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Excellent vegetarian food

5 Posted on 03 / 17 / 2013

Despite some negative comments in other reviews, we had a good evening here. Yes the decor is basic and dated. We arrived about 1800 so our order was taken almost right away, and service was not bad at all. Considering there is only one guy there, assisted by 1 waitress, they do a good job. The seitan starter was very tasty - changed my view on seitan. We had the stamppot - a Dutch potato and veg mash - for main course. Very tasty, as were the selection of salads and accompaniments. And the portion are generous. So - excellent value for money. Would definitely go there again.
On an amusing note, the light switches in the men's loo are hard to find (situated well inside and high up) we saw many poor guys struggling with this.

Pros: Excellent food, Good value - prices and portions, staff friendly
Cons: Decor a bit tired and dated, Service might be slow if busy

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Great food

5 Posted on 03 / 16 / 2013

We very nearly didn't go to the Vliegende Schotel (Flying Saucer) based on the reviews I read on Happy Cow. I'm glad I read the reviews. We went NOT expecting swanky decor and brisk service, so weren't disappointed on that score. Let's just say the decor is rustic and the service laid back. Fortunately we had plenty time.
But . . I am SO glad we went. The food was fabulous. They serve tasty down to earth food. It's not inexpensive (around €12 to €14 for a main) but the portions are generous. Note! They do not accept credit cards despite stickers on the door. We shared a starter of fried seitan with a fresh tomato sauce and we each had the Dutch Stamppot main. It's a mixed veg mash with gravy and came with a mix of five different sides. No space for dessert after all that.

Pros: Great food
Cons: Service laid back

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Great vegetarian and vegan fare in Amsterdam

5 Posted on 09 / 12 / 2012

After spending a week in Croatia I flew to Amsterdam desperate for a good vegan meal, I went to the flying saucer as it was just around the corner from where I was staying and I am so glad I did. The waitress was very friendly and spoke perfect English, the portions were generous and the food was fantastic. Also there's a great selection of beer. We enjoyed some vegan white wine with our dinner. If I ever return to Amsterdam I will be sure to visit the flying saucer again.

Pros: Food, Beer, Wine
Cons: Vegan menu could be expanded.

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Quite liked it

3 Posted on 08 / 17 / 2012

The Vliegende Schotel is a strange place, but not a bad one. It's certainly run-down and looks as much like a junk shop as it does a restaurant, and the other reviewers who speak of a musty smell are certainly correct, though there were no cats to be seen when we visited. It's not at all posh, shall we say.

The lone guy working there was nice enough, but not very communicative. The state of his kitchen wouldn't win any awards, but the food he made was nice! He was helpful with showing us which options on the menu were vegan, and we both had a nice meal there. The portions were large and filling, and came with a nice salad.

Everywhere in central Amsterdam seems expensive, but we both felt it was a little pricey for the state of the place, though the large portions do counter this I suppose.

Take note though - the kitchen closes at 9.30pm, so don't arrive too much after 9pm or you'll be turned away! (Why do veggie places in the Netherlands close so early? All the meaty places are open long after this!)

Pros: good location, large portions, nice food
Cons: musty atmosphere, early close, a little pricey

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Good food, avoid the "fresh" juice

4 Posted on 06 / 21 / 2012

First, I should say that the owner said they weren't yet open when we came by around 2pm on Sat. afternoon, but he was willing to open for us, so maybe this is normally a dinner place? Anyways, there were several vegan options and my dish was quite good and healthy (lots of veggies), some kind of stew. My dutch friends and girlfriend (omnivores) seemed to like it. My mistake was in getting some kind of fresh-made juice, which was horrible - it was warm on a warm day, the fruit was not very good and there were chunks of other stuff in it and a weird taste, like the juicer hadn't been cleaned all week. I drank it because, well, in Amsterdam, they don't really give you water and I didn't want to make a scene. The atmosphere was charming - lovely antique chairs and a whole back room (by bathrooms) full of antique oddities. Other than my drink, I really liked it here.

