My current list, appropriate for seminar dinners:
Gist (small bistrot-type feel, central, lots of vegetarian and fish options)
Rosalie (near 013, meat and beer, cozy atmosphere in the winter)
Pulcinos (moved to Piushaven, Italian, squid ink risotto last time here was amazing)
Hooked (near 013, tapas-style)
The standard list (Auberge, Houtloods, Kok Verhoeven)
More causal:
Closed -- Toko bar (natural wine, only been here for apps but they were really good)
Stadsbrouwerij 013 (Piushaven, brewery with good burgers; the Albatross next to it is not as good)
Gastrobar Rix
Legacy:
When I was a grad student in Philly I used to look at this guy's list of Philadelphia restaurants, not to mention the reviews of my favorite Philadelphia restaurant critic. So, dear reader, I present you with my guide to restaurants and cafes in Tilburg (with a few in neighboring towns and cities). Since moving here, I've found some great options. And Tilburg keeps getting bigger and better. I suppose this guide is intended more for the university and/or international community. I mention restaurants that are particularly good for seminar visitors and other university guests as well as recommendations for non-work occasions, including places that are good with small children. I hope it's useful. Enjoy.
you can email comments or suggestions, george.knox@gmail.com
Tasty Saigon https://www.tastysaigon.nl/
Inza's Seoul Kitchen https://www.inzas.nl/
Rosalie https://www.rosalie-tilburg.nl/menukaart
Wonderful place, great addition to the Tilburg restaurant scene. I’ve been here now twice, once during Xmas. The standouts are the duck breast, smokey vegetables, beef wellington, and an odd but delicious halibut citrus dish. They grill everything so it has a rich smokey flavor, and you can see the fire in the kitchen. Excellent selection of beers, wines and cocktails. Highly recommended.
(Nieuwlandstraat 28): Another great lunch spot in this neighborhood! They also do breakfast and are a bakery. I had pastrami on rye with Russian dressing with a Fevertree ginger beer. The sandwich was deliciously gooey in the way that only melted cheese and meat can bring out. Perhaps it could've used some more healthy crunch and greens to vary the taste. Their other sandwiches look very appealing (see here). It's an open space with high ceilings and large tables that are meant to be shared. On a Saturday afternoon, there were several diners reading the paper, leisurely enjoying the food and atmosphere. K
(Heuvelstraat 128): my favorite cafe, great environment, excellent coffee, beans roasted on premises, delicious soups, sandwiches (e.g., cured tuna with horseradish) and salads, can get crowded on the weekends. K
(Nieuwlandstraat 66): also excellent cafe, more Dutch fare, soups sandwiches and salads. Also crowded on weekends, slightly more space than Locals. Sometimes, they insist on bottled instead of (free) tap water. K
(Stationsstraat 49): More industrial/artsy cafe. Excellent drip coffee and pastries. Very friendly service. K
(Willem II straat 27): Italian sandwicherie and delicatessen, delicious. Often go for the salami, fontina, olive and pickle sandwich. Very small indoors, a few tables outside as well. They sell some Italian hard-to-find ingredients.
Ten Sum - My favorite Chinese place in Tilburg. Mapo tofu, Wenzhouenese fish ball soup. Very friendly place. Used to come here a lot with friends and children.
Xu Noodle Bar Tilburg - Send noods. Good straightforward noodle soups. I haven't tried any of the other dishes, but they all look good. The service is friendly.
Dadawan - Asian fusion, more expensive and less delicious than across the street Xu Noodle Bar.
Pulcinos - A restaurant/delicatessen with some Italian (roots in Sicily), some Japanese things. I had an excellent squid ink risotto. They make their own limoncello, good wine and cocktail list. Highly recommended.
(Ketelhavenplein 49, 5045 NE): This is a surprisingly good quality, reasonably priced Italian option in a maybe unexpected location, which is Reeshof, right next to the train station. The bistecca, which you order per person, comes out on a hot stone and is delicious. The pasta was also very good and not at all overcooked. They have a bucket of toys for kids, can get crowded on weekend evenings.
(Burgemeester Brokxlaan 1041): You eat in a train car from the early 20th century. They say stuff like your journey is about to start, etc. Despite this, the food is quite good, and so are the cocktails.
