Restaurant in Turnhout, Belgium
Turnhout's only Michelin star. Book early.

Hert is Turnhout's only Michelin-starred restaurant, holding one star in both 2024 and 2025, with a wine program independently recognised by Star Wine List. Chef Alex Verhoeven runs a Modern Flemish and Modern French kitchen at the €€€€ price point. Book six to eight weeks ahead minimum — this fills fast and for good reason.
The single most important thing to know before visiting Hert is that it books hard and fast. With a Michelin star for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) and a spot on Opinionated About Dining's Leading New Restaurants in Europe list as recently as 2023, this is not a walk-in venue. If you are planning a visit, six to eight weeks lead time is a realistic minimum — less during peak periods. Once you have a reservation, ask specifically about seating options: the physical layout matters here more than at most restaurants in Turnhout, and positioning yourself well shapes the entire experience.
Hert sits at Turnovatoren 18 in Turnhout, Belgium, operating Tuesday through Saturday from midday until midnight. Chef Alex Verhoeven runs a menu that sits at the intersection of Modern Flemish and Modern French — two traditions that share a respect for careful technique and seasonal produce but diverge in temperament. The Flemish instinct tends toward earthiness and restraint; the French toward precision and structure. At Hert, those two impulses appear to be in productive tension, and the result is a kitchen that earns its star through rigour rather than novelty.
The address , Turnovatoren 18 , places Hert in a part of Turnhout that is not the city's obvious restaurant corridor. That matters for first-timers: plan your arrival rather than assuming the area will orient you. Inside, the spatial approach is consistent with the cooking philosophy: the room is designed for focus. There is no sprawling dining hall here. The scale keeps tables in close enough relation to the open or semi-open kitchen that the meal feels like a directed experience rather than a transactional one. For solo diners or couples, the intimacy is an asset. For larger groups, it is worth confirming in advance how the venue accommodates parties of four or more, as the seat count is not publicly listed.
The room rewards arriving a few minutes early. The transition from Turnhout's streets into the interior is part of the experience , the spatial contrast between outside and inside is deliberate, and rushing past it misses one of the subtler pleasures of the visit.
Hert holds a White Star from Star Wine List, published in October 2023. In practical terms, this means the wine program has been independently assessed as operating at a level above what you would expect from most restaurants in a city of Turnhout's size. This is not a list assembled as an afterthought to the food. It is curated with a point of view.
For a restaurant working the Modern Flemish and Modern French axis, the wine list carries real interpretive weight. Modern French cuisine in particular has a long history of food-wine pairing as craft rather than convention , the expectation that the glass and the plate should be in genuine dialogue. At Hert, the Star Wine List recognition suggests that expectation is being met. Belgian restaurants at this price point (Boury in Roeselare, Zilte in Antwerp) increasingly treat wine as a co-equal part of the meal rather than a supplementary revenue line, and Hert appears to be operating in that company.
If wine pairing matters to you, this is a venue where opting into the pairing is almost certainly the right call. The White Star designation means the sommelier work has been recognised independently , trust it. If you are choosing by the glass or bottle without guidance, the list warrants more time than a quick scan before ordering.
Hert is open for both lunch and dinner service Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday and Monday are closed. The midday-to-midnight window on operating days is wider than at many starred restaurants in Belgium, which typically run tighter, service-specific windows. That breadth gives you optionality, but lunch slots at Michelin-starred restaurants in Flanders tend to book more quickly than casual observation would suggest , the price-to-experience ratio at lunch is often sharper, and local professionals and visitors from Antwerp (roughly 30 kilometres south) fill those seats reliably.
For a first visit, lunch is the lower-stakes introduction: daylight, typically a slightly shorter format, and the chance to extend the afternoon if the meal runs long without disrupting an evening. Dinner at Hert is the fuller commitment , longer, more wine-forward, and better suited to a special occasion or a night when you have nowhere else to be.
Google reviewers rate Hert at 4.8 across 315 reviews, which at that volume is a meaningfully high floor. Outlier experiences are rare enough not to dominate the average. The consistency implied by that score across a realistic sample size is a stronger signal than a handful of five-star responses would be.
See the comparison section below. But the short version: Hert is the only Michelin-starred option in the city. If you are weighing it against Bink or Savoury at the €€€ tier, Hert's credentials shift the conversation , it is not simply a more expensive meal, it is a structurally different proposition. For broader context on dining in the region, see Hof van Cleve in Kruishoutem, Willem Hiele in Oudenburg, and Bartholomeus in Heist for a sense of where Flemish fine dining is operating at the highest tier.
If you are travelling specifically for Hert, Turnhout's broader hospitality options are covered in our full Turnhout restaurants guide, hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.
Quick reference: Hert, Turnovatoren 18, Turnhout , €€€€ , Tue–Sat 12 pm–12 am , Michelin 1 Star (2024, 2025) , White Star (Star Wine List) , Book 6–8 weeks ahead minimum.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hert | €€€€ | Hard | — |
| Amu | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Bink | €€€ | Unknown | — |
| CucinaMarangon | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Savoury | €€€ | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Turnhout for this tier.
Yes, for the format. At €€€€ pricing, Hert is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Turnhout, holding the star in both 2024 and 2025 and earning an OAD Top New Restaurants in Europe recommendation in 2023. The wine list carries a Star Wine List White Star, so the full package — food and wine — is credentialed at the price level. If you want à la carte flexibility or a shorter, lighter spend, neighbouring options like Bink or Savoury are more appropriate.
It depends on the layout. Hert's intimate scale and tasting-menu format are generally compatible with solo dining at upscale European restaurants, but counter or bar seating availability is not confirmed in the venue data. check the venue's official channels before booking — solo diners at Michelin-starred Belgian restaurants often have better luck requesting a bar or chef's counter seat, which the format here may or may not offer.
Lunch is the stronger practical case. Hert opens at noon Tuesday through Saturday, and lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Belgium frequently offers the same kitchen at a lower cover count and, in many cases, a shorter or better-value menu. There is no venue-confirmed pricing split between services, so call ahead to ask whether lunch runs a distinct menu or format before deciding.
Not confirmed. The venue data does not document a bar counter or walk-in bar-seat option. Given the address at Turnovatoren 18 and the restaurant's intimate scale, bar dining is plausible but should not be assumed. Book a table in advance rather than arriving expecting a casual counter option.
Book at least three to four weeks out, more for weekend evenings or special dates. Two consecutive Michelin stars (2024 and 2025) at the only starred address in Turnhout means demand reliably outpaces covers, particularly Friday and Saturday. Tuesday and Wednesday midweek lunches are your best window for shorter lead times.
Yes, it is the clearest answer for a special occasion in Turnhout. The Michelin star, the Star Wine List White Star wine program, and chef Alex Verhoeven's modern Flemish format give it the credentials and the register that a celebration warrants. At €€€€, it is not a casual spend, but the occasion-to-price match here is direct. Book well in advance and note that the restaurant is closed Sundays and Mondays, which rules out weekend celebrations on those days.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.