Amsterdam: The San Francisco of Holland! (Raw Restaurant Review)

Hey boys n girls!

Last night I went out to dinner at a raw vegan restaurant right here in Amsterdam. It was my first time having a raw meal at a restaurant and I went with a blog reader, so it was extra fun! We ended up having a great time; interesting conversation accompanied by great food

Energieregie (Overtoom 409, Amsterdam) is a cosy little shop and eatery in one. The shop carries great superfoods like spirulina, chlorella, maca, cacao powder, raw carob, raw chocolate bars and homemade macaroons. You can also purchase wheatgrass, wheatgrass seeds and wheatgrass juicers here as well as many other cool things.

The diner has a small menu of organic raw vegan options, as well as take-out. I saw raw sandwiches, burgers and lasagna bolognese on the menu. They offer a raw gourmet platter of two salads, flax crackers with raw vegan mayonaise, sauerkraut, sprouts and avocado and one item of choice; we both opted for the beet ravioli which was simply a-ma-zing!

The ravioli stole my heart! beet ravioli (or: rawvioli ) with some sort of nut cream in the centre is a pretty well-know raw gourmet dish that I’d never gotten around to making myself. So glad to finally have tasted it, I loved it! The green salad had a spirulina dressing (!!).

I found the prices to be very reasonable; I paid little over €20 for the menu and a drink, and I took half (!) of the meal home with me in a doggy bag because it was so much (tip: bring your own doggie-bag (container) because the restaurant charges a small fee for this as to encourage people to bring their own which is more eco-friendly!). So, dinner, a lunch of leftovers, and a drink for €20? Fine by me! But more importantly, the service was just great. Alec (I presume the owner) was very willing to answer all of our questions and was able to give in-depth information about everything that was on our plate. How many restaurants can claim the same? All in all the service and the setting were just very kind, warm, open and cozy. We sat and chatted until way past closing time!

I am so grateful Kitty introduced me to Energieregie, I still hope to move to California one day but in the meantime, we can just bring California and its cornucopia of raw vegan establishments to here!
Do you know of any great raw/ raw vegan places to eat in Holland? Please do share! And, if you’re ever in need for a dining partner I’m game!

Love,

Sabine!

PS: little update on the mosquito/I-haven’t-slept-properly-in-over-4-weeks problem; I am really starting to think these darn mosquitos have set up camp somethwere in our house. By getting a little internet-savvie I figured out they don’t actually make nests but it IS possible they decide your casa est their casa, ifyougetwhatimean. Must be it, there’s so many! I just knocked over all still standing water in my backyard (where they lay their eggs, ew) and as a last resort, my mom got some (very poisenous…) spray from a friend of ours who specializes in getting rid of unwanted animals…. But something’s gotta give. I keep waking up at 9-9:30 instead of 7, sleeping through my alarm and missing yoga (!) because I miss so much sleep at night.