9 honest and delicious restaurant experiences in North Brabant
In North Brabant, chefs and famers join forces for a food experience you will never forget. And that’s not only due to the taste or location, but also the underlying story. Whether you choose to have lunch at a farm or a Michelin-star dinner in the city, foodies, vegetarians and vegans can enjoy local products, prepared with passion for flavour and sustainability at these restaurants.
1. Jongens van Zand & Klei, Breda
The world’s most famous Brabantian Vincent van Gogh immortalised the Brabant spud in his masterwork ‘The Potato Eaters.’ And three Tilburg potato farmers continue the ode to the potato in the city centre of Breda. Under the slogan ‘Let’s make our potato great again’ they opened a restaurant with this typical Dutch product as the culinary ingredient. At Jongens van Zand & Klei they serve exceptional dishes with the potato in the leading role. Tasty, local, and vegetarian and vegan friendly!
2. Blauwe Camer, Oosterhout
You don’t have to go over the border to enjoy culinary delights in the middle of a vineyard. Sint Catharinadal’s stately monastery lies in Oosterhout, close to Breda. The 750-year-old, still inhabited, monastery has a vineyard covering 7.5 hectares. Wijnhuis de Blauwe Camer is housed in the former cow sheds. Here, they serve inspiring seasonal dishes made with ingredients from the monastery’s kitchen garden and matching wines from their own vineyard. Here you can enjoy a truly exceptional restaurant experience, surrounded by vines and with a historic monastery in the background.
3. Bij Albrecht, Eindhoven
When a natural food consultant and a chef get together you get a plant-based food experience that you won’t easily forget. With their Eindhoven restaurant ‘Bij Albrecht’, Bernadette and Manfred have turned their passion into their jobs. They create vegan dishes that genuinely amaze and that everyone enjoys, even if you are more of a meat or fish lover. With the plant-based menu, they are working towards their vision of a more sustainable hospitality sector and of reducing our footprint.
4. Bus Whisky, Loosbroek
The most sustainable whisky in the world
The most sustainable whisky in the world
Guess where the most sustainable whisky in the world comes from? North Brabant, of course! Loosbroek, to be precise. In rural surroundings close to 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven, they passionately work on an innovative whisky and on just as exceptional dishes. The farm restaurant offers a table d'hôte surprise menu; always changing but always prepared with local produce. Many products come from their own farm and the food forest, and the rest come from other local farms, fisheries and traditional suppliers as far as possible. The starters and desserts on the menu consist of tasters of various small dishes. For the main, you can choose from meat, fish or completely vegan. And of course, dinner here can be combined with a whisky tasting!
5. Menmoerhoeve, Etten-Leur
The good life and sustainability come together on your plate in Etten-Leur, close to Breda. At Menmoerhoeve, you can enjoy tasty and local products in a vast and picturesque Brabant farming landscape. That means fresh produce from the surrounding farmlands and immediate vicinity. When ordering a meat dish, it comes from their own cattle that graze and roam around the farm. As well as enjoying a delicious meal in a friendly setting, this is also a great place for walking. Visit the orchard, vegetable garden and butterfly garden and meet the animals living at the farm. It’s the ideal spot to pamper your inner self!
"The Menmoerhoeve is the starting point of the Van Gogh NP Walking Route Etten-Leur and is also on one of the Van Gogh Cycle Routes."
6. Bochica, Reusel
As a guest you are always surprised because there’s no menu
As a guest you are always surprised because there’s no menu
Lucas and Bart from restaurant Bochica in Reusel, located on the Belgian border between Tilburg and Eindhoven, prove that you can cook gastronomic dishes with products from your own kitchen garden. They both have a plot of land at the allotments in Reusel. They go to the garden almost every day to tend to the vegetables and to harvest the ingredients for that evening’s dinner. Once in the kitchen, they create the most delicious flavour combinations. As a guest, you are always surprised because there is no menu. You simply choose whether you would like five, six or seven courses and between meat or vegetarian. They do the rest!
7. Pollevie, 's-Hertogenbosch
A must for vegetarian and vegans but actually for anyone who enjoys tasty food. Restaurant Pollevie in the Paleiskwartier in 's-Hertogenbosch is one of the top 100 vegetable restaurants in the world. Although meat and fish are also on the menu, chef and owner Martin Berkelmans puts vegetables in the spotlight. And that produces some amazing dishes. As far as possible, the ingredients come from local and organic suppliers such as Den Food Boschfood forest and Tuinderij Geworteld. The fermentation lab on the first floor of the restaurant is an extra special touch.
8. La Trappe Trappist Abdij de Koningshoeven, Berkel-Enschot
With a dish with a good story, you need an exceptional drink. The place for that is Abdij De Koningshoeven in Berkel-Enschot, close to Tilburg. Here, they brew ‘Authentic Trappist’ under the watchful eye of the monks of Abdij de Koningshoeven. This label has strict criteria and only 11 breweries in the world can carry it. Two of those are located in North Brabant, which includes this one in Berkel-Enschot. As the first organic brewery in the Netherlands, they even purify the wastewater and re-use it in the production process. Book a guided tour through the brewery, visit the monastery garden and enjoy a delicious Trappist beer on the patio. Don’t forget to visit the abbey shop, because as well as tasty beers they also sell wonderful regional products.
"The La Trappe Cycle Routes depart from Abdij de Koningshoeven. Pick one of the six routes through the characteristic villages and unspoiled countryside. And of course, you will also pass hospitality venues that have La Trappe on the menu."
9. De Rozario, Helmond
You can treat yourself to culinary delights in a sustainable way at De Rozario in Helmond. Chef Jermain de Rozario’s restaurant has been crowned with a Michelin star for years now. He gets the inspiration for his dishes from Asia as well as Helmond – and then from his own vegetable garden in Aarle-Rixtel. Furthermore, a meal at De Rozario is exceptionally vegetarian and vegan friendly. Jermain and his team mainly cook from the idea that vegetables will play the leading role a sustainable future. As well as the ingredients from his own garden, he also works with businesses from the Peel to serve dishes with products that are beautiful, pure and versatile.