Pros: charming atmosphere, healthy/tasty vegan options
Cons: terrible "fresh" juice

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Good food, alternative & relaxed atmosphere

3 Posted on 04 / 11 / 2012

We went with 4 friends, we all had a Groupon type of voucher for a 3-course meal. The owner preferred that we came during the week. There were only a couple of the tables taken, lots of dishes were on the other tables, the cook/ waiter was all alone, so didn't manage or mind to clean the tables. Another negative point is a smell that lingers in the restaurant, of mold.
We could choose from 5 main dishes as well as several entrées and all desserts. I had a delicious peanut soup, which was quite filling in itself & the Bornea main course: tempeh, string beans in a coconut, very spicy, sauce, served with either millet or some other grain. It was a lot, very filling and very tasty as well.
There were no vegan desserts, so I was offered a tea for dessert, which I found to be very thoughtful of the owner.

All in all, good and tasty food, alternative atmosphere, not recommended for a romantic dinner or for people that are in a hurry.

Pros: quality of the food, size of the servings, lots of vegan choices
Cons: no vegan dessert, moldy smell

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Mwah

2 Posted on 03 / 11 / 2012

friendly staff, oke choice on the menu, but my pie was a little bit dry and the place is not very cosy (gezellig) and not very clean. At first it looked oke, but wait till you have to use the toilet. you have tot cross an adjoining rook which smells off cats. and is not very inviting. I wont't be going back.

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Best lasagna ever!

4 Posted on 07 / 18 / 2011

Although we did have to wait a while for our food and the restaurant looks a bit old and worn, it was a good experience.
The cook was helpful in pointing out what was vegan and could be made vegan.
We received plentiful vegan food at a low price. I can recommend the lasagna!

Pros: tasty, cheap, plentiful
Cons: waiting, old

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Disappointing

2 Posted on 06 / 26 / 2011

I really like supporting vegetarian restaurants and I will usually give places the benefit of the doubt, however I was disappointed by my experience at De Vliegende Schotel. We ordered the aubergine soup (soup of the day) and the fried seitan as appetizers. We found the soup to be good but a bit too salty. I liked the fried seitan but my husband didn't care for it. For the main course I ordered the goulash and my husband order the Bornea curry. My goulash came with sour cream on it (after I was told that it was a vegan option), but they did give me a new one. It was alright but it actually really needed to be served with the sour cream to balance out the flavours. My husband found his curry to be ok, but the vegetables were rock hard (and this wasn't a raw dish) and the curry flavour was somewhat bland. Both meals came with an assortement of small salads, which we both didn't find very tasty (one was even an egg salad which I ate around). We didn't order dessert but I wouldn't have anyway since there wasn't anything vegan on the dessert menu. On the plus side the restaurant stocks really interesting organic/fair trade beer, so we enjoyed those. Also, the service was not as a slow as some of the other reviews indicated. All in all, however, we probably won't go out of our way to go to this restaurant again.

Pros: eclectic atmosphere, good beer selection
Cons: marking vegan items, flavours not balanced

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Fly me to the Moon

5 Posted on 02 / 25 / 2011

One of the most wonderful places I have ever been to. The more cats on the counters the better as far as I am concerned. Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and at least 3 gorgeous cats one of which was a totally cute kitten who we had the pleasure of welcoming to our table. The food is excellent with an extensive menu. It's not gourmet but it's well cooked and well presented. The wine list is superbly priced and fully of variety particularly on the red side. We arrived at 20:45 expecting to be late but customers kept arriving well after 21:30 and they were served as normal. Really look forward to going back here again.

Pros: food, portion size, atmposphere

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bland food and cats on counters

2 Posted on 02 / 21 / 2011

I would definitely NOT recommend this restaurant to vegans, vegetarians or meat-eaters.

We found the food bland and the nacho portion tiny. The place was empty, the ambience lacking, and service only OK.

I found the cats walking on the counter incredibly off-putting. I definitely won't go back.

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Not that good...

2 Posted on 02 / 05 / 2011

We went here on our first day in Amsterdam, with a high expectation after reading the reviews on HappyCow. We didn't have a reservation and it was quite late, but we could still order.
We noticed it was cold in there, and not very clean, with cobwebs hanging on the ceiling, dust on the vase next to our table, 3 cats running around on the other tables and the bar (we did notice cats in every restaurant where we went in Amsterdam)...
The food was fast and hot, but our soup was too thick and much too spicy, as was the main dish. The side dishes that came with the main dish weren't that great either. The chick peas and lentils were ok, but there were 2 sorts of very cold mush that really weren't good at all and clashed with the very hot rest of the food.
The owner was friendly though, and it was very cheap.