(Goirkestraat 28a): A Moroccan fish place. This used to be (I think) the best pizzeria in town many years ago. There's a long window with many different types of fish, including Dorade, calamari, sardines, sliptong. You select what you want. They also are happy to recommend items. It's all weighed together and that determines how much you pay. The Dorade was delicious, the best thing by far. Everything else though was pretty good as well. On the downside, the seasoning is a bit the same for everything we tried. The Moroccan mint tea is fun to have. In the end, we paid something like 35 euros for everything. Very inexpensive.
(Havendijk 36): From the proprietors of Burgerij, same philosophy, serving both low and high cuisine (I saw caviar), but, of course, focused on fish. Lovely location on the quieter side of Piushaven, across the water from Bij Vermeer, Porto Ijs and Coffee, and Don Curado. You can sit outside and enjoy the setting sun. Reasonably priced. Good selection of beers and wine. Mixed grill of tuna, octopus, and sardine was simple and delicious. However bouillabaisse (fish soup) was ruined by an overpowering anise flavor, enough for them to take it off our bill in the end. Still would go again and stick to the grill.
(Burgemeester Brokxlaan 79-8): Sort of a misnomer. No, it's not a sushi restaurant or a place that serves all raw food. They even have a "Raw Beef" (fully cooked) steak. Probably the raw describes the industrial-looking interior, with its high ceilings and metal. It's behind the station, presumably in a former train depot. It's a mid-range place, offering many beers (Duvel) on tap, and a good range of fish, meat, vegetarian, and snack items. Sort of a fun atmosphere inside, but a bit loud. My steak was moderately good. The dinner salads were also good but nothing special. The snacks and beer at the beginning were good and the large selection is nice. I would go here for borrel but maybe not dinner. Also, they don't take reservations if you're less than 6 people, and this place is crowded. However, there are often spots at the bar which is nice.
(Noordstraat 125): Updated: still good! I recently had a new menu item, ramen noodle soup with shrimp and duck. Really good, highly recommended. Here's what I wrote last time: good value, middle-of-the-road option: nice ambiance, housed in a former bank (hence the name). Good beer and whiskey selection. Terraces in front and back, next to a playground. S K L
(Hopliedenkade 249) Nice place, right on the tip of the middle pier in Piushaven. It's basically an all-glass building, and you sit right on the edge of the water. It manages to be modern and still very warm and comfortable. Very nice views across the harbor. We shared a bunch of appetizers, which were all reasonably good. The lobster soup is very good. S
(Kempenaarplaats 2 Tilburg): Indonesian-Moluccan cuisine. The Maluku islands (part of which were once called the Spice Islands) are a part of Indonesia that were colonized by the Portuguese and then Dutch. Lots of food for very little. Worth a try!
(Korvelseweg 58-02): Middle Eastern restaurant recently opened on Korvelseweg. The owner is Iraqi, and there are some Lebanese cooks whose influence shows up on the menu (e.g., Fattoush). The Iraqi tea, served on a heated stand and tasted in small glasses, is a nice touch. The Adas lentil soup with lemon was brightly acidic and delicious. However, both of our main courses, Machboos beef (Kabsa) and chicken Biryani were disappointingly bland, large chunks of meats served on huge piles of rice. Maybe the grill menu is more promising. I want to give this place another try sometime. (K, childseat in the corner)
(Havendijk 75): New place occupying what used to be Biku, a terrible mishmash of bad food and overpriced buddha statues (what is it with the Dutch and Buddha?). The modest but open space with large windows and location on Piushaven are nice, so it's a welcome change to have someone else take over. We went before their official open; unfortunately they had run out of duck, which was what brought us there. Our main courses were reasonably good, but nothing special. The best thing we ate is the bar snack: plukbrood with the dipping sauces which is delicious and addictive. It's like a fluffy cross between a pretzel and focaccia. In short: definitely worth trying. S K
(Korvelseweg 169): Fun place to eat in the summer, outside on the benches, with a Weizenbier. Very inexpensive, small rotating menu. fish, meat and vegetarian options. Very good value in Tilburg. Good beer selection.
