Vrijmoed | Modern Flemish, Creative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| La Durée | French-Belgian, Creative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Cuchara | Modern European, Creative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Meteor's easy booking rating suggests there is room to arrange group visits without the lead time you would need at tighter-capacity venues. check the venue's official channels when reserving and flag your group size upfront. Given the kitchen's vegetable-forward approach, it is also worth noting any dietary preferences at the time of booking — Michelin's own commentary on Meteor specifically recommends doing this for the best experience.
Meteor sits at the €€ price tier with a Michelin Plate rather than a star, which generally points to a relaxed room rather than a formal one. Nothing in the venue record suggests a dress code, so treat it as a comfortable neighbourhood dinner out rather than a black-tie affair. Neat casual is a reasonable default.
At a €€ price point with easy booking, Meteor is a low-friction choice for solo diners who want a Michelin-recognised meal without the commitment of a high-end omakase format. The organic, vegetable-led menu suits a counter or small-table format where a single diner can move through a seasonal menu without feeling the experience is calibrated only for couples or groups.
Michelin's 2024 and 2025 Plate recognition, combined with a €€ price range, puts Meteor in a category where the spend-to-quality ratio works in your favour compared to starred peers like Boury or Comme chez Soi. The kitchen draws from its own vegetable garden, which keeps the seasonal menu grounded in what is genuinely available rather than a fixed rotation. If you book, indicate a preference for vegetables — the Michelin commentary specifically recommends this to get the most from the kitchen's strengths.
Yes, with the right expectations set. Meteor offers Michelin Plate-level cooking at €€, which makes it a strong choice for a low-key celebration where the food is the point but the bill does not need to be an event in itself. It is better suited to an intimate dinner for two than a large celebratory group, and works particularly well if the guest of honour is drawn to seasonal, produce-led cooking rather than a classic fine dining format.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
