Restaurant in Herentals, Belgium
Michelin value in central Belgium. Book ahead.
Nr.12 by Helsen holds consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards for 2024 and 2025, delivering structured modern cuisine on Herentals' Grote Markt at an €€ price point that undercuts most comparable kitchens in the region. Chef Roberto Filgueira runs a kitchen built around deliberate course progression. Book two to three weeks ahead for a celebration dinner that delivers serious cooking without a serious bill.
If you have eaten at Nr.12 by Helsen before, the question on a second visit is whether the kitchen has moved forward or settled into its winning formula. Based on two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards — 2024 and 2025 — the answer appears to be the former. Chef Roberto Filgueira is running a modern cuisine kitchen in Herentals that punches well above its price tier, and the €€ positioning makes it one of the more compelling arguments for leaving Antwerp or Brussels for a meal in the Kempen region. Book it, particularly if you are planning a celebration dinner and want serious cooking without a four-figure bill.
Nr.12 by Helsen sits on the Grote Markt in Herentals , a central-Belgium market square address that places it within easy reach of Antwerp, roughly 30 kilometres to the southwest. The location is a practical asset: this is not a destination restaurant that requires a full weekend, but it rewards one. For a special-occasion dinner, the setting on a historic town square gives the evening a frame that a city side-street cannot quite replicate.
The Bib Gourmand recognition from Michelin is the clearest trust signal available here. The award specifically identifies restaurants where inspectors believe the quality-to-price ratio is stronger than the surrounding category , it is not a consolation prize below a star, but an affirmative statement about value. Two consecutive years of that recognition, in 2024 and 2025, tells you this is not a one-season performance. It also signals that the cooking is consistent enough to re-earn inspector confidence, which matters if you are travelling to Herentals rather than walking distance from home.
Chef Roberto Filgueira leads the kitchen. Under a modern cuisine brief, the cooking at Nr.12 tends toward structured progression , this is the kind of restaurant where the sequence of dishes is considered, where contrast between courses is deliberate, and where the meal has a clear arc rather than a list of plates. That tasting-menu architecture, even when applied to a shorter or more accessible format than a full-evening omakase, is what separates this from a good neighbourhood bistro. The progression matters. The pacing matters. For a date dinner or a birthday celebration, that structure gives the evening a natural rhythm that makes the occasion feel earned rather than assembled.
Google reviews sit at 4.7 across 50 ratings , a score that, at this sample size, points to a kitchen performing reliably rather than occasionally. The absence of a large volume of reviews is partly explained by geography: Herentals is not a city where tourists generate review noise, which means the rating reflects local diners and deliberate visitors. That is a more meaningful signal than a 4.7 built on tourist throughput.
On pricing: the €€ bracket in Belgium, particularly for a Bib Gourmand recipient, puts Nr.12 well below the €€€€ tier occupied by most of its serious-cooking peers in the region. If you are comparing value against restaurants like Boury in Roeselare or Zilte in Antwerp, Nr.12 is offering Michelin-recognised quality at a fraction of the outlay. That gap is the single strongest argument for booking, especially for groups celebrating something and watching the total bill.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which at a Bib Gourmand venue is worth reading carefully. Easy does not mean last-minute , a recognised restaurant in a smaller Belgian city can fill its dining room faster than the booking difficulty rating implies, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings. For a special occasion, book two to three weeks in advance to secure your preferred date and time. If you are planning around a birthday or anniversary and need a specific evening, push that window to four weeks. Walking in without a reservation is less reliable than the booking difficulty rating suggests for weekend service.
For diners travelling specifically for the meal, Herentals is well-connected by Belgian rail, which removes the driving calculation from a dinner with wine. The broader region offers enough to build a short trip around , see our full Herentals restaurants guide, hotels guide, and bars guide for what surrounds the meal.
For context on where Nr.12 sits within the wider Belgian fine-dining picture, it occupies a different register than the multi-star operations at Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem or L'air du Temps in Liernu, but that is not the competition it is priced against. The relevant comparison is a well-run modern bistro at €€€ pricing , and on those terms, Nr.12 wins consistently. The Bib Gourmand is Michelin's way of making exactly that argument, and two consecutive years of it means the argument holds.
If modern cuisine tasting formats in Belgium interest you, the landscape extends outward from Herentals in useful directions. Castor in Beveren, De Jonkman in Sint-Kruis, and Cuchara in Lommel all sit at €€€€ and offer a different proposition: higher spend, more elaborate service architecture, and in some cases star-level ambition. Nr.12 is not trying to be those restaurants. It is trying to deliver a well-structured modern meal at a price that makes the decision easy, and on that basis it succeeds.
Also worth cross-referencing if you are building a Belgian eating trip: Bozar Restaurant in Brussels, Bartholomeus in Heist, Willem Hiele in Oudenburg, and d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour cover a range of formats and price points that complement what Nr.12 does. For international reference on tasting-menu architecture at the format's outer edge, Frantzén in Stockholm and FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai show where the format goes at full ambition and spend. You can also explore Herentals wineries and Herentals experiences to plan the full visit.
