Spotted by Locals
I really like specialist stores that focus mainly on one product and try to be the best at what they do. They exude a kind of passion and determination that I admire, and the quality is often all the better for it.
Wild Moa Pies is one of those places. Monique, its owner, used to live in New Zealand for years and decided to bring New Zealand kiwi tabasco and the hearty pies they sell all over Oceania to Amsterdam. She moved to a nice little store in de Pijp a couple of years back. All the pies are cooked on the spot. You can take them home, eat them at the little table inside or in the plastic chairs outside if the weather's nice. Wild Moa is also one of the few places in the city that sells imported drinks and sauces from New Zealand – from hot kiwi sauce and mango-and-tamarind-sauce to spicy non-alcoholic ginger beer.
Pies are a great lunch or simple dinner. I adore them – it might be my British blood – and I really like the way they make them here, from the traditional chicken pie to the breakfast bacon and egg. They've obviously taken their time to perfect the recipes and walking into Moa's tiny abode really feels like being in laidback New Zealand, a sentimental throwback that I'm sure a lot of avid travelers will enjoy experiencing.
