Restaurant in Urdaitz, Spain
Michelin-quality cooking, one price sign.
Origen holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand and a 4.7 Google rating from 847 reviews — serious credentials for a restaurant at a single euro-sign price point. The informal sibling of two-Michelin-star El Molino de Urdániz, it runs a fixed-price format built around seasonal Navarran ingredients. Easy to book and worth the detour for food-focused travellers on the Pamplona–Pyrenees route.
A 4.7 rating across 847 Google reviews is a strong signal for any restaurant, but at a single euro-sign price point it becomes a genuine reason to detour. Origen, the informal sibling of two-Michelin-star Arzak-tier cooking that happens in the same centuries-old stone building, holds a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand — the guide's marker for serious food at accessible prices. If you are travelling through Navarra and wondering whether the drive to Urdaitz pays off, the short answer is yes, particularly if you care about where your food comes from.
Origen sits on the ground floor of the same stone building that houses El Molino de Urdániz, a two-Michelin-star restaurant on the N-135 at km 16.5 in Urdániz, Navarra. The two restaurants share a chef — award-winning David Yárnoz , but not a format. Where El Molino de Urdániz operates at full tasting-menu formality, Origen strips that back to a fixed-price structure where you pick a starter, a main, and a dessert. The room reflects the same thinking: bare wood tables, exposed stone, a rustic-contemporary feel that sits comfortably in the Navarran landscape without performing rusticity for its own sake. Access is directly from the street, which matters if you are arriving with a group or simply want to walk in without navigating a hotel lobby or fine-dining anteroom.
For context on how this fits into Spain's broader dining picture, it is worth comparing Origen against what else the country's award restaurant circuit offers at comparable or higher price points. Azurmendi in Larrabetzu and Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María both deliver technically ambitious tasting menus at €€€€ pricing. Origen is something different: it is where the same culinary intelligence gets applied to a format that most travellers can actually afford to eat at twice in a trip.
The editorial angle that defines Origen most clearly is ingredient sourcing. The kitchen's stated commitment is to seasonal and locally sourced produce, and this is not a marketing phrase here , it is the structural logic of the menu. Dishes like glazed and baked organic trout with pickled beetroot and parsnips are built around Navarran ingredients prepared with the technical precision you would expect from a kitchen operating in the shadow of a two-star. The pickled beetroot and parsnips are not garnish; they are the seasonal argument for why this dish exists on this menu at this time of year.
For food-focused travellers who have eaten their way through Mugaritz or Martín Berasategui at four-figure price points, Origen offers something the top tier rarely does: clarity of place. The sourcing philosophy means the menu reads as a document of Navarran produce rather than a chef's abstract vision. That is a different kind of depth, and it is one worth seeking out if regional ingredient work interests you more than technical showmanship.
The half-portion option is a practical extension of this same philosophy. It lets you try more dishes within a single sitting , useful if you want to understand the range of the sourcing rather than committing to a full plate of each course. Order that way if the menu offers it on your visit.
Booking difficulty at Origen is rated Easy, which is one of the meaningful advantages over its starred neighbours. El Celler de Can Roca and DiverXO operate waitlists that can stretch months; Origen does not require that level of planning. That said, a restaurant with a Bib Gourmand and 847 reviews draws visitors specifically to this stretch of the N-135, so do not assume walk-in availability on weekends or during summer travel season in northern Spain.
Budget: Single euro-sign (€) price tier , among the most accessible price points for Michelin-recognised cooking in Spain. Reservations: Easy to book relative to peers; advance booking recommended for weekends and high season. Dress: The rustic-contemporary room and casual format suggest smart-casual is appropriate , no formal dress expectations implied by the setting or price tier. Getting there: The restaurant is on Carretera Nacional 135 at km 16.5 in Urdániz, Navarra , a road that connects Pamplona with the French border, making it a logical stop on a Pyrenean route. See our full Urdaitz restaurants guide for more options in the area, and our Urdaitz hotels guide if you are planning an overnight stay.
Origen is the right call if you are a food-focused traveller passing through Navarra who wants serious cooking without the ceremony of a full tasting menu. It is also the right call if you have already booked El Molino de Urdániz for one meal and want a second, less formal meal from the same kitchen. It is not the right call if you are looking for a full progression tasting menu with wine pairings , for that format in northern Spain, look at Arzak or Azurmendi.
For travellers who want to extend the Urdaitz visit, our Urdaitz bars guide, our Urdaitz wineries guide, and our Urdaitz experiences guide cover the wider area. Navarra's wine country and the Pyrenean foothills make a full-day visit reasonable , Origen works as the anchor meal around which you plan the rest.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origen | Contemporary | Located on the ground floor of an old stone building (the same one that houses the two-Michelin-star El Molino de UrdÁniz), Origen showcases the cooking of award-winning chef David Yárnoz, albeit in a much more informal and relaxed format. Directly accessed from the street, it features a rustic-contemporary dining room, bare wood tables and a fixed-price menu (where you choose a starter, main course and dessert), including dishes such as the delicious glazed and baked organic trout with pickled beetroot and parsnips, that adopts a contemporary take on traditional and regional dishes. The continual focus here is on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, with the option of ordering half-portions.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025) | Easy | — |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| DiverXO | Progressive - Asian, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Origen measures up.
Origen is described as informal and relaxed, with bare wood tables and a rustic-contemporary dining room — so casual clothes are appropriate. There is no indication of a dress code. This is not the upstairs El Molino de Urdániz experience, so leave the jacket at the hotel.
Origen runs a fixed-price format where you choose a starter, main, and dessert — it is not a long tasting menu in the traditional sense. At a single euro-sign price point with a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand attached, the value case is strong. If you want a full multi-course progression, the two-Michelin-star El Molino de Urdániz is in the same building.
The venue database does not confirm bar seating at Origen. What is documented is a rustic-contemporary dining room accessed directly from the street, with a fixed-price menu structure. check the venue's official channels to confirm seating options before visiting.
Origen is on the N-135 at km 16.5 in Urdaitz, Navarra — a rural location that requires a car or deliberate planning to reach. The format is a choose-your-own fixed-price menu focused on seasonal, locally sourced Navarran ingredients. Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you are unlikely to face the weeks-long wait times that apply to starred restaurants in the region.
The most direct alternative in the same building is El Molino de Urdániz, which holds two Michelin stars and offers a full tasting menu at a significantly higher price. If you want a comparable value-focused Bib Gourmand experience elsewhere in northern Spain, options exist in San Sebastián and Bilbao, but none share the same rural Navarran sourcing focus at this price point.
It depends on what the occasion calls for. Origen is relaxed and informal, so it works well for a low-key celebration where the food matters more than the ceremony. For a formal milestone dinner, the two-Michelin-star El Molino de Urdániz upstairs is the more fitting choice. Origen is the better pick if the group values serious cooking without the structure of a full tasting menu.
At a single euro-sign price point with a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand, Origen is among the stronger value propositions in northern Spain. The Bib Gourmand designation specifically recognises good cooking at a moderate price, so the award directly supports the value case. For food-focused travellers already passing through Navarra, the detour to km 16.5 on the N-135 is easy to justify.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
