Street food Bistro Hard & Ziel

Fast food reimagined in a fabulous way, very vegan and veggie friendly too!

There is no possibility to make reservations here and tables have no service. So if you prefer to get table service or look to dine in a peaceful setting this may not be the place for you.
Don't let this stop you or you'll miss out on a great and affordable food experience!

You order your food in the front, get your drink, take a seat and wait for your name to be called out. Then you get to enjoy a tasty treat. We had the Indonesian cow stew and the Kentucky chicken with a glass of wine. All was served in bio-degradable packaging, no plates. Even the cutlery was biodegradable. Flavours were bursting and spot on. Our dishes were under 10 euros, a proper bargain. We definitely loved the experience and will be back when we visit Middelburg again.

Yesterday, Nicky and I went on a road trip to the southern coast of the Netherlands to do a bit of touristing in our own country.

In the province of Zeeland, there's the Delta Works. As you may or may not know, The Netherlands lies at and even below sea level. The Delta Works' system of dikes was designed and built by clever Dutchies to stop the sea from taking back the lands we're living on.

To get from Amsterdam to Zeeland, we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us. BLØF is a popular Dutch pop rock band from Zeeland. So to get in the mood, we wanted to listen to some of their songs. Nicky a bigger fan than me, but even I know plenty of their songs. I guess most Dutch people do.

We turned the radio to a Dutch channel and started hoping the best. Not just hoping, more like asking for it. Joking about the manifesting power of our thoughts, calling out for it a few more times just to be sure. BLØF is popular, but no songs would come on. I suggested that instead, we could make it a mission to go to a pub and request them to play some BLØF music.

Eventually we reached Zeeland and started driving across the massive Delta Works structures. We were getting hungry, and went on the hunt for typical Dutch herring. Unfortunately lots of places were closed due to it being Sunday, but one seafood restaurant was still open. No herring but plenty of other things from the sea, many of which I had never tried eating before. Pricey but definitely worth it. Thanks to Nicky for talking me through how to eat all this.

With our stomach filled, we continued driving to the city of Middelburg - the capital city of the province of Zeeland. After we parked the car, we started a totally random walk into the city. Just taking turns left and right whenever it felt right, or when some interesting building drew our attention. The main shopping street was bigger than I had expected it to be. There also was a huge church tower that impressed me. We also walked through some back streets that had nothing interesting to offer, but we kept going nonetheless. Guided by our intuition.

At some point we walked by a bar with a terrace on the canal side. It seemed like a nice place to sit in the sun and we were ready for our after-dinner coffee. It wasn't busy but due to the social distancing rules we couldn't sit anywhere. Luckily, a few ladies were getting ready to leave. They got up as soon as they noticed us, and wished us a good time. There was live music at the other side of the street that we could still hear from where we were sitting. Nothing too spectacular, just a lady with her guitar. As we sat down, a friendly girl took our order.

While we enjoyed our coffee and the surprisingly beautiful weather, the lady who had been singing packed up and left by bike. Soon after, a much more convincing voice started echoing the water and across the street. Then we heard, the man was in fact singing a BLØF song: "Alles Is Liefde". It wasn't the song "Aan De Kust" Nicky was hoping for, but definitely still good enough. Nicky and I still shared a high five for a mission complete - finally!

We tried to continue our conversation but this deep voice continued to claim our attention, even from the distance that we were sitting. Nicky said it sounded a lot like the real deal and suggested that it could actually be him - BLØF's lead singer. Even I could recognize his distinctive voice. Then Nicky said he also looked like him. To confirm, I took my phone out and Googled "BLØF" to look for a recent picture.

Guess what.

Not only was this guy indeed Paskal Jakobsen - BLØF's guitarist and singer; we were also sitting at HIS restaurant. Just by chance, brought there by a collection of random choices we had made by just being in the moment.

Yeah, that definitely blew our minds and called for another massive high five. The universe pulling some massive prank on us, or so it seemed.

Awesome little resto with delicious food! Not expensive and very creative dishes. They change the menu often! Love to go there! Defenitely reccomend this place to every foodie!

Great dishes, great concept with order at the cash register and only card payment.
It is a special restaurant which has fully met our taste.
Special recommendation from me for the cod soup. 👍

Absolutely amazing food. The staff was super friendly, and welcoming. Will definitely come as much as possible.

Shepherds pie was great. Nice place, especially when they have live music

Street food from around the world with a dutch twist.

Great atmosphere and food for a very good price

Great place, tasty food and unique atmosphere.

Lunch was delicious

Top

Tolles kleines Restaurant, von außen unscheinbar, innen sehr gemütlich. Auf der Speisekarte findet man - anstelle der überall servieren fritterten Klassiker - liebevoll komponierte Gerichte. Wir fanden das Essen sehr lecker und können einen Besuch nur empfehlen. Das Restaurant bietet auch einen Lieferservice an.

Sehr schönes kleines und einfaches Restaurant mit ausgefallenen asiatischen Gerichten in einer Preisspanne von ca 6 bis 13 Euro. Das Essen war sehr frisch und lecker. Hier ist Selbstbedienung angesagt. Achtung: nur Kartenzahlung! Kein Bargeld!

Leuk adres. Mooie oplossing met terras aan het water.
En als de eigenaar dan nog wat "pingelt" op zijn gitaar is het feest compleet

Leuk concept. Snel , self service, maar heerlijk eten!

Eten is heerlijk en ontzettend betaalbaar!! Top!😄

Gezellig aan het water gezeten. Niet zo veel gegeten - door de hitte niet veel honger. Wat we bestelden was prima en de bediening was vriendelijk.

Wer 'de kromme watergang' kennt ist natürlich gespannt....keine Enttäuschung! Sehr raffinierte und kreative Gerichte. Glückwunsch an die Herren Vinke und Jakobsen!!!

Super lekker gegeten en complimenten voor de vegetarische gerechte, heel bijzonder!

Heerlijk eten, ook ‘to go’, fijne sfeer en je wordt heel vriendelijk geholpen. Zou fijn zijn als Hard & Ziel een blijvertje is in Middelburg!