Amsterdam vegetarian restaurant reviews x2: Marits Eetkamer and Café de Ceuvel

Please note that since writing this blog post, Marits Eetkamer has closed down

Since the end of Vegetarian January, I’ve been promising a guide to the best vegetarian restaurants in Amsterdam. And yet my discoveries of yet more vege places I’ve not yet tried just keep coming thick and fast. I recently tried two more – Café de Ceuvel and Marits Eetkamer – and still feel I need to at least cover off De Culinaire Werkplaats before I can give a truly well-rounded opinion. So, for now, I bring you a couple more vege-reviews to add to the collection…

Marits Eetkamer

Housed in what is, I assume, actually Marit’s dining room (you can even see her bedroom on the mezzanine level upstairs), the restaurant is only open three evenings a week. Which is understandable, when you imagine serving 30-40 people out of your own living room. Marit offers a fixed three-, four- or five-course menu using only vegetarian produce that she sources as locally as possible. But don’t be concerned that it’s going to be too eco-warrior or health-conscious: she serves a nice wine list, as well as plenty of local beers and spirits. Plus, rather curiously, there are a couple of animal skulls and taxidermy-stuffed birds decorating the turquoise interior. Mixed messages?!

The evening we visited, I started with a bulgur salad stuffed with hearty cavolo nero and served with perfectly cooked and dressed beetroot, pomegranate seeds and a curried, creamy sauce. It tasted delicious, as did the Honey Badger’s wintry soup with a whole boiled egg nestled inside its comforting root-veg purée.

The main was a kind of vegetarian cassoulet, which was lighter and more spring-like than its meaty big brother, but not in a bad way. The brown beans were full of flavour, which was brought out by the steamed fennel and lightly pickled red onion. Other vegetables were also nicely cooked: from the lightly roasted cauliflower and tomato to the bright Romanesco and buttery carrots. The cassoulet was served with rice, which might seem redundant paired with a one-pot bean dish but actually hit a spot I didn’t know I had. It was fragrant with pandan, but also spiked with (possibly wild?) garlic and lots of parsley.

Dessert – which I can usually take or leave – was also a triumph. A simple chocolate cheesecake, in moist layers of cocoa-y goodness, was the sweet end to a new and tasty vegetarian discovery. Dinner came to €45 each, including a bottle of wine to share. And I already know that Marits Eetkamer will be making the cut for my best Amsterdam vegetarian restaurants article…

Cafe de Ceuvel

Meanwhile in Amsterdam Noord, Cafe de Ceuvel looks like it’s been put together from driftwood and tarpaulin but is, in fact, an actual building. The day I visited it was the middle of winter and there was a pub quiz going on, which meant we got relegated to a chilly table round the side. But I imagine de Ceuvel is dreamy in summer: a rustic getaway from central Amsterdam, just a ferry hop and a short bike ride away.

My friend ordered the veggie burger (I couldn’t stomach another one after Vegetarian January) while I went for the pie. It’s hard to describe exactly what was in said pie: I tasted parsnip, carrots, other root veg, and something spicy – but not in a chilli sense, more in a horseradish kinda way. Mysterious but good. The pastry was flaky not soggy – Mary Berry would be proud. It cost €16.50, which seemed fairly pricy for a slice of vegetable pie and some barely dressed lettuce leaves, but it did at least fill me up for several hours afterwards.

I expect I’ll find my way back to Café de Ceuvel eventually – but most likely not until summer, when I can take advantage of the urban-beach/hippie-commune vibe and enjoy a white beer in the sun…