Prinsengracht 377, Amsterdam
I just got back from a great dinner experience. Actually, the word "great" doesn't really do it justice. It was more than great, I just don't want to say amazing, outstanding, fabulous, incredible or fantastic, because I'm not here to toot anyone's horn with large sounding praise words. The truth is this: I had a full three course meal which was entirely satisfying in every possible way known to myself. And it consisted of the following.
A beautiful location. Right on the Prinsengracht in front of a canal, a small and unnoticeable door led the way into what seemed to be an old style Amsterdam pub/cafe. We went in and sat in wooden stools that had a slightly raised edge around the seat, just so you could feel that extra bit comfy and properly seated in them. I love those. A round of beers was ordered and then came the bitterballen, vegetarian loempias and cheesy snacks which I sinfully had a couple of. They were piping hot and were just the right thing for easing the cold we had just brought in from outside, it's now winter and the air has an extra chilly bite to it, and so the evening began.
The atmosphere was great. After the round of beers and snacks we walked deeper into the restaurant and found ourselves in a multi-roomed space separated by a step or two, with wooden floors and old tables which gave the place a very classic and warm feeling. The lighting was dim, but not too dark, absolutely perfect. The tables were lit with candles, and as we sat down I already had a very good feeling about what was yet to come.
The food was delicious. We ordered starters, I opted for an interesting sounding artichoke mustard soup with dragon croutons and smoked trout. I had no idea that the soup I would get would be beautifully textured, light and fluffly, and have a perfectly balanced set of flavours. It had a distant taste of lemon, a very present artichoke and trout flavour, and the dragon croutons turned out to be a single piece of spiced toast floating on top. I admit it wasn't much to look at, but the taste was absolutely perfect. Then we ordered mains. I chose a pan fried cod with potato fennel quiche and a creamy padron sauce. Excellent choice. The piece of fish was quite thick, and the presentation pretty impressive. The fish lay on top of a bed of boiled carrots, string beans and broccoli. All of this, was covered with a whitish sauce, and next to it sat a slice of quiche. The texture of the fish was again, perfect. it was lush and juicy meat which flaked away gently at the touch of a fork. I enjoyed every single bite. The quiche too was special, it was layered with mashed potato, scrambled egg, and something unidentifiable and yet delicious. Super. And then to top things off we ordered desert. Upon the recommendation of a colleague, I ordered an Irish coffee. I could not have had a better recommendation. It was elegantly served in a thin wineglass, with a dollop of whipped cream on top. Perfect. The mixture of coffee and whiskey was just right, giving an equal flavour of both which really was unique combination for me (first time trying this apparently famous dessert) and was a very good way to wrap things up, to say the least.
