All posts tagged: Texel

A vegan look at Texel (the Netherlands)

Published by

A couple of weeks ago, we were in Texel for a couple of days. Texel is an island in the Netherlands, north west of Amsterdam. There are only a handfull of small villages on Texel, but the island is very touristic, so there are quite a lot of hotels and restaurants. Not that much options for vegans though. In previous blogposts with restaurant reviews, I promised I would give an overview of places where you can have a vegan meal (and also some restaurants that replied they cannot fullfill our vegan needs). You can see this overview below. First, some other impressions from Texel, from our vegan point of view. sheep, sheep and more sheep E-ve-ry-where you look on Texel, you see sheep. Thousands and thousands of them. Not that Texel is a sanctuary for sheep of course. They are raised for economic purposes: for their meat and milk, and also for wool. Hence sheep products like sheep meat, cheese and wool (and even sheep skins) are a common feature in restaurants and shops in Texel. We read online …

#44 We loved the Dutch weedburger at Paal9, Texel (NL)! ***

Published by

Restaurant review #44 – Yes, there is a place on Texel* where you can get a vegan burger! It’s the famous Dutch weedburger and it’s being served at beachpaviljoen number 9, near Den Hoorn. Obviously, we did not want to miss this! The Beach house is located in the dunes on the south west shore of the island Texel. We were there for lunch on a Saturday, and could easily get a spot outlooking the North Sea. There was a fierce western wind coming straight from the North Sea, and there are gently glowing dunes one each side of the road. So it was quite an effort peddling up there on our tandem! There seems to be only one vegan option on the menu (maybe the vegetable croquets are also vegan, but we didn’t verify). So beware it is not a vegan restaurant, there are many meat options on the menu. This was actually the first restaurant we saw croquettes of geese (ganzenkroketten) on the menu. We ordered the Dutch weedburger with fries, and it was yummie! And …

A museum filled with beach rubbish. Our visit to the Juttersmuseum in Texel (NL)

Published by

Growing up along the Belgian coast, I remember Winter beach walks and finding all sorts of stuff washed ashore. From ropes to driftwood, large barrels to plastic bottles. I didn’t know there are people who actually have a full time hobby collecting these items: beach combers. In Dutch they are called ‘strandjutters’ or ‘jutters’, hence the name of the museum on Texel: Juttersmuseum. It is said to be the largest collection of material collected through beach combing (jutten), with items found on the beaches of Texel over 75 years. Several beach combers donated their individual collection to the museum. If you think the only thing you would find at the Juttersmuseum are plastic bottles or boat ropes, think again. Just about everything has been found on the beaches of Texel: from TV’s to shoes, from helmets to bicycles, cars, inflatable dolls, bottles, children’s toys and even drugs. You name, it’s there. The barracks are literally packed from floor to ceiling and even the sheds themselves are (mainly) made from material found on the beaches. Some of the stuff is ‘accidentally’ lost into the ocean (washed overboard …

#43 Our vegan dinner at resto De Kroontjes, De Koog (Texel, NL) **

Published by

Restaurant review #43 – Texel is an island north west of Amsterdam (NL). There are only a handfull of small villages on Texel, but the island is very touristic, so there are quite a lot of hotels and restaurants. Not that much options for vegans though. In another blogpost, I’ll give our vegan view on Texel, and places where you can have a vegan meal (and also some restaurants that replied they can’t fullfill our vegan needs). We were at Texel for the weekend, and we dined at restaurant De Kroontjes in De Koog, a very small town on the west side of the island. I had noticed on the website of De Kroontjes they have a vegetarian curry risotto as a vegetarian option, and so I e-mailed them if we could get a vegan meal (explaining what we do and don’t eat). After receiving confirmation, I made a reservation. The front of the restaurant looks more like a pub or brasserie, but the inside is more resaturant style. After arriving at the restaurant, I asked whether everything was ok …

#41 Indonesian ricetable at hotel/resto Opduin, De Koog (Texel, NL) ***

Published by

Restaurant review #41 – Texel is an island north west of Amsterdam. There are only a handfull of small villages on Texel, but the island is very touristic, so there are quite a lot of hotels and restaurants. Not that much options for vegans though. In another blogpost, I’ll give our vegan view on Texel, and places where you can have a vegan meal (and also some restaurants that replied they can’t fullfill our vegan needs). We were at Texel for the weekend, and on one of those days, we dined at restaurant Opduin in De Koog, a very small town on the west side of the island. Every Saturday evening, restaurant Opduin serves an Indonesian rice table (besides the regular menu). I had inquired in advance if we could get a vegan Indonesian ricetable (explaining what we do and don’t eat) and got confirmation. So we made a reservation. When arriving at the restaurant, the waitress said she was told it would be difficult to get a vegan ricetable. Duh? I told her I had gotten confirmation beforehand and asked …

#38 Our dinner at resto Taj Mahal, De Koog (Texel, NL) ***

Published by

Restaurant review #38 – On one of our evenings in Texel, we went for dinner in Indian restaurant Taj Mahal, in De Koog. De Koog is a small village on the western side of the island. Texel is 370km from Bruges, North west of Amsterdam. I did not inquire beforehand whether we could get anything vegan, since this is usually no problem at Indian restaurants. There are several ‘vegetarian’ labelled dishes on the menu at Taj Mahal in De Koog, of which some appear to be vegan. We inquired which dishes would be suitable for us (no eggs, no dairy, ..), and were advised by the waitress. So we ordered shabji biryani (mixed vegetables with rice and spices, 15,75€) and shabji curry, a curry dish with vegetables (without the cream, 15,25€). And these side dishes: baked vegetables (Shabji Bhajee, 5,25€) and mushrooms with onions, tomatoes and chili (Mushroom Bhajee, 6€). Dinner soon followed, and the waitress suggested herself that we share the dishes as a sort of ‘rice table’, which was what we were planning to anyway. …

#37 Our lunch at Bagels & Beans, Alkmaar (NL) ***

Published by

Restaurant review #37 – Travelling up north towards the island of Texel, we stopped in Alkmaar (in between Amsterdam and Texel). We originally planned to have our lunch at Thai restaurant Chada Thai in Alkmaar, since that restaurant is explicitly mentioned on Happy Cow as being very vegan friendly, to arrive at its frontdoor and find the restaurant … not open. Backup plan: a quick visit to Bagels & Beans, where – as the name suggest – a large variety of bagels is served. Bagels & Beans is a chain with several locations throughout the Netherlands. There’s always something vegan available, and staff was very friendly to check for ingredients (see also the note inside the menu – taking note of food allergies). We had the hummus bagel (standardly vegan) and the avocado bagel (without the cream cheese, but with hummus) with respectively a sesame bun and a tomato bun (asked whether they are vegan and got confirmation). Very nice! And very cheap too (5,40€ for the avocado bagel and 3,95 for the hummus bagel). Small orange juice was only …