I was in Amsterdam on business for a couple of days this week and wanted to have something traditionally Dutch. A quick walk around the city centre didn't reveal anything especially interesting; therefore 'plan b' was enacted, a re-visit to somewhere I had previously had lunch.
New Dorrius is more of a modern Dutch restaurant so didn't quite fit the brief, however the food on my first visit was very nice. It is attached to the Crowne Plaza just opposite the Centraal Station.
Course by course...
My colleague and I chose the tasting board for our starter. This was a big slab of slate with carpaccio of beef, a traditional pea and ham soup, cheese with rye bread and some Dutch smoked salmon. These were great, great but too small, good and satisfactory respectively. The best bit was the truffle sauce which was delicious; the attentive waiter could see I was enjoying this so brought an extra bit of bread dribbled in the sauce!
Main course was veal (proper veal, not British quasi-veal) served three ways. These were simmered loin, bitterballen and a sort of confit canapé. This was well presented and delicious, it really had the appearance of something special and tasted as good as it looked. The veal confit (melting like duck confit would) was the best bit and a perfect little SUPER-DISH within a bigger SUPER-DISH. Unfortunately you will have to take my word for this as my BlackBerry managed to corrupt the picture I took, sorry!
Cheese for dessert. There was the ever-present brie but also a couple of traditional Dutch cheeses which were lovely. The homemade crackers and bread were also excellent, as was the mustard sauce which seems to be traditionally served with cheese in the Netherlands.
I've spent quite a lot of time in Amsterdam and often complain that the stark choice to be made is cheap bad food or expensive good food, with nothing in between. I think this is much more obvious in Amsterdam than anywhere else I visit regularly. Actually, New Dorrius is a good halfway house and somewhere I will no doubt visit again. A very reliable 'plan b' with the only complaint being the bright lighting. Recommended.
No comments:
Post a Comment