It was Den Bosch time again yesterday! And what better way to start than a fantastic, small bite lunch at Wijn bij Stijn. Wijn bij Stijn is a small wine bar / restaurant serving amazing wines and even better food.
During the weekends, Wijn bij Stijn is open for lunch, drinks and dinner. During weekdays they’re open from 17:00. On Friday they open from 15:00 (for the vrij-mi-bo of course ). Although Stijn and I have passed this winebar many times when visiting Den Bosch, we never actually went inside. Strange, because the owner shares his name with my partner Stijn and Stijn always passes this bar/restaurant by with a peculiar sense of pride. You would almost say he ownes the restaurant!
In any case, we decided to visit the place for lunch and we weren’t disappointed. We were greeted by a friendly lady when entering the restaurant, got seated and ordered a fresh South African Chenin Blanc. This was the favourite wine of our waitress (if you pay attention, each staff member indicated their favourite wine on the blackboard near the kitchen). The Chenin Blanc was fresh and fruity, a very easy wine for lunch.
As we were enjoying our wine, the guys in the kitchen were having fun and making plans to visit the christmas market in Valkenburg. You could really see they were enjoying their work. A fun atmosphere usually means good food, so time to taste some! The lunch menu both contains small bites, pintxos and a 3 course lunch menu. We opted for the small bites and were surprised! Literally everything was delicious and you could truly see the passion put into the food.
We ordered the langoustines with vadouvan, onion bhaji with raita, tortilla, gravad lax and finally pintxos with bacon and jam and sauerkraut, mushrooms and truffle.
As I have mentioned, everything was nice, but the langoustines and pintxo with sauerkraut are worth special mentioning. The langoustines were served on a bed of large pearl couscous, and 2 delicious sauces that married perfectly with the delicate sweet flavor of the langoustine. Amazing! Then the pintxo with sauerkraut…my favourite. A perfect autumn dish combining earthy warm flavours of mushroom, sauerkraut and truffle. I did not think I would like it this much and would have never actually thought sauerkraut and truffle would combine, but oh it did. Thank you Wijn bij Stijn for teaching me a new flavor combination! I am already fantasizing about how I will use it in our home kitchen.
We would definitely recommend Wijn bij Stijn. It is easy to reach as you are entering Den Bosch from the station and a great start or finish of your day.
Kruisstraat 35
5211 DT ‘s-Hertogenbosch
The Food Explorer 