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Last week, I was up in Groningen for a concert in the far North of The Netherlands. It's a bit of a travel by train or car (ca. 3 hours), but the city is really quite a unique place, dominated by a large and quite renowned University!

Anyway, in the break of the first rehearsal day... I had a chance to revisit a place that I tend to eat at often when I'm up here... a little (well, not so little) pub and grill place, where it is easy to find a comfy corner undisturbed by anyone else!

The Space

As you can see from the lead photo (featured photo), there was some outdoor seating by the cycle path. It was a pretty sunny day, and so all these places were taken... however, I'm not usually keen to sit there anyway... so I was more than happy to head on inside!

On the inside, it is wooden flooring and comfortably soaced tables. Along the edges are more comfortable couch-like seats... which I always try to get (I like having my back to a wall!).

The area is decently lit, but not overly bright and htere is a good deal of sunlight (when it is sunny...) coming in from the large windows at the front. Further to the back, it gets pretty dark!

Sound wise, it is a touch on the noisy side (probably due to the wooden floor and walls... and furniture!), especially as the place starts to fill up during the main meal times.

These days... even pub like restaurants need an origin story.... yay for marketing!

The Menu

Well.. nothing really exciting here. Burgers and Steaks (fish and chicken as well) are the order of the day. However, there are some interesting twists on the burgers, with several variants that would be nice to try out at a different time.

Huize Maas is also seemingly a pleasant place for just getting together for drinks and hanging out with friends. So, to cater for that... there is also a nice selection of hapjes (nibbles) to go with that well-deserved beer or drink of your choice!

Speaking of drinks... there is a pretty decent selection. Ranging from your softies and various non-alcoholic drinks to beers and wines. Plus, there was a fully stocked liquor bar as well. A little bit for everyone!

The Food

Well... I was between rehearsals and so it wasn't quite dinner time... and it was way too late for lunch. However, I did need to eat, otherwise I would be starving after the rehearsal (will no one ever think of the musicians?).

So, a tomato soup was the thing... not too filling, but enough to tide me over the next three hours of work.

Actually, the soup was really quite good! Home made (apparently), it was very spicy (mostly pepper, I think) and tasty. It wouldn't be quite the thing for everyone, but it was just the perfect snack meal before continuing onwards in the day.

The bread was decent, but I wish there was more. The pepperiness of the soup was such that it was a touch harder to just spoon down, and the bread was a perfect way to soak and eat. Actually, this is a complaint that I often have when I'm ordering soup... that I always wish that there was more bread!

The Experience

Service was very quick and they have quite a number of staff on (especially during the busier times). A little bit annoying is that they don't really leave you alone after you finish... you get the impression that they really want you to order more or get out of there!

However, the food is decent... and if you get the menu specials, it is incredibly cheap. I've mostly been here in winter, and the place is warm and cosy! A great place to hide away from the darkness, wind and rain.

Every time I'm up here in Groningen, I do find myself coming here at least once. So, it is a good place... but I do think I need to try other places as well!