Culinary journal Zeeland trip

Last year I spent almost a week holiday in the Dutch coastal province of Zeeland. Here are some food pics I took during that trip. Zeeland region is quite touristic with local visitors and those from surrounding countries such as Belgium, Germany and France. The coastline is full of beach clubs, restaurants, loungers, lodges, hotels and routes for biking and hiking. Information in this post is from cafes and restaurants in Cadzand & Breskens area.

This is Beachhouse 25 located in Breskens. My host recommended this lounge cafe and it did not disappoint. There hangs an Ibiza relax vibe in it.

Our first visit there was somewhere in the cloudy afternoon, snacking patatas bravas (good), calamares (so – so) and bitterballen (as usual) accompanied by warm choco and tea.

The next day we headed to Moio Restaurant for an early dinner. The interior is trendy but the feel stays casual. I visualize the trendy folks coming here in high season, it must be crowded.

We took a seat facing the beach, how lucky were we as it was sunny that day.

Zeeland is located nearby Belgium that has better culinary tradition than The Netherlands and it shows. The dishes were good and priced accordingly. I ordered this pan of mussels, what Zeeland is famous of. Furthermore I was there the end of August, what means mussels time! The mussels (good) were cooked in a pan with leek, celery, carrot and white wine. This dish is traditionally served with mayonaise or other sauces (Remoulade, Béarnaise or Tartaar) and fries.

My husband’s order: crispy grilled salmon (good) on the bed of fresh asparagus, courgette squares, heirloom tomatoes and some greens on top.

Lunch at Moio’s neighbour, Strandruig on a sunny day. We sat outside in order to keep the distance with other guests. The vibe there is hipstery chill.

Shrimp croquettes (good) with surdough bread, fries (as usual), good ol’ burger (as usual) and wafel (as usual) pour moi 🙂 My daughter raved about the croquettes here, she finds them better than the one she had at Moio the day before. While in the other parts of the country veal/beef ragout based croquettes are common, when in Zeeland the local specialty is shrimp croquette (garnalen croquette). When you visit Zeeland, try it!

All establishments on the beach there cater to beach goers and are dog-friendly. It is normal to see guests coming in with their dogs. The dogs would get a bowl of water and there is mostly a corner to wash the sand off.

On our last evening, we tried a French bistro nearby our holiday home. This is Bistro in den Koning, one petit restaurant where the staff and service are courteous and the food is excellent. On its website it says Bourgondisch stukje in Nederland (Burgundian part in The Netherlands). Bourgondisch or Burgundian means to dine heavily as in Burgundy, France. Both covers the taste and amount. For a broader context Bourgondisch in Dutch means la joie de vivre: enjoying life like the French do. It refers mostly to food and drink but it is also an attitude.

Amuses (not pictured), surdough bread (pain au levain) and salted butter served with drink and a bottle of water, on the house.

My appetizer: shrimp croquette with salad. It was good. You see the orangey colour of the croquette? It comes from the pinky-coloured shrimp from Zeeland, the main ingredient of it.

Shrimps and heirloom tomatoes in creamy tomato bisque (divine).

This dish is called: what the North Sea offers. It consists of mussels, shrimps, red bars & mackerel in a creamy foam beautifully garnished with carrot, cauliflower, turnip and samphire (those green little branches). This dish represents its name correctly, it was divine.

Grand dessert: tarte brisée au citron meringue (short crust lemon meringue tart), fruits de bois shorbet (berry shorbet) and macarons. A well suited fresh closing of this Burgundian dinner and of the holiday.

Those who might wonder how my family and I ate in those restaurants and cafe. It was end of August 2020. At that time the confinement restrictions were lifted in The Netherlands. Dine-in was possible respecting the 1,5 meter distance and guests from the same household were allowed to sit on the same table. Each visit we left our contact information (phone number and e-mail) on the log book before entering the premises.

After an unintended hiatus of 6 months, I feel the need to blog regularly again. Let’s say I try to do this to distract myself but this means I need to focus. Bear with me but I will do my best to blog again. Hopefully see you, soon.

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