La Cacerola, Weteringstraat 41
Eetcafe Mesob, Beukenplein 17
An Ethiopian Restaurant which I haven't tried!
20 September 2009
13 August 2009
Pont 13
Well I finally made it to Pont 13... And it's another one for the list of mediocre restaurants which blight this city, choosing style over substance. To its benefit, however, it's done so without resorting to the standard minimalist designer look so common here. For starters, the location is perfect: perched at the end of a long pier after a row of houseboats languishing at what seems to be the last outpost of civilization. Pont 13 served as a ferry boat before its current role, and it has been loving remodeled for its new purpose, retaining the original wooden floorboards and adding a broadly arching ceiling dotted with skylights. The wood burning stove and the decks along either side of the restaurant along the water give it great atmosphere any season. Inviting and yet remote, wild but secure, bohemian without being heavy or overly dressed.
Now the food. Basically it suffers from what I call 'Caterer's Syndrome'. It's a very common ailment here with the following symptoms are:
The Point 13 fish soup people were raving about on Iens wasn't the rich, deep seafood broth that the fresh crab deserved. The cut of beef my companion and I both ordered was chewy and thoroughly unenjoyable. On the other hand, the fries were delicious, brown and crispy in all the right places, but by then was sensitive to having to pay on top of our mains 4.50 eur for what anyone would consider a staple food here, that after being charged for the bread (2.00 eur) and having someone double check if I actually wanted tap-water, after I just said I did. Luckily I was in the company of a school friend from a long long time ago whom I hadn't seen for 17 or 18 years. The magic of Facebook! Pont 13 was a wonderful background to reconnect, it would equally lend itself as a background to a romantic dinner, or adventure, fantasy, a long walk, a conversation... but the food doesn't do it any justice. Which is a shame. I'll probably return for one of those other reasons sooner than later, but next time I'll stick to a bottle of wine on the terrace.
Now the food. Basically it suffers from what I call 'Caterer's Syndrome'. It's a very common ailment here with the following symptoms are:
- The same ingredients turning up in one to many dishes on the menu (See: Restaurant Hotel de Goudfasant - roasted fennel adorning the spring lamb with fava beans, roasted fennel steamed (?!) in the Provencal mussels, roasted fennel as part of the veggie accompanying the roast chicken)
- Different dishes on the menu but identical to the customer except for the chicken/meat/fish in the middle (See: Restaurant Open - "special of the day" dorade vs. the menu's skate wing)
- A dish designed so that it could be plated up easily for a 300 person reception. (See: Restaurant Pont 13)
The Point 13 fish soup people were raving about on Iens wasn't the rich, deep seafood broth that the fresh crab deserved. The cut of beef my companion and I both ordered was chewy and thoroughly unenjoyable. On the other hand, the fries were delicious, brown and crispy in all the right places, but by then was sensitive to having to pay on top of our mains 4.50 eur for what anyone would consider a staple food here, that after being charged for the bread (2.00 eur) and having someone double check if I actually wanted tap-water, after I just said I did. Luckily I was in the company of a school friend from a long long time ago whom I hadn't seen for 17 or 18 years. The magic of Facebook! Pont 13 was a wonderful background to reconnect, it would equally lend itself as a background to a romantic dinner, or adventure, fantasy, a long walk, a conversation... but the food doesn't do it any justice. Which is a shame. I'll probably return for one of those other reasons sooner than later, but next time I'll stick to a bottle of wine on the terrace.
19 July 2009
22 June 2009
Smitty's, Idaho Falls, Idaho
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Sent via Blkbrry
Sent via Blackberry
31 May 2009
To Do List
Oud Sluis
Is the food good enough to make one forget the 4 hour journey it takes to get there?
Beyrouth
Lebanese food on the Kinkerstraat. The other side of the city seems so far away sometimes...
Hotel de Goudfasant I've since been to twice and i-Chang is hereby removed from the list.
Is the food good enough to make one forget the 4 hour journey it takes to get there?
Beyrouth
Lebanese food on the Kinkerstraat. The other side of the city seems so far away sometimes...
Hotel de Goudfasant I've since been to twice and i-Chang is hereby removed from the list.
Sazanka
Ferdinand Bolstraat 333
Amsterdam
One Friday after work, J & I tried to go to Yamazato for some sushi, but no surprise it was booked full. So we decided to finally give Sazanka a go. The last teppanyaki place I'd been to was in Noordwijk with J's family, and it must have been our chef's first day working without an instructor. His fear was as obvious as the trail of shrimp guts on the side of his knife because he couldn't adequately clean the shrimp. And he knew that we knew he had no business being there, "cooking" for people. It was amusing and sad, but in the end my expectations didn't exactly come crashing to the ground. When in Noordwijk, eat croquette.
Sazanka, on the other hand, met all my expectations, even exceeding them if consider the Eastern European gangster and his Asian girlfriend with dyed blond hair, bleached eyebrows and taupe monochromatic lips. who sat across from us. And I think I should.
