Places Around Maastricht: John Mullins Irish Pub

Type of Place: Restaurant & Pub
Location: Brugstraat 50, 6221 ED Maaastricht
Website

Located conveniently just across the St. Servatius bridge, John Mullins Irish Pub is a large restaurant and bar serving traditional Irish fare and nearly any kind of Irish drink you desire. When you walk in the front door, you will notice that the pub is done up in a classic style with dark wood, a very long bar, and maybe a few too many Guinness posters. The lighting is kept low and the ambiance has a certain charm quite distinct from the charm of a Dutch brown cafe. Beyond the initial pub seating area, which includes a bright but crowded window section, you can find two more sitting areas towards the back that helps the pub accommodates their evening customers. The food service covers the gamut from an Irish breakfasts to high tea to a nice sounding weekly special for two.

John Mullins appears to cater to a young professional clientele and a fairly international one, at least from what I’ve seen. If you visit during a football, rugby, or hurling match you can be sure to find John Mullins packed with locals and foreigners there to catch the game on one of several large televisions. They have other events as well. Once a week, usually on Saturdays, a live band comes in to play. The music tends towards pop and alternative, but other bands come in as well. Every Wednesday Tuesday, a quiz night is held in both Dutch and English. There is no cover charge, and the quiz only costs 2,50 euros to play.

Dan and I have have only eaten one meal there (a moist and tasty fish & chips), but we’ve visited enough time to try their appetizers and drink their beer. From my limited experience in Ireland, the pub feels very authentic and I find the ambiance to be extremely comfortable. They had a unique cheese platter, which was very tasty, and they serve Korenwolf white beer. It’s not Wieckse Witte (my favorite) but it is close enough. The only real strike against John Mullins is that they don’t serve bitterballen and (I’m told bitterballen are part of the ‘partysnacks’ appetizer) the service can be slow during the off hours. That may be different during peak times when they have more staff, but we usually go there at off times to work on our writing.

In fact, one of the things Dan and I like the best is that John Mullins doesn’t mind if we come in to have a few drinks and write or read. They even have boardgames in the window area. I like to work on my blog away from the Internet so it is always nice to find a place that is willing to accommodate us. Throw in the weekly special for two: the chefs special of the week, soup, and dessert, plus half a liter of wine for only 35 euros and John Mullins becomes quite a deal.

Update: Thank you Max for your corrections. I’ve updated them above.

Update: Read about more oranje adventures at John Mullins.

This blog article is dedicated to NaNoWriMo 2009. Please sponsor me and my goal of write 50,000 words by making a donation to the Office of Letters & Light.

Places Around Maastricht: Pinky

Type of Place: Snack Window & Candy Store
Location: Grote Straat, kitty-corner from the VVV.

One of the pleasureable, comfort foods frequently consumed in the Netherlands, especially here in Limburg, is the waffle. These are always the big, Belgian style waffles and usually eaten as a snack or dessert rather than breakfast.   Like Dan says, no day with a chocolate filled waffle can be a bad day.

Pinky serves the best waffles in all of Maastricht. Bar None.  The waffles themselves are quite sweet and can be purchased with powdered sugar on top.  The next step up, and the one I love, is the chocolate-filled waffle with three sticks of chocolate shoved into the still warm waffles fresh insides (pictured). We don’t usually get powdered sugar on top but you can.  The ultimate waffle from Pinky is chocolate-filled with powdered sugar and a swirl of soft-serve vanilla ice cream on top.  Delicious.

Pinky almost always has a line for both waffles and their soft-serve ice cream, which is ok but not terribly inspired.  They also have a candy store with a variety of candies, from chocolate to marshmellow critters on a stick.  It is typically open only until 17:00 (5 PM), expect on Thursdays when they stay late with the rest of the stores.  They are also closed on Sunday.

Places Around Maastricht: Babbe Malle

Type of Place: Restaurant
Location: Markt 68; 6211 CL Maastricht. Right on Markt Square
Website

Maastricht is home to many great restaurants, including 8 Michelin stars worth that I’ll probably never be able to afford to review. Still, it is notorious for the high cost to eat out both for lunch & dinner, especially if you want to in the center of town. And why wouldn’t you what to?

Enter Malle Babbe, a restaurant/pub on the Markt Square with an excellent dinner deal on Monday & Tuesdays. After 5 pm on those days, they offer a spareribs special and a chicken sate special, each for a mere 7,50. Add a beer or two, they are a Heineken bar, and you can get out of there with a full belly for around 12 euros per person. When we ate there, I had the spare ribs, which were served as a large rack with a salad and lots of thick fries on the side. They were very tasty and really more food than I could handle. Dan ordered the chicken sate, which came with a salad and puffy rice chips. He didn’t find it to his taste, but I thought it was alright. The chicken was a bit bland for us.

The rest of Malle Babbe’s menus looks tasty and is priced comparable to other Maastricht restaurants, around 13-18 euros per plate with some exceptions. The food is primarily Dutch. The bar had a larger than usual selection of beers, and the interior design of dark wood and large paints, gives the place a comfortable and fun feel. According to the website, some of the painting are also for sale. While you won’t find yourself eating on the more trendy Vrijhof, the Markt square is also an open space and prime for people watching. Eet smakelijk!

Places Around Maastricht: La Chine Restaurant

Type of Place: Restaurant
Location: Markt Square
Website

The self-proclaimed first Chinese restaurant in Maastricht, La Chine is located along the packed left hand side of Markt square. The through menu is available for both lunch and dinner (or take-away) and during the summer, you can sit outside just like most restaurants in Maastricht. Their specialties include Kung Pao Chicken, Woei Wed Yuk (pork tenderloin with mild spicy Szechuan sauce), and Peking duck. For something extra special, they also have six multiple-course menus for 2.

Dan & I ate at La Chine after we failed to find a sushi restaurant for our anniversary last Friday. Since we wanted something different from the usual Dutch restaurant, it turned out to be a good decision. We ordered one of the 2 person menus, a good value for the money, and enjoyed the multiple course meal while sitting on the terrace overlooking the square. First with had shrimp dim sum and soup, followed by several dishes laid out on a metal food-warmer so we could share the dishes. The beef dish was particularly savory. Dessert was ice cream with fruit and a cup of coffee & tea. The meal was relaxed and a lot of fun, although the Markt square isn’t as interesting a view as the Vrijhof. I recommend La Chine as a nice place to go for a leisurely sit-down dinner.

Places Around Maastricht: the Foodmaker

Type of Place: Café
Location: Gubbelstraat 8, 6211 CE Maastricht NL, Near the Gemeente Maastricht
Website

The Foodmaker is a medium sized, modern looking café located conveniently near the Maastricht Town Hall. It is open seven days a week: from 8:00 to 19:00 on Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 8:00 to 21:00 on Thursday, 9:00 to 18:00 Saturday, and 12:00 to 18:00 on Sunday. They served breakfast and lunch for both eat in and “take away” in addition to a pleasant selection of coffee and smoothie beverages. The macchiato latte is my favorite and will run you 2,55 euro; not unreasonable compared to other similar shops in Maastricht.

For the new expat or traveler, the biggest selling point of Foodmakers is their free wi-fi. To my knowledge it is the only café with free wi-fi in the center of Maastricht. They are rarely busy (lunch is their busy time), so it’s easy to hang out with a coffee for a few hours. The shop cunningly has no outlets available, so remember to charge up before you arrive.

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