Located close to the Belgian-Dutch-German borders, Maastricht possesses a charm that even gloomy weather cannot detract from.
Even through pattering raindrops and moody grey skies, the lovely university town is still one of my favourite cities to walk around and eat in ;) It is also lauded as one of the most beautiful and romantic cities of the Netherlands.
Our visits to Maastricht typically start with a walk through the cobblestoned streets of its town centre. You might think that you should be able to walk without a care in the world on these paths, since the city centre is a restricted zone for bicycles and pedestrians. However, a couple public bus lines and motorbikes and even trams are still allowed to enter, so be sure to keep a lookout for them!
We reached Maastricht around 11am on Wednesday. The aim was to snack-hop for lunch :) We started our food journey at the City Hall, right in the centre. This is where all couples who want to officially change their status from ‘single’ to ‘married’ go in Maastricht.
It’s not only a beautiful building, you could also throw a handful of stones and hit scores of food stands and eateries nearby. As luck would have it, the food market held every Wednesday in the square included an Asian section. There was a variety of Asian food stands set up in a semi circle.
What really caught our eye was an Indonesian stand serving up satay. A man had a very authentic Indonesian-style grill set up in the open air and was grilling a bunch of huge meat cubes on sticks!
The Mann was so excited to get some satays that he charged ahead of me towards the stand! I was a little skeptical about the massive size of the meat chunks.
In a good satay, a charred marinade is supposed to be the predominant flavour. The over-sized meat chunks in this Dutch version might mean that the meat texture and flavour would end up overpowering the delicious marinade. Well, only one way to determine. Try and see!
We ordered two sets of chicken and pork satays (€4.00 per set) from the friendly Indonesian Lady Boss manning the serving station.
Each set came with 3 freshly grilled meat skewers served over ketupat (rice cakes) and topped with keropok (prawn crackers) and rich satay gravy.
The rice cakes were phenomenal. I normally do not enjoy ketupat from satay vendors because they tend to be on the dry, gummy side. This one was juicy and had a slightly chewy, yet silky smooth texture.
The grilled pork satay was juicy and the charred marinade flavour stood out prominently. The chicken satay was a let down - the meat was dryish and lacked in both flavour and char. Overall, this was a decent buy, but I really prefer the smaller satays that Singapore satay vendors serve.
Photo Credit
Having had my meat, I now wanted some fruits. It was really my lucky day! A local had just finished setting up his stand serving up chocolate-coated fruits on a stick. From 11:00 - 15:00, he was offering complimentary taste-testing of his wares. A small queue had started to form, and I happily joined it.
The fruits were fresh and juicy. Impaled on each stick were a whole strawberry, a piece of banana, and a green grape. The chocolate looked like milk chocolate but tasted more like dark chocolate. I found the combined flavours a little harsh, but nonetheless was happy with my freebie. Still, white chocolate fondue might have gone better with the fruits, perhaps?
While I had been queueing for my stick of chocolate-covered fruits, The Mann and Cousin Willem ordered some loempias (€1 per piece) from the Vietnamese food cart. They were served with a delicious chilli sauce that took the freshly-fried spring rolls to the next level. Yumm..
We strolled around, checking out the other market stands while gingerly nibbling at our piping hot loempias. There were several baked goods stands, a cheese stand, and other vendors selling clothing, accessories, fruits & vegetables, and processed meats. I didn't take photos of all because I was rather occupied with my loempia. ;)
So far, we had been blessed with a good supply of delectable bites - meat, fruits, and fried spring rolls. Now, it was time to pick the next snack — waffles or fries!
What do you think we ate next? :)
Address:
Maastricht Market
Markt 78
6211 CL Maastricht, The Netherlands
Opens: Wed & Fri: 09:00 - 16:00
Note: The market on Friday includes the addition of a Fish Market and is significantly larger (300 stalls as opposed to 200 on Wednesday)