Gastmaal Café (“feast café”), located across from Griftpark, isn’t just what its name suggests. Gastmaal Café is more than just a place to head to for wine and a snack. It’s a combination of a restaurant, café, and wine store. Match made in heaven, right? On a grey and rainy evening, we cycled over to Gastmaal to taste their new menu. The sight of the bustling, cozy café immediately made us forget our terribly cold bike ride. It was time to enjoy…

Menu 2.0 

Gastmaal Café has been open for about 2.5 years, and the owner found that it was time for something new. The menu was already full of small and delicious dishes to enjoy with a good glass of wine, either for yourself or to share. But this could be changed up just a bit, so the owner asked for help from her brother, who has achieved something beautiful with the Keuken van Gastmaal on Biltstraat.

A quick look at the menu already promises good things. It lists small dishes with unusual taste combinations. The portions are slightly larger and thus more restaurant-worthy. What can you expect from this menu? Think fennel cooked in broth and served with Taggiasca olives and raisins, or winter cod, chermoula, and cauliflower couscous.

Vleck Wijnen

The neighbouring Vleck Wijnen ensures a good glass of wine or bubbles to accompany the dishes. Vleck Wijnen is an importer of natural wines, also known as Vin Naturel. The impressive wine store offers about 400 natural wines, a lovely collection curated with more than 15 years of experience in importing wines. You can buy wine here to drink with your meal. No need to fuss in trying to remember the name of the wine later. It’s a one-stop shop – and afterwards you can enjoy it at home.

My favourites of the evening

During this first presentation of the new menu, we were served seven dishes with accompanying wine to taste. You can’t make us happier than with this, and we were very cherry indeed. What were my favourites of the evening?

• Buratta, roasted beets, orange-pistachio dressing
• Salsify, beurre blanc, scrambled egg, black rice
• Slow-cooked beef shoulder, celeriac purée, pickled onions, jus de veau 
• Hemelse modder (a Dutch chocolate mousse dessert)

Here are some wines I’d like another glass of, all available at Vleck Wijnen:

• PleinSud
• White Yeti
• Domaine de Rapatel (du gard red)

Gastmaal Café is definitely one to recommend, especially if you want to enjoy an evening in a relaxed atmosphere with good dishes and accompanying wines. 

Griftstraat 2 | gastmaalcafe | facebook

Hours of operation
Monday: closed
Tuesday – Saturday: 12.00 – 0.00
Sunday: 12.00 – 22.00

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