Pros: cheap, friendly staff
Cons: the food, hygiene

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so yummy!!!

5 Posted on 01 / 21 / 2011

I cannot say enough about how wonderful it was to find this gem! We wandered in on Christmas Eve and were greeted by the sweetest man who turned out to be our chef as well. We ordered an excellent bottle of organic wine and our host was so helpful and knowledgeable. We had a fantastic meal that was delicious and the plate was full of yummy side dishes as well. It was a cozy and friendly place on a freezing holiday. When we inquired about dinner on Christmas, our kind chef told us he was preparing a special menu. Needless to say, we got back there for a fantastic Christmas dinner and another great bottle of wine. For sure when we return to Amsterdam we will head straight to this place for the best veg meal anywhere. Unpretentious and home-made everything was a tasty treat. Can't say enough about how nice the chef was--supercool dude and great food. It was two memorable meals over Christmas that made our stay in Amsterdam even more perfect. Thank you Flying Saucer!! You can't go wrong with anything on the menu--talk it over with the chef and he'll hook you up with all the stuff you love to eat!
Updated from previous review on Friday January 21, 2011

Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, great wine
Cons: unable to clone chef

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LOVE THIS PLACE

5 Posted on 01 / 16 / 2011

I've been to Amsterdam 4 times over the last 10 years. I was fortunate enough to find this restaurant on my first visit and I've returned and often eaten there multiple times on subsequent trips. It is located in the most beautiful part of the city, the Jordaan, so the walk there is lovely way to start the evening. I love the relaxed atmosphere of the place and the kitties running around (which is common in Amsterdam restaurants). Yes, the service is a bit slow but that is because there is usually just one or two people in the kitchen taking the time to prepare you high quality vegetarian food. The product is a beautiful display with each corner of your plate decorated with highly flavorful side salads in addition to the entree. And in regard to people complaining about slow service: we need to support places like this and if they can only afford to have have one or two staff on per shift to survive, then Happy Cow members should just DEAL WITH IT and enjoy the company of their dinner companion over a glass of wine or go to McDonalds if they want fast food. Every meal I've had there has been fantastic and my most recent trip there in January 2011 (under the new management) was no exception; the high quality and devotion to responsible food ethics remain. I found the new owner to be lovely, yes quiet and a bit shy, but lovely and dedicated to his mission. I'm not vegetarian but I have been and tend to prefer these foods; however, I have brought my father and boyfriend (two die hard carnivores) and they raved about the flavor of their meals too. I will certainly return on my next trip and I wish the new owner the best of luck. LONG LIVE VLIEGENDE SCHOTEL!!!

Pros: ORGANIC, FLAVORFUL, YOU WON'T LEAVE HUNGRY

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Great food and best deal in town!

5 Posted on 12 / 13 / 2010

The Vliegende Schote/Flying Saucer restaurant is the best deal in town! This locally owned restaurant has friendly staff, a cozy atmosphere and so many tasty choices for vegetarians , vegans, and anyone who appreciates socially/environmentally/economically/healthy and delicious meals! Upon recommendation from a friend, I went here when I was on a visit to Amsterdam. Because I think the proof is in the pudding, here's what I ordered: For starters, I had a glass of fresh home-made carrot apple ginger juice, a bowl of home-made curry leek chickpea and mustard soup, and a side appetizer of seitan pate (made from homemade seitan). Both of these dishes had such well-rounded and balanced flavors, I couldn't wait to try my main dish! I ordered the daily dish (or dag schotel)- which at the time, was a stir fry with Seitan, and vegetables in a light aisan inspired sauce. This 10 euro plate came with a rich helping of 4 or 5 home-made cold salads ( spinach-apple-sprout salad with orange vinaigrette, beet root salad, and cold lentil salad...hmmm), and a large helping of brown rice. As an international student with lots of free weekends, I have traveled a great deal around The Netherlands and have yet to find a meal like this. That is cheap, almost completley organic and 100% vagan! As I said before, I recomend this place for vegetarians, vegans, or basically anyone who appreciates a restaurant that builds their menu around ingredients with integrity.
-Cheers!

