El Maïda — Restaurant in Groningen

This restaurant tastes and smells delicious, activist and accommodating. While the service can be a bit slow, you can engage with your surroundings and travel around the Maghreb and Orient with the amazing decoration and posters. If you are lucky enough to sit next to the open kitchen, then the experience becomes more unique and ASMR as you see the cooks slicing the veggies with so much confidence, preparing other amazing dishes. The floor staff are very friendly and accommodating. The food literally transports you to the Maghreb and Syria. The Mediterranean sandwich is perfect for those who love figs (it has feta cheese, figs, fig jam both in the sandwich and in a bowl and pistachios), although for me a fig enthusiast it was lacking some other ingredients (maybe aubergine?) as the feta cheese was the most predominant ingredient both in taste and quantity. The chicken sandwich was super tasty and slightly spicy with a generous quantity of chicken. The accompanying veggies in the dishes taste super fresh. The traditional mint tea was also very traditionally well-served from high and had no added sugar - and still tasted amazing. Due to allergies, they had to take my dish back as it had nuts I can't eat (and which the cooks had mistakenly added despite it not being part of the menu) but the staff were very responsive and prepared me a new dish very quickly. The vibe is great, laid-back and very activist-friendly, very necessary in these times. The prices are inexpensive and very fair for what you get. We'll...

Restaurant is nicely decorated inside but the back way to the garden terrace doesn't look like it's for customers. It's nice to sit outside away from the street but it can get hot outside as there is not enough shade for all tables and there's not always a breeze going on.

I was greeted by the staff but not led to a table. It's ok I knew where to go (through the dirty looking corridor in the back to the garden).

There is a varied menu but unfortunately it was only in English. Plenty of vegetarian options. Affordably priced menu!

My service was fine but other customers had something wrong with order, twice and their orders did not arrive simultaneously with more than 10 mins in-between. They left without eating...

The shakshuka was tasty and came hot in a skillet. Unfortunately it had the egg completely scrambled in so it was more like an omelette. The egg should not be scrambled and I prefer the yolk to be runny. They were out of oriental bread so they served baguette instead.

The homemade iced tea was good, not sweet and with a real mint tea taste. A slightly more generous portion would be nice though.

I heard the waitress was new so I'll give them some slack on the service of my fellow customers. I would come back to try...

It was my second time visiting El Maida and yet again I was mesmerised. The food looked stunning and tasted even more amazing!! Every flavour seemed to compliment every dish I had ordered without feeling overpowering or dominating. I can highly recommend trying an assortment of different dishes or coming with a group of friends to indulge in the “groepsarrangementen” offered on the menu.

Price: I have never eaten anywhere of such high quality with such an affordable price. Truly a gem on all levels.

Service: The best there is in Groningen!! While the food speaks for itself, the service deserved all the praise I can put in words. Very warm, welcoming and accommodating. What I also appreciated that I was left to enjoy the food without being disrupted and asked to make further orders etc.

The expanded restaurant now offers even more opportunities to find exactly the atonischere you atmosphere that you are searching for. The small terrace creates a very homely vibe.

I’m already planning my next visit with eager ambitions to try more of the menu!

Thank you to everyone at El Maida for creating, nourishing and growing such a...