The restaurant is a lot smaller than Yamazato, with maybe 7 or 8 teppanyaki tables where the guests rotated in and out throughout the night. Catty-corner to us at the next table was the gangster and woman I described above, and neither J nor I could keep out eyes off of them. Luckily, we could stare as much as we wanted using Sazanka's mirrored walls; and we could take in the other guest too... at a table in the middle of the room sat 3 separate groups overlooking each other: 4 late-twenty something men sitting spending money, 4 teenage girls celebrating a birthday by spending daddy's money and 4 wives in their early forties whose husbands had excused themselves for an after dinner cigar. The tension at that table was palpable, each group staring each other, but knowing that they couldn't touch. Great drama.
Anyway, I'm here to talk about the food as well, right? We ordered the menu Sazanka, which started off with a lovely tuna carpaccio from the kitchen, followed by an absolutely amazing smoked duck and crispy duck liver salad made entirely on teppanyaki grill. Next was the obligatory lobster tail and scallop, which was cleaned, deshelled, cooked and re-assembled with skill and confidence. Of course, delicious; J not only tried but enjoyed his first scallop! He also enjoyed the grilled yellowtail with teriyaki sauce which followed, but I didn't at all. I prefer it raw and i thought the teriyaki sauce was too heavy, sweet and sticky for the fish. But I ate it anyway, what else can you do with the chef in front of you?
The main was as one would expect, beef steak cut into cubes, served with crispy fried garlic and the three traditional sauces. For dessert we were served a crepe with ice cream, which after some work I was able to change for green tea ice cream. The kitchen was concerned that the green tea would clash with the rest of the dish, and asked the waitress to communicate this concern to me. Of course, the customer is always right, but I have a lot of respect when a restaurant has standards and a clear vision, on everything and their desserts. Sazanka surely doesn't deserve to be treated as a fall back to Yamazato anymore.
Amsterdam
One Friday after work, J & I tried to go to Yamazato for some sushi, but no surprise it was booked full. So we decided to finally give Sazanka a go. The last teppanyaki place I'd been to was in Noordwijk with J's family, and it must have been our chef's first day working without an instructor. His fear was as obvious as the trail of shrimp guts on the side of his knife because he couldn't adequately clean the shrimp. And he knew that we knew he had no business being there, "cooking" for people. It was amusing and sad, but in the end my expectations didn't exactly come crashing to the ground. When in Noordwijk, eat croquette.
Sazanka, on the other hand, met all my expectations, even exceeding them if consider the Eastern European gangster and his Asian girlfriend with dyed blond hair, bleached eyebrows and taupe monochromatic lips. who sat across from us. And I think I should.
The restaurant is a lot smaller than Yamazato, with maybe 7 or 8 teppanyaki tables where the guests rotated in and out throughout the night. Catty-corner to us at the next table was the gangster and woman I described above, and neither J nor I could keep out eyes off of them. Luckily, we could stare as much as we wanted using Sazanka's mirrored walls; and we could take in the other guest too... at a table in the middle of the room sat 3 separate groups overlooking each other: 4 late-twenty something men sitting spending money, 4 teenage girls celebrating a birthday by spending daddy's money and 4 wives in their early forties whose husbands had excused themselves for an after dinner cigar. The tension at that table was palpable, each group staring each other, but knowing that they couldn't touch. Great drama.
Anyway, I'm here to talk about the food as well, right? We ordered the menu Sazanka, which started off with a lovely tuna carpaccio from the kitchen, followed by an absolutely amazing smoked duck and crispy duck liver salad made entirely on teppanyaki grill. Next was the obligatory lobster tail and scallop, which was cleaned, deshelled, cooked and re-assembled with skill and confidence. Of course, delicious; J not only tried but enjoyed his first scallop! He also enjoyed the grilled yellowtail with teriyaki sauce which followed, but I didn't at all. I prefer it raw and i thought the teriyaki sauce was too heavy, sweet and sticky for the fish. But I ate it anyway, what else can you do with the chef in front of you?
The main was as one would expect, beef steak cut into cubes, served with crispy fried garlic and the three traditional sauces. For dessert we were served a crepe with ice cream, which after some work I was able to change for green tea ice cream. The kitchen was concerned that the green tea would clash with the rest of the dish, and asked the waitress to communicate this concern to me. Of course, the customer is always right, but I have a lot of respect when a restaurant has standards and a clear vision, on everything and their desserts. Sazanka surely doesn't deserve to be treated as a fall back to Yamazato anymore.
So it goes...
Sorry that I haven't written in a while; i think of Dutchtables often and have been to a number of restaurants worthing writing over, including Sanzaka, Inter-Scales and the cocktail bar Door 74. When I logged into my account a moment ago, it informed me that I have the option to do mobile blogging. Hopefully this function is available for dutch mobile phones and will lead to me being more spontaneous with this sort of output. We shall see. At least the sun is shining and tomorrow is a national holiday on account of 2e pinksteren.
cheers.
cheers.
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