This place came highly recommended by the interwebs. Zoervleis is described as a sour beef stew which sounds unappetizing, I thought it tasted like beef stew in a spiced barbecue sauce, somewhere between KC and NC style. The fries were nothing special but the main was a tasty intro to local food, with a side of apple sauce to clean the palate. Mandarin sorbet was tasty and not overly sweet. It has some floral notes, perhaps honey? A lot of things are decorated with this amusing drawing of a man and woman at dinner. The man is licking his plate while the woman is holding it up like a mirror. Inside is on the smaller side, though I may be comparing to American size. It does get kind of loud. read more

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Highly recommended. We arrived around 1800 and it was packed. We waited for a table for a little bit which was no problem since one of our party hadn't arrived yet. The staff ensured we had drinks and chatted with us as we waited. Over the next four plus hours we had an incredible time. The staff was very welcoming, and the food was fantastic. It's not very big but for our party of 4 that wasn't a problem and the seating was comfortable. Hope to go again the next time I'm in Maastricht. read more

Great food, drink, environment and... Service, yes service in the Netherlands. We can for dinner on Saturday night and the place was packed. Had a drink but went to another great place for dinner. This place looked so good we went back for lunch in Sunday and loved it. Friendly and the food (stew on a cold afternoon ) was great. read more

Cafe Sjiek - Cute place setting - Cafes Near Me - Maastricht, LI

This is a very popular restaurant in a town that settles in to dinner rather early. They don't take reservations so expect a wait for a table, even if you arrive at 6 pm. And be prepared to order your cocktails and possibly your appetizers in the garden, while you wait because the diners here tend to linger over their coffee and dessert. Pay attention to the nightly specials which are carelessly scribbled on a blackboard, along with scratch marks noting how fast they are being consumed, nowhere near the seating area, and which the staff will not bring to your attention. read more

Good location and wonderful food. They don't take reservations and tables fill quick, so if you don't find a seat you may have to wait over an hour. Service is friendly and attentive and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time. My group of four shared a large table with a local couple. Had the clams which were quite good and others had the quiche and blood sausage. Total price for the group of four including three rounds of drinks was €111. read more

Recommended by Rough Guide. Lovely cafe with great food and welcoming staff. Charming proprietor who shared tips on what to see in Maastricht. Split a caesar salad & the kaasplank (cheese plate) -- both were excellent. Not crowded at all during our lunch early on a Thursday afternoon. read more

Cafe Sjiek - Ceasar salad & cheese plate - Cafes Near Me - Maastricht, LI

Great find by my girlfriend. Friendly staff, had a small wait but we were directed to an island where we started off by sampling some wine and even their horse meat dish (we had never had horse before and were a little bit skeptical, but it was great!) Ended up going with the lamb which was outstanding! A must try if you're in the area. read more

Cafe Sjiek - Amazing lamb! - Cafes Near Me - Maastricht, LI

Excellent local food. Very crowded all the time and they don't take reservations. If you're lucky there will be a place at the bar to wait. I had a Maastricht specialty(that I can't spell or pronounce) that was a sweet and sour horse meat. It was exotic and delicious. I am told that the sweet comes from cooking down some Indonesian candy. It was served with excellent French fries (as you would expect being so close to Belgium). All in all a real treat. My compatriot had the spaghetti with wild mushrooms which looked delicious but was decidedly not Italian. Several glasses of the local schnapps/digestif, called El, finished the enjoyable meal. With the meal, beer before the meal, wine with the meal, the food, dessert an the El, dinner for two came to 54 euros - a helluva bargain. read more

Great food and an even better atmosphere. Multiple locals told us that this was the best restaurant in Maastricht. I have no reason to doubt them after eating there. read more

Cafe Sjiek - Horse stew - Cafes Near Me - Maastricht, LI

Excellent meal . Wish I ordered the horse meat stew, a local favorite. The guinea fowl and grilled salmon were very good

In the categorie "eetcafe" (as the Dutch are calling these kind of places) a must try for people who like to have a sniff of local atmosphere together with tremendous food. If you're in a hurry and visit "Cafe Sjiek" during peak hours, than you're in the wrong place. My girlfriend and I entered this cafe on a Saturday around 18:00 and the space was packed like in the London Underground during peak hour. The staff were friendly and told us that it will take some 1,5 hour before we could have a seat there, but with some drinks and a small dish, we could beat the time. Indeed, with an excellent sweet whine for my lady and a good beer for myself in our hands, the locals there are not afraid to have a conversation with strangers, so the waiting time was quite entertaining. The excellent way on how the personnel delivered the menu's to those who had already ordered and were seated at their table, was a fascinating process to observe as well. It looks chaos, but a careful observation reveals an efficient servicing process. Maybe annoying for an outsider is that frequent customers has an advance above tourists. It happened often that people were asked to take their seat but had arrived later then us. From the interaction between staff and client you could see the latter were frequently customers. In my view a very reasonable policy of the owner, because the chance is higher that they will come back instead of the tourists, who only will spend their time once. The former is of course my own interpretation. My girlfriend ordered a salad with fish and I went for a local dish called "zoervleis", a pot roast of horsemeat accompanied with big fries, applesauce and a small cup of mayonnaise - yummy! My girlfriend told me that the salad leaves were fresh, a tremendous sauce and the fish was very tasty. The owner offered me some extra "zoervleis" and fries as a compensation for the waiting time. Very kind of him. We stepped out of the door with a satisfying feeling and knowing that we will always look back on this special evening. read more

I've had the oysters as a starter a couple if times now and they keep amazing me, this place is what got me hooked on quality oysters anyway. Nice and relaxed atmosphere although it's always busy. Friendly staff and amidst the apparently chaotic handling of things all things are spot on, even the bill (which we thought would be impossible with all the little tasters we even had). read more

This place had delicious local food and great Belgian beer. The horse meat stew sounds awful but is actually very tasty and goes great with lambic beer. read more

Really good food! I really like the horsemeat dish (which was recommended to be the local dish) and the fish is also really good. Nice ambiance, get's crowded so easily. They don't take reservations so go early for dinner because it gets crowded so fast. Highly recommend! read more

The food is unbelievable. The atmosphere is very personable and somewhat lively. People are friendly and again, the food is delicious. I had pumpkin soup and a flat fish in season. Incredibly good. It was a bit crowded, but that is the indication of food quality. read more

Cool music and wonderful atmosphere. Great local draft beer. Wonderful late night bar with friends.

Very cozy restaurant. The staff were very nice. I had the Maastricht specialty and it was tasty.

Delicious food, great location! Very family friendly. Brought us a bowl of salad and frites just because. Really pretty spot.