The Healthy Guide To Den Bosch
The charming and alluring city of Den Bosch is full of hotspots. Everything here revolves around delicious (Burgundian) eating and drinking! Where should you go if you want to enjoy this in a healthy and vegan way? We’ve listed the best hotspots for you.
Oerwoud – Vughterstraat 84
We started our day at Oerwoud; a City Garden Store with a Health Café in the center of Den Bosch. As soon as you step inside, it feels like you’ve escaped the city. Everything is green and sustainable; the way we like it at The Green Happiness! You can come here for breakfast (all day), lunch, or a nice drink among the plants, in the “jungle” so to speak. All products are fresh and organic, sourced from local farmers nearby, and in the summer, even from their own vegetable garden! Oerwoud is run by two young enthusiastic women. You can see many Balinese influences in the food and the decor of the shop, which didn’t surprise us when Larisa (one of the owners) mentioned that they both lived in Bali for a while.
Everything is fresh and homemade. Oerwoud is known for their Chai lattes. And we understand why; the Beetroot and Turmeric-Ginger Chai Latte were de-licious! The Date Bliss Ball completed the picture. Furthermore, Larisa made us the Totally Nuts; a Smoothie Bowl with almond milk yogurt, banana, nuts, and chia seeds; finger-licking good! We saw a lot more delicious items on the menu, like Thai Coconut Soup, Rainbow Salad, Coconut Juice, and Raw Chocolate Smoothie. Plenty of reasons to come back to this lovely city garden!
Fun to mention: they also organize various yoga and plant workshops, and you can buy all kinds of nice plants, pots, notebooks, cards, and cute home items.
Puurgondisch – Marktstraat 23
In a side street of the Markt, you will find Puurgondisch. The name says it all: at Puurgondisch everything is prepared with pure and fresh daily products. They have plenty of plant-based options forall daybreakfast, lunch, smoothies and hot drinks (read Cacao Caramel Swirl and Pumpkin Chai Latte). We ordered the Pumpkin Chai Latte, a tomato soup, and the vegan salad (recommended!). We finished our lunch with homemade vegan and gluten-free Mango, Raspberry, and Salted Caramel pastries. And YES, it tasted as good as it looks in the photo! The ladies in the kitchen are fans of our books, so who knows, you might find a dish inspired by The Green Happiness here some time.
Robbies & Westside – Verwersstraat 33 & Verwersstraat 19-21
When you get thirsty while shopping, you can head to Robbies for a fresh tea, coffee, or a nice juice. The dishes on the menu are not exactly “green,” but it’s too fun not to step inside. Robbies is located in the building of a former bank, and at the back of the store, you can even find the original safe still. Very cool! Also, take a walk around the store. You can buy beautiful tableware, napkins, cutlery, vases, or other interior accessories. Perfect for setting the table for a cozy dinner. A bit further down Verwersstraat, you’ll find Westside, a beautiful lifestyle store where you can go for clothing, tableware, plants, and other nice home & garden accessories. If you’re looking for a gift or want to treat yourself, it’s definitely worth stepping inside. We instantly fell in love with their ‘plant corner.’ Very atmospherically decorated and nice and green (YAY, we love green).
Voltaire – Stoofstraat 6
Voltaire was, for us, the “Bolhoed” of Den Bosch. If you’re looking for cozy homeliness, Voltaire is the right place. A living room where you can go for a biological daily special or a slice of cake with tea. They happily accommodate dietary preferences. Tip: the cupcakes are completely plant-based, sugar-free, nut-free, and gluten-free!
NomNom – Postelstraat 79
NomNom was our happy moment of the day. We ended up spontaneously at this incredibly cozy spot on Postelstraat. We hesitated a bit to go inside, as it was quite full inside, and we saw few plant-based dishes on the menu. Aren’t we glad we went in anyway! We were warmly welcomed by Sigrid and soon had a table. At Nomnom, you can go for lunch, a drink with a delicious tapa, or a 4-5 course surprise menu with small dishes. All products come from local suppliers, and plant-based eating is no problem here! It is advisable to communicate your dietary preferences in advance, as everything is prepared fresh daily. Chef Jan-Geert even told us that he really enjoys working with plant-based ingredients from the Asian kitchen, like Kimchi and seaweed; we are quite excited about that ;). We were surprised with a Quinoa burger with avocado, Crostini with hummus, sweet and sour onion and a compote of celery, and a Pumpkin chutney with stir-fried spinach and kale, green asparagus, basil oil and algae caviar. Yes, you read that right, CAVIAR! It was all so “NomNomNom.”Last but not least,they also have a nice terrace. We will definitely come again for a drink with a tasty (vegan) snack.
Nescio – Hinthamerstraat 80
We ended our day in Den Bosch at Nescio on Hinthamerstraat. For a cozy evening dinner, Nescio is the right place! A very atmospheric little restaurant where a lot of thought has been put into the decor. Because let’s face it: food tastes so much better when served on beautiful plates and surrounded by cozy candles, right? Nescio mainly works with sustainable and organic products. They serve a rotating Meat, Fish, and Veggie 4-course menu, and on the weekend, you can also go there for brunch and lunch. On the veggie menu, we saw dishes like Chili beet burger with sweet potato fries, Rice spring rolls with oyster mushroom, spring onion, bean sprouts and soy, and a Veggie special. All veggie dishes that are not fully plant-based can be served vegan. Intolerances are “no problem at all” for the chef. Delicious and special food is the priority at Nescio, even for people with intolerances and dietary preferences. We got two delightful small dishes to taste; Couscous with a sea salad including sea aster and wakame, roasted tomato, grilled little gem and a Moroccan salsa, and a Mung bean salad with caramelized red onion, roasted yellow beetroot and a red beetroot mousse. This left us wanting more! We will definitely come back, but next time we will join for an extensive 4-course menu!