Pros: cheap, tasty and healthy, cozy atmosphere
Cons: only cash, want more now, need a map though still in the center

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Flying Saucer

2 Posted on 10 / 10 / 2010

I was starving a few days back and made my way over to Flying Saucer. When I walked in, the place was dead and actually smelled very bad. The guy came out of a side room, where he was smoking, and went through what was vegan with me. Although he was very nice, I just didn't feel right about everything so I opted to go somewhere else - that's a big deal for me because when I'm starving I just deal...but not this time.

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yuck!

2 Posted on 09 / 28 / 2010

This place was my worst meal in Amsterdam and one of the worst meals I've ever had in general! I got the lasagna and it was disgusting, I tried to eat it since I was hungry but it was horrible! Made me nauseated. After reading the good reviews on here for this place now, I'm thinking maybe I just ordered the wrong dish and other food is better there. The service was really slow (the waiter told me it might be a while but I didn't expect it to almost be 30 minutes) AND then while I was eating noticed he and the other girl working smoking in the kitchen! Disgusting!! even if the food is good here, that's enough of a reason to not want to go back.

I'd give 1 star if I could but I guess 2 is the minimum

Pros: nothing
Cons: the food, smoking in the kitchen, place was empty which says something

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Nice informal restaurant

3 Posted on 08 / 02 / 2010

My friends and i went to the Flying Saucer for a little lunch. I think the main business is in the evening, because, except for us, nobody else was there. The rooms are simple, but colourful and nice. The waitress and the cook were very nice. Most of the ingredients are organic. We took just small dishes like blue nacho chips with guacamole, deep fried seitan and a small salad with goat cheese. The nacho chips and the seitan were vegan. I didn't like the fried seitan, it was very tough, only the tomato dip was very nice. My friend liked the goatcheese-salad very much and the guacamole dip was also delicious.When I'll return to Amsterdam I will visit this restaurant again and order some main dishes. I liked the atmosphere and the nice people, so I'll give the Flying Saucer a second chance.

Pros: healthy cuisine, friendly staff, good value

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Reasonable prices

3 Posted on 07 / 25 / 2010

My boyfriend went to the Flying Saucer on a Saturday evening in July. The menu is or can be made to be vegan and had a good selection of main meals. We had Blue nachos with Guacamole to start to share which were nice and enough for us both. I had the Borneo main dish which was a kind of mild curry with Seitan and cashews and my boyfriend had the lasagna. The portions were large and served with salad. We enjoyed our meals although not as much as other restaurants during our time in Amsterdam. The waitress was friendly and helpful and the atmosphere relaxed. The prices were a few euros less than we had previously paid at other restaurants. The decor was basic and not as inviting as others. Overall Ok but could have enjoyed our meals more.

Pros: Helpful staff, Reasonable prices

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nice =)

4 Posted on 07 / 12 / 2010

I liked this place- the chef was very kind and accommodating, as he agreed to make me only a half portion so that I would have to pay less. The food was quite good, too. Nothing incredible, but tasty!

Pros: nice staff, organic, good food
Cons: could be cheaper, not amazing food... but still good

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Excellent place, off the beaten track...

5 Posted on 03 / 23 / 2010

This was probably my favourite veggie restaurant in Amsterdam, hidden a long way down a residential road near the Anne Frank Huis. The portions were large and very good value for money, they had some nice Dutch beers available, and the whole place had a relaxed atmosphere. I had the 'stamppot', a traditional Dutch dish made vegan, and went away very happy with what I got.

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Superb!

5 Posted on 02 / 22 / 2010

This place served me up the best vegan food I've ever had! I'm from LA, went to school in the Valley, and so I've been around to many vegy places. We have great places to eat out here, but I was really surprised to find this place to serve such quality food. It was healthy, delicious, and the guy working there seemed to really care about gastronomy, especially traditional Dutch cuisine; though don't let that fool you, I had the best Lasagna in my life here! The price's are marked to a measure of great value overall.

