Maastricht Restaurants

With nearly 300 restaurants, bars and pubs in Maastricht (with a few Dutch toprestaurants among them), it is difficult to choose. I'll get up some details soon. In the meantime look up Culinary Maastricht

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Favorite Dish: I'll add more restaurants soon!

Snacksons is a uniquely Maastricht fast-food diner, first opened in 1989. The original owner had intended setting it up as a regional franchise chain but attempts at expansion came to grief leaving only this solitary outlet on the corner of the city's main square and main shopping street.

Basically it is cheap and cheerful fried stuff either cooked to order or served from the "Frebo"-style automated servery. The decor is plasticky 60's Americana and whilst there is seating indoors and on the terrace it's more designed for takeaway food.

Favorite Dish: I was introduced to the place by VT member MacedonianUK (Valentina) who recommended the "Smooll Roll" - a deep-fried pastry filled with spicy beef. Unfortunately on our first attempt service was a bit too fast and the resulting snack (which Valentina had warned me to be careful of as it would be very hot) turned out to be still frozen in the middle.

Returning them was no problems though and the more experienced of the servers ensured that we got them piping hot on the second attempt. Tasty, cheap, and ideal for a nibble on the hoof.

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This is one of the first of the row of "Grand Cafe"-style restaurants with its terrace overlooking the Vrijthof. The Monopole is so-called because it faces Maastricht's Perroen which dates back to when the city had special status under the Bishopric of Liege. (A Perreon takes the form of a conical pillar topped by a globe and cross and was the symbol of autonomy awarded the so-called "Great Cities" of Liege).

This is a typically Dutch "Grand Cafe" combining a formal appearance with the usual informality of service. The terrace was pleasantly buzzy and peeking inside it all looked quite elaborately fitted out with its carved wooden bar, marbled tops and gleaming mirrors. The menu reads well, offering something for everyone, and although slightly pricey is about on par with the rest of the restaurant row.

Favorite Dish: The house special is their spare ribs and so that's what I opted for. These arrived as a huge meaty plateful smothered in a tangy BBQ sauce. The ribs themselves tasted more like bacon than the expected uncured pork but were none the worse for that and the chunky fries were as good an unhealthy accompaniement (with their fritesauce dip) as any.

Here I also tried the local variant of jenever, Els La Vera, which was certainly alcoholic and ideal as a digestif with my coffee.

At about 25 Euros the bill, which included a beer as well, I thought was slightly on the expensive side but the location is excellent for watching the world go by and service was swift and friendly.

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On Maastricht's main square, the Vrijthof, there's a row of terraced cafes looking over the square to the western city's two main churches, St Jan's and St Servaas.

Although the cafes are all sort of a oneness to the casual eye each has its own specialities and at Eetcafe Rekko its much-trumpeted recommendation during my visit was the new season white asparagus.

That made for an easy decision as to where to eat and the next door cafe with its frenzy of football fans (the Dutch having won their World Cup quarter-final match that afternoon) added a celebratory atmosphere to what is already a characterful cafe.

Service was casually efficient, the rest of the menu (which is available in several languages) read well and partitioning out the football frenzy the clutch of customers seemed a mix of locals and fellow tourists.

Favorite Dish: The specials page of the menu offered the asparagus done several different ways. I'd refused the offer of the English version and so perhaps didn't quite get the nuances of the cleverer stuff on offer. But then I'm a simple soul at heart and and had already decided that I just wanted it done "traditionally".

HA! To me (bearing in mind that I'm a professional cook) "traditional" means asparagus finished with a buttery, eggy "Hollandaise" sauce. Here it was done as a deconstructed version. The white spears came well-buttered, the egg being grated hard-boiled, copiously garnishing the dish. A couple of slices of local ham gave the plate an unexpected meatiness, a peppery rocket salad added some greenery and the waxy new potatoes tastily provided the starch.

This was good and the 14.50 Euro price tag more than reasonable. Washed down with a couple of Leffe Blondes (well maybe it was three) the excellent service, made rounding up the final bill to 25 totally painless.

Digressing slightly - I really enjoyed this meal but I do still prefer our own home-grown English asparagus as IMO our green asparagus has much more intensity of flavour but I might just do a variation of the deconstructed version next May when our season (asparagus that is not football) kicks off.

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Set in a lovely square right outside Ave Maria Church (I don't know it's real name), Charlemagne has a huge outside section set in a lovely leafy area. The inside of the restaurant is quite charming and just what you would expect in a local restaurant. The staff were paticularly welcoming and helpful and the food was great.

Favorite Dish: Patricia chose the salmon with a white wine sauce and it looked superb. I settled for a locaL casserole consisting of beef and a lovely rich sauce. I would certainly recommend it and would definitely go back.

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Coffeelovers is integrated in the bookshop housed in the former Dominican Church.

They serve a number of fresh brewed special coffees.

Business hours:
Mo: 10AM - 6PM
Tu-We: 9AM - 6PM
Th: 9AM - 9PM
Fr: 9AM - 6PM
Sa: 9AM - 6PM
Su: Noon - 5PM

Brasserie Grand Café Amadeus is a great place for people watching in a historical setting (next the the former Dominican Church.

The kitchen serves everything from lunches through main courses and everything in between. The selection on the menu is overwhelming.

Business hours:
Mo: From 10.30AM
Tu-Sa: From 9.30AM
Su: From 11AM

Reitz is a popular place to get a famous Dutch snack: "Patat" (or French Fries).
The shop is around for more than 100 years, serving you with the best fast food.

Besides a quick snack, you can have a good meal inside,

Reitz also sells:
Soups, Salades, Hot meals including their famous mussels and desserts.
The shop is fully licensed for beers and alcohol.

Snack hours:
Tu-we: 10.30AM - 7PM
Th: 10.30AM - 9.15PM
Fr-Sa: 10.30AM - 7PM
Su: 11AM - 8PM