3 reasons to eat at A Beautiful Mess
Last week I visited the lovely A Beautiful Mess restaurant, and I’m giving you 3 reasons straight away why you might want to do the same.
Reason 1: the beautiful location
For a year, A Beautiful Mess has been hosted as a pop-up restaurant at the beautiful The Manor Amsterdam hotel in Amsterdam-Oost, at the end (or beginning) of the Oosterpark in Amsterdam. It used to be a public hospital, then a district office, and is now a hotel with striking red-and-white striped awnings.
Inside, it is spacious, with a view of the (partly) open kitchen; outside, there is a large terrace on Linnaeusstraat.
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- BEAUTIFUL BITES; huisgemaakte flatbread-chips geserveerd met een dip, gemarineerde olijven en gemengde spicy nuts
Reason 2: a good story
Reason 3: the delicious menu
A Beautiful Mess has a colourful menu full of mezze, small dishes inspired by recipes from the countries where the staff originally come from: Levantine and Mediterranean cuisine, but you will also find dishes from Eritrea, Ukraine and Pakistan. And they taste delicious. Such as the labneh, strained savoury yoghurt sprinkled with pomegranate, parsley and a crunchy mix of nigella seeds, sumac, sesame seeds and aniseeds, served with flatbread. The grilled Iraqi chicken thighs are also delicious: juicy and seasoned with a special spice blend of no fewer than fourteen spices. The merguez sausages are served on a spicy cucumber-yoghurt dip. A delicious combination, especially with the mujadara served alongside it: rice with lentils and golden-brown onions.
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- LABNEH
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- GEROOSTERDE KRUIDIGE BLOEMKOOL
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- ROKERIGE AUBERGINEDIP
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- LAMSMERGUEZ met daarachter IRAAKSE KIPPENDIJEN
And then there are the desserts, with the sticky toffee date cake as the showstopper. Incredibly delicious! Afterwards, take a walk in Het Oosterpark to walk off (some of) this calorie bomb.
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- STICKY TOFFEE DADELCAKE
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- AFFOGATO
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- TAHINI-CUP
Three locations
Besides the Amsterdam location, A Beautiful Mess can also be found in Utrecht (on the grounds of the asylum seekers’ centre on Joseph Haydnlaan) and in Arnhem (at the entrance to Sonsbeekpark).
A Beautiful Mess, Linnaeusstraat 89, Amsterdam
Read also:
- At Sins of Sal in Amsterdam, you’ll eat the best tacos of your life
- This beach pavilion has been voted the best in the Netherlands
- A must-visit for oyster lovers: De Oesterij in Yerseke