Pros: excellent food, healthy cuisine, great value

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Homely and relaxed

4 Posted on 06 / 25 / 2009

A little walk from Anne Frank's house but in a very pleasant area and good to see - even passed some heron on the street on the way! Cosy restaurant with more seating than you'd think; not fancy new furniture but clean and friendly. The menu might not all be available depending on what ingredients they have but there didn't seem many restrictions. Everything made fresh so the sign "no FAST food" really meant what it said - maybe a wait of 35mins for our dinner. Very worth the wait though, great food and HUGE servings.

Pros: Excellent food, Generous portions, Cosy
Cons: Slow service, Not all food available

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UFO restaurant for aliens

4 Posted on 04 / 17 / 2009

This place is brilliant and one of my favourite restaurant in Amsterdam. The food is basic but good and you get some nice wines. They have a long menu card, but they usually only serve what is marked on the blackboard next to the bar, where you also need to go to order your food. Customers are very varied and it's a good place to go even alone, as you are very much left alone and you can just hang around, read a book or anything that lies around.
The place is very special and you can't compare it with any other restaurant.

Pros: Relaxed Athmosphere, People, Special

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Spacey!

4 Posted on 10 / 20 / 2008

Quirky, I had heard that dutch service was traditionally very "relaxed" and my girlfrind had been here before and warned we would be waiting a while, however SERVICE WAS QUICK!!
The portions were large and the food was tasty.
The staff were very nice, though spaced out (probably wacked out on goofballs!)
I think booking in advance is against the nature of the place, best just to turn up and look at the board, because the printed menu will tantalize, unfortunately in the original sense of the word from the character of Tantulus in ancient greece, who was punished by spending eternity with delicious fruit just out of reach, for trying to feed the gods HIS OWN SON.
We think you should go for the experience and really recommend it. A rambling review that goes well with the place, except the chef won't try to serve HIS OWN SON!
We will be back, hopefully in January...

Pros: fun, quirky, filling
Cons: no cat, half the menu is an outrageous LIE!

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I won't be going back

1 Posted on 04 / 06 / 2008

well, I saw the restaurant in an alternative guidebook, so I decided to go and try this place out, back in summer 06. We had booked a table by calling in the afternoon, and we decided to go early as we had heard they sometimes run out of food . well, when we arrived, on time for our booking we were the only people there, and the staff stared at us like we had grown extra heads or something. they completely ignored us once we told them we had booked, and said they werent ready ofr us to order. we sat around for a while trying to make a drink last a while and feeling more and more hungry and more and more stupid. eventually some more customers turned up and ordered, so, frustrated we went back to try and order. we were shown to a side room where we were left to sit alone, as all the other customers who were turning up were being seated in the main room. after nearly an hours wait we finally got some food, which was of average quality. I do not know if they didnt like the look of us or something, but the service was terrible, we felt really uncomfortable, it was stupidly slow - we finally ate over 2 hours after our booking , and the food was average. A real dissapointment we will not be going back.

Pros: the area near the place was nice to walk
Cons: very slow service, rude staff, average food

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nice restaurant

4 Posted on 03 / 24 / 2008

Cosy, large portions and friendly staff. I'd love to come back to this restaurant!

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A Pleasant experience

4 Posted on 03 / 05 / 2008

I went to Amsterdam in Nov. 05' and turned to Happy Cow for places to eat, this was one of them. My review is limited because I was only there once. What I can say is though the service is slow and after a day of seeing everything you get hungry pretty fast, it was excellent and worth the wait. The plate was huge and it was nice to have a hearty filling vegan meal that wasn't reliant on imitation meat. It is not a vegan restaurant alone as Happy Cow indicates so you do have to look over the menu but the vegan options I had were great. There was a dessert, VegaIce that I have not seen in the U.S. I really enjoyed too. The staff was quite nice as well. It had a great environment on a lovely, quite street.

Pros: large plate, great food, great atmosphere
Cons: slow

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Very nice (:

4 Posted on 08 / 10 / 2007

There aren't many vegan options, but the dishes that there are are large, and the menu changes everyday.

Pros: Large portions, Nice service
Cons: Slow service, Few vegan options