Magnific

Is Magnific in Lanaken worth booking?

Yes — and if you've already been once, there's a strong case for coming back. Magnific has held the Michelin Bib Gourmand in both 2024 and 2025, which means Michelin's inspectors have twice judged it to deliver quality Modern French cooking at a price point that doesn't require a special-occasion budget. At the €€ price range, that two-year streak is the clearest signal in the Lanaken dining scene that this kitchen is doing something consistently right.

Chef Mathis Devaux runs a Modern French program that earns its Bib Gourmand status the honest way: by keeping the food precise and the bill accessible. The consecutive Michelin recognitions suggest the kitchen hasn't drifted since the first award — a meaningful detail when you're deciding whether a repeat visit is likely to match your first. The 2025 retention in particular tells you this isn't a venue that caught Michelin's eye once on a good run; the standard has held.

The atmosphere and room

Magnific sits at Tournebride 35 in Lanaken, a quieter Belgian municipality near the Dutch border. The address alone sets expectations: this is not a city-centre restaurant with the background noise and energy of a packed urban dining room. The tone here is settled, considered, and suited to conversation , the kind of room where the ambient sound works for the meal rather than against it. If you went on your first visit for a date or a small group dinner and found the atmosphere pitched right, a return visit for a longer occasion or a midweek dinner is likely to feel consistent. The energy at a Bib Gourmand restaurant in a town like Lanaken tends to be grounded rather than performative, which is either exactly what you want or a reason to look elsewhere if you're after a louder, more celebratory room.

What to focus on for a return visit

Given the Modern French format and the Bib Gourmand price positioning, the most useful question for a returning guest isn't whether to go , it's what to prioritise. The cuisine type signals a kitchen organised around technique and classical structure: sauces, clean protein cookery, composed plates. If your first visit leaned toward lighter options or a shorter menu, a return is a reasonable moment to push into whatever the kitchen considers its most complete expression of the format. The €€ pricing means you're not committing to a €150+ tasting menu; you can explore more of the menu without the financial weight that comes with the €€€€ tier.

One practical note for returning guests: with 294 Google reviews averaging 4.5 stars, Magnific has a consistent public record. That volume of reviews at that score suggests satisfaction is broadly repeatable, not dependent on catching the kitchen on a good night. For a returning diner, that consistency is the main reassurance you need.

Does Magnific travel well? Off-premise considerations

Modern French cooking is, by nature, a format that depends heavily on service temperature, sauce integrity, and plate composition. The architecture of a well-sauced French dish , emulsified butter, a rested protein, a garnish with texture contrast , begins to degrade almost immediately once it leaves the pass. If you're considering takeaway or delivery from Magnific, approach it as a different product from the in-room experience rather than an equivalent one. The food may still be worth collecting, but the case for eating at the table remains stronger for this style of cooking than for almost any other format. If off-premise dining is your priority rather than a fallback, a more casual or market-driven kitchen will serve the format better. Magnific is, in short, a restaurant built for the room.

Booking and logistics

Booking at Magnific is rated Easy. With a Bib Gourmand profile in a smaller Belgian town rather than Antwerp or Brussels, demand is real but not at the level where you need to plan weeks out as a default. That said, weekends and special occasions will tighten availability, and the 2025 Bib Gourmand retention will have raised the venue's profile modestly. Book a few days to a week ahead for a weekday dinner; give yourself more runway for Friday or Saturday evenings.

• Address: Tournebride 35, 3620 Lanaken, Belgium
• Price range: €€
• Awards: Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 and 2025
• Google rating: 4.5 from 294 reviews
• Cuisine: Modern French
• Chef: Mathis Devaux
• Booking difficulty: Easy

How Magnific compares: quick reference

Further reading

For context on where Magnific sits within Belgian fine dining more broadly, the kitchens at Zilte in Antwerp, Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, and Bozar Restaurant in Brussels represent the upper tier of the national scene. For Modern French cooking with a different regional character, Schanz in Piesport (across the border in Germany) and Sketch in London offer useful points of comparison. Closer to home, L'air du temps in Liernu, Willem Hiele in Oudenburg, and Bartholomeus in Heist all operate in the Belgian fine dining register. See also d'Eugénie à Emilie in Baudour for a similarly priced Walloon alternative.

Planning a broader Lanaken trip: see our full Lanaken restaurants guide, our full Lanaken hotels guide, our full Lanaken bars guide, our full Lanaken wineries guide, and our full Lanaken experiences guide.

Frequently asked questions

• What should I order at Magnific? Without a published menu in our database, the safest guidance is to follow the kitchen's lead. At a Bib Gourmand Modern French restaurant, the set menu or chef's selection almost always represents better value and more coherent cooking than ordering à la carte piecemeal. Ask the front of house what the kitchen is currently most focused on , that's the most reliable way to eat well here.
• Does Magnific handle dietary restrictions? Contact the restaurant directly before booking to discuss any dietary requirements. For a Modern French kitchen at this level, advance notice is standard practice and usually results in a better outcome than raising it on the night. Phone and website details are not in our current database, so we recommend checking Google Maps or a local directory for current contact information.
• Can Magnific accommodate groups? Seat count is not in our database, but at a €€ Bib Gourmand restaurant in a town the size of Lanaken, large group bookings (8 or more) are worth discussing directly with the restaurant rather than assuming availability. For groups of 4 to 6, booking a few days ahead should be sufficient on most weeknights.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at Magnific? At a €€ price point with two consecutive Bib Gourmands, the answer is likely yes , but the value case is strongest if you're eating a structured menu rather than a short à la carte selection. The Michelin recognition is specifically for quality-to-price ratio, so the kitchen's set or tasting format is where that ratio is most visible. If you went à la carte on your first visit, the structured menu is the logical next step.
• Is Magnific good for a special occasion? Yes, with a caveat on atmosphere expectations. This is not a high-energy celebration venue , it's a composed, quiet-room restaurant that works well for birthdays, anniversaries, or professional dinners where conversation matters. If you need a louder, more theatrical experience, look at a bigger city venue. For an occasion where the food and company are the point, Magnific's Bib Gourmand consistency and €€ pricing make it a low-risk, high-return choice.
• What are alternatives to Magnific in Lanaken? For higher-end Modern French or creative cooking in the broader region, Castor and Cuchara are the nearest Michelin-starred options, both at €€€€. If you're willing to travel further, Boury and De Jonkman represent the upper tier of Belgian creative cooking. For something closer in price to Magnific, the Lanaken restaurant scene is limited, which is part of what makes Magnific's Bib Gourmand status locally significant.
• Is Magnific worth the price? At €€ with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmands, this is one of the more defensible value propositions in Belgian regional dining. The Bib Gourmand is awarded specifically for good cooking at moderate prices, so the answer is yes by Michelin's own standard. The 4.5 Google score across 294 reviews supports that conclusion independently.