Book two to three weeks ahead for a standard dinner. Four weeks minimum for a specific weekend date tied to a celebration. No booking phone or website is listed in our current data , check the venue directly via Google or the Grote Markt address. Booking difficulty is Easy, but that applies outside peak weekend slots.
Yes, clearly. The €€ price tier combined with two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards , specifically designed to flag strong value , makes Nr.12 one of the better-priced serious kitchens in the Belgian Kempen region. You are getting Michelin-recognised modern cuisine at a cost that most comparable restaurants in Antwerp or Brussels charge for a mid-range meal without the same credentials.
Specific menu items are not available in our verified data, so we cannot point you to a signature dish. What the Bib Gourmand recognition and the modern cuisine format together suggest is that the tasting or set-menu options are where the kitchen shows its leading work. Chef Roberto Filgueira's cooking is structured around progression, so the full menu format will give you a more complete picture than ordering à la carte if that option exists. Confirm current menu options directly with the restaurant when booking.
We do not have verified information on dietary accommodation policies. Given the modern cuisine format and the restaurant's size in a Belgian market-town setting, it is standard practice to notify the kitchen of dietary restrictions at the time of booking rather than on arrival. Contact the venue directly before your reservation to confirm what can be adapted.
At the €€ price point, yes. A tasting format from a Bib Gourmand kitchen at this price tier is a strong proposition , you are paying for structured cooking and deliberate course progression at a cost that most comparable tasting experiences in Belgium exceed significantly. Whether a tasting menu is offered as the primary format or sits alongside à la carte is not confirmed in our data; ask when booking.
It is a good fit for a celebration dinner where experience quality matters more than spectacle. The Grote Markt setting, Michelin recognition, and structured modern cuisine format give the evening a clear sense of occasion without requiring the outlay of a €€€€ restaurant. For a birthday, anniversary, or date dinner in the region, this is the value argument in the category.
Two to three weeks for a standard dinner reservation. If you need a specific Friday or Saturday tied to an event, book four weeks out. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, but Bib Gourmand recognition in a smaller city means weekend capacity fills faster than the rating implies. Do not leave a special occasion dinner to the week before.
Direct alternatives within Herentals at the same format level are limited , see our full Herentals restaurants guide for the current picture. If you are open to the broader region at a higher spend, Cuchara in Lommel (€€€€, creative modern European) and Castor in Beveren (€€€€, modern French) are the closest in format but at a significantly higher price. Nr.12 is the value case; those venues are the spend-more-for-more case.
Seat count is not listed in our verified data, so we cannot confirm maximum group size. For groups of six or more, contact the restaurant directly before booking to confirm availability and whether the layout accommodates larger parties comfortably. Smaller groups of two to four should have no difficulty booking through the standard process.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nr.12 by Helsen | Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | €€ | — |
| Boury | Michelin 3 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Comme chez Soi | Michelin 1 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Castor | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Cuchara | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| De Jonkman | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
Comparing your options in Herentals for this tier.
At the €€ price point with two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards (2024 and 2025), Nr.12 by Helsen represents one of the stronger value cases in the Antwerp region. The Bib Gourmand designation exists specifically to flag quality cooking at accessible prices, so the answer for most diners is yes. If you want a full tasting menu at Michelin-starred spend, look elsewhere — this is the play for high-quality modern cuisine without the top-tier bill.
Specific menu items are not confirmed in available data, so ordering recommendations would be speculative. What is documented is that chef Roberto Filgueira runs a modern cuisine kitchen awarded the Bib Gourmand in both 2024 and 2025 — a signal the kitchen is consistent rather than coasting. Ask staff at booking or on arrival which dishes are current signatures; kitchens at this level tend to rotate with season.
No specific dietary policy is confirmed in the venue data. For a €€ modern cuisine restaurant of this size and recognition, communicating restrictions at the time of booking is standard practice and gives the kitchen the best chance to accommodate you. check the venue's official channels before arrival rather than raising it on the night.
Menu format details are not confirmed in the venue data. Given the €€ price range and Bib Gourmand status, any tasting format here is likely to deliver more than its price suggests — that is precisely what the award recognises. If a structured multi-course format suits your group, this is a credible option in the region without the spend required at starred alternatives like Boury or De Jonkman.
Yes, with caveats on timing. The Grote Markt address in Herentals gives the evening a natural occasion feel, and back-to-back Bib Gourmand recognition means the kitchen is reliable enough to anchor a celebration. For a specific weekend date tied to an anniversary or birthday, book four weeks ahead — weekend slots fill faster than the kitchen's general availability.
Two to three weeks ahead is the working minimum for a standard dinner. For a specific weekend date, especially one tied to a celebration, push that to four weeks. No booking phone number or website is confirmed in the venue data, so check current booking channels directly with the restaurant at Grote Markt 12, Herentals.
Nr.12 by Helsen is the documented Michelin-recognised option in Herentals itself. For comparable or higher-tier modern cuisine in the broader region, Castor and Cuchara offer alternatives worth considering depending on your budget and format preference. Comme chez Soi in Brussels and De Jonkman in Bruges operate at a different spend level entirely. Nr.12 holds its ground specifically on value — alternatives at the same price point are harder to match on credentials.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
