Maastricht on a Fork

Vlaai from a watermill, frites from a 1909 institution, zoervleis in a brown café — and a Michelin splurge if the night runs long.

Maastricht is the Netherlands' undisputed food capital, and its greatest hits are all within one lazy kilometre. Eat in strict local order: apricot vlaai still warm at the Bisschopsmolen watermill, a paper cone of frites met zoervleis at Reitz on the Markt, then the full brown-café ritual — candle wax, Gulpener, more zoervleis — at Sjiek or the Vogelstruys. Still standing? Beluga's two Michelin stars are a ten-minute walk and a different universe.