Now that Scott and I are almost completely vegetarian (well, pescetarian really, because we still occasionally eat fish and seafood, but I think that name sounds so pretentious), we’re finding it a bit more difficult to find places to eat out.
Luckily we live in a major city, so there’s always some vegetarian deliciousness to enjoy somewhere, but often we just want something quick, tasty and yummy that isn’t too far away to ride our bikes.
As we already have a love affair with hummus and falafel, that’s usually a failsafe option as 1) it’s very hard to screw up and 2) I could eat hummus and falafel every day. No joke. So when we discovered Maoz Vegetarian via a quick Google search, the place definitely looked promising.
Maoz Vegetarian Amsterdam has three different locations around the city, but the easiest one for us to get to is on Leidsestraat. Their menu is simple: they only sell falafels in pitas (whole wheat or white), falafel salads and fries. The falafel pitas come with unlimited salad toppings for less than 5 Euros, so it’s definitely a great budget-friendly option for vegetarians or even those who just love falafel pitas.
We both chose whole wheat pitas with added hummus and waited while our falafels were cooked fresh (a nice touch for what is essentially a takeaway cafe). They put around five falafel balls into each pita, but you have the option of purchasing more if you wish. I wouldn’t though, if I were you, because then you’d struggle to find room for all your salad toppings.
As I always do with any buffet-style setup, I was at first overhwlemed by choice, umming and ahhing over what to put in my pita, and then ended up with a rather starnge concoction that still somehow tasted great. I was a particular fan of the seasoned carrots and red onion, as well as the tahini and amba sauces.
Scott managed to pile more into his (maybe I need to get better at Tetris-style manoeuvering?), but we both went back for a topup as we got about halfway down.
All in all I’d say that Moaz is a great option for a cheap lunch or dinner. It fills you up, it doesn’t cost too much and you can feel slightly smug about the fact that you’re at least getting some salad in you. We’ve already been back a second time and it was just as good, although slightly more crowded. It’s definitely earned itself a place on my go-to lunch spot list.
- Leidsestraat 85, Amsterdam
- Open 11am to 1am
- www.maozusa.com/restaurants/locations/amsterdam
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