(St. Josephstraat 136): Italian, standard fare, nothing fancy. Formerly Eataly, Tredici means 13 in Italian, playing off the name of nearby 013 concert venue and/or the local area code. Pizza, pasta, fish, steak. moderately priced. L K
(Besterdring 2): Afghan, set price 3 course menu. According to iens, highest rated in Tilburg. Good to go once or twice, but they often steer everyone into ordering a little of everything, and menu doesn't change. S
(Noordstraat 87): hearty Dutch food, a little uneven but often just the thing that cures cold, rainy days. What the Dutch would call Bourgondisch: stews, stamppot, excellent selection of wines. I heard a rumor that they served a really bad risotto to an Italian; but, in the spirit of progress he went back to the kitchen and showed them how to cook it the right way. S
(Kempenaarsplaats 156): I liked it better when it was the Havenmeester. Now it's pricier and not as good. Service was also bad last time I was here.
(Piushaven 21): Funky warehouse atmosphere, excellent Australian steaks. A fun option. Good beer list. Can get loud and service is highly variable. S K L
(Tuinstraat 59): Polish bar and cafe in the heart of Tilburg. We stopped by for lunch, soup and pierogi's. Delicious. K
(Heuvelstraat 126): Is reviewing Happy Italy like reviewing McDonald's? Maybe. However, the last time I went to McD was more than 5 years ago, whereas I was at HI a few weeks ago. I mention them here because I really think they do a pretty good job with pizza (pasta is another story); the price is right; they are quick; and they're very good with kids (plus they have a playroom). The pizza at HI is much better than the delivery options here. K
Hooked www.hooked-tilburg.nl/ Located at the doomed end of Korte Heuvel, where many restaurants have gone out of business. They do small plates to share, Mediterranean cuisine. Pretty good, although service was a little slow.
(Burgermeester Brokxlaan 1041): open-kitchen concept, small plates (10-15 euro each) divided into several categories (earth, rich, spicy, sweet). Located in a somewhat empty zone behind the train station, but inside ambiance is warm and spacious. When you walk inside, there's a hall with a scale model of Tilburg, several meters long. Worth checking out. Quality is uneven. Some courses were innovative and delicious (e.g., Tartaco); others were under-seasoned (e.g., pork loin) or, worse yet, too sweet-sour for my taste. House special Gin & Tonic with orange and other spices is very good.
(Bredaseweg 441): I find this place overpriced and pretentious. I used to go here all the time with seminar guests because of its convenience. Have had some good meals, but also wildly overpriced mediocre food. After the last time I went here, my colleague expressed dismay at the disparity between price and quality. They do have a good beer and wine selection. S
(Bredaseweg 204): innovative cuisine, they experiment with textures as well as tastes. Amuse-bouche always interesting, extensive cheese selection. Located in a renovated convent in between UvT and the center. S
(Heuvelpoort 300): under the Mercure hotel, modern, more flexible in terms of courses and ordering. Pretty good, but nothing really stands out. Ambiance is a little cold. S
(NS Plein 32): reasonably good, safe seminar speaker choice, not pretentious or too slow, specializes in fish (though they have meat and vegetarian options). Delicious seafood starters, good wine and beer list. I've been here too many times, so much of the novelty has worn off. Order the sashimi (off-menu) as a starter. S
(Burgemeester Stekelenburgplein 208). In short, not good. Service was a disaster, the booth seating is oddly high and uncomfortable, and the food was OK. It's about as expensive as De Houtloods and Kok Verhoeven, which are both across the street and orders of magnitude better. The bar area has a series of cool fake gears moving; also being able to see the trains come and go is entertaining. (There was also live music, but you can't hear much with the high ceilings and echo). S L
(Noordstraat 79a): A store that focuses on high-quality hard-to-find ingredients, as well as, of course, cheese. They have specialty jams, wines, beers, salami, olive oil... even popsicles (blood orange flavored, yum!). Last time I was there I bought Spanish olive oil, a Portuguese white wine, fennel salami, granola, and ... It doesn't actually serve meals, and so it's only tangentially related to restaurants, but nevertheless I wanted to bring your attention to it.
(Prunusstraat 9): A high-end fish monger, tucked away in a mostly residential part. Can get crowded on the weekend. Really good smoked salmon, tuna, and other things. A bit pricey.
(Telegraafstraat 58): probably the most famous beer cafe in Tilburg. Over 200 varietes, 8-10 on tap every week. Dimly lit interior ("brown cafe"). Sometimes fun stop before/after dinner for seminar guests. Very helpful staff. Can get quite crowded on weekends. Nice outdoor seating on a small street tucked away in the center.
(Piushaven 22): another Tilburg institution. It seems their selection is more Dutch and smaller breweries than Kandinsky. Nice outdoor seating in front of the canal.