Eindhoven Food Guide

Eindhoven food guide. Why don’t we eat together?

In the Dutch vocabulary there is a word that causes any translator to go haywire. Grullig is a concept, a sensation and an adjective that simultaneously summarizes the perception of happiness, pleasure and enjoyment. In Eindhoven, the lively capital of design, it is possible to grasp its most authentic meaning at the table.

Going out for dinner is a moment of socialization, experience and discovery. Creative energy is in the air and it has also infected the kitchen, capable of offering an increasingly refined and appetizing taste path. We are located in the most Mediterranean part of Holland, attentive to lifestyles and good habits. In this interesting gastronomic crossroads, the choice of emblazoned restaurants and Street food venues is wide and full of contamination. Brilliance and functionality, artistic talent and design go hand in hand: the aesthetics of the dishes are taken care of, the welcoming of the spaces, the furnishings and tight design perfected day after day, in search of a cozy atmosphere.

The city offers real gourmet gems. Starting from the aperitif, there are two of the most intriguing proposals from the design point of view. The imposing Kazerne is worth a visit, an illuminating example of how to redevelop a falling fortress, transformed into an open air art museum. Spaces and atmospheres are at the Milanese art gallery.

The brand new Vane skybar, where you can enjoy quality cocktails, offers spectacular views from the top floor of the NH Collection Center hotel. The restaurant, just one floor below, is managed by Casmir Evens, a talented chef who sent the reservation center into a tailspin: waiting lists last at least two months. 

The innovative Student Hotel, next to the station, was also recently inaugurated: for its Pool Restaurant, Dutch chef star Ryan Bahadoer was called to the stove, protagonist of numerous television programs: “I was intrigued by the opportunity to cook for a new and wider audience. I want to surprise with bold flavors. ” The result is a perfectly balanced contamination of Indonesian and Chinese influences, and prices are moderate.

The meeting between different cultures is expressed very well by Zarzo, an excellent starred restaurant, born from the visionary talent of Adrian Zarzo, who brought warmth and fantasy of Spanish cuisine at the highest levels. For a less expensive, but equally intriguing dinner, he created the Valenzia bistro, where tapas become “MediterrAsian”, with Thai and Japanese influences. 

Chic atmospheres, service and elegant cuisine characterize 1910, which for more than ten years has been offering delicious dishes in the wonderful Wilhelminaplein, the historic corner of the city preserved from the bombing. A few steps away, here are the sophisticated French influences of the starry Wiesen and the delicate ones of Aprazivel, recently inaugurated in the beautiful residential street Bergstraat.

To understand how much Eindhoven has been able to transform and reinvent itself, you have to move to the Strijpe-S district, ten minutes from the center, where the former Philips factory has become a futuristic alternative urban area. You can taste the delicacies cooked in the stands inside the Vershal covered market, the molecular cuosine from Wynwood, the excellent zero kilometer Dutch cuisine of Ketelhuis, or participate in Feel Good Market, a crowded monthly event that offers flavors from all over the world. Street food is also popular in the city center in the brand new Downtown Gourmet Market, a winning concept that gives space to different nationalities.

Is this multi-ethnic experience not enough? Then you must stop on Saturday morning at the Woenselse market, where you can taste the raw herring, the Turkish pizzas or the Aziz kebab, a Syrian refugee. The social aspect in catering here is not a detail and does not only concern the integration between different cultures and peoples: the cheerful bar Brownie & Downies, where they work closely and in full harmony kids with and without disabilities. Who is curious to discover the varied gastronomic realities, contact Marianne Koppelmans, of Eindhoven Food Tour: organizes itineraries to discover local producers and young realities.