I went on this trip with one of my best friends and the goal was to just relax ad see the sights. If you cant relax in Amsterdam, there’s something wrong…I’ll just leave it at that. Surprisingly, there were some nice food bites I tried, which I would like to share.

I’ll start by exclaiming my appreciation for delicious cheese. There are not that many small scale cheese makers in the Dutch countryside, but the ones who exist do it right. I visited a farm that made those funny wooden shoes AND cheese — crazy I know. The smoked gouda was incredible, and the maker claimed it he ages it and stores it without the need for refrigeration at any point…pretty incredible.

After a few days of wandering around, it was my birthday in early June, so we decided to go all out on a crazy dinner. We went to De Kersentuin, under Chef Michel van Dijk. The cuisine was very good and quite playful…

Amuse Bouche of mint-gel shot, something with yogurt chips (here’s where my memory fails me!), and watermelon puree with some creme.

Next were scallops with brown-butter cauliflower on top of a parsnip (i think) puree with frisee salad and baby shrimp

Alongside we ordered a seafood (don’t remember if it was crab or lobster) salad served between slices of watermelon within pepper wafers served with a few drops of a cream or yogurt sauce. I remember this was excellent, ad surprisingly the dish did not fall apart when I tried to cut it as I thought it would.

The next dish I remember very well — a deconstructed lobster ravioli with a lobster broth. Honestly the way the “wrapper” sort of gelatinized and stuck to the fork, I would leave it. But the lobster and the broth were phenomenal.

Next was a grilled filet of fish — sorry again I forget which kind, but it looks like it could be branzino (I doubt it though because I don’t see the black flecks) or tilapia? Who knows. It was served with a great butternut squash puree topped with white asparagus and halved peas and I believe some potato-type poppers (taro, other root veggie?).

The last dish was duck. I don’t really have to say more than that because…well, I love duck, so it was great. Port wine sauce reduction with the same squash puree and potato thing tied it to the other main.

There was a palette cleanser and desert which was a bonbon shell with cherries and ice cream inside and a dusting of
Pistachio on the rim. When they brought it out they poured a hot strawberry soup on top, which melted the shell thus revealing the treat inside. I do remember the waiter spilling the first batch on his hand and burning his arm — ouch!

All in all a great experience and talented chef. The other cool meal we had was called rijkstable or rice table. We ate at Sama Sebo on Hobbemastraat near the Van Gogh museum. This type of meal is basically a flat fee and they bring you every dish on the menu. It was pretty ridiculous. Everything was delicious and we were too hungry for me to diarize what I ate. I remember I really liked their version of chicken stay with a spicier peanut sauce.

Right side, left side, composed dish how you’re supposed to eat it.

Next up was a Soft Egg Yolk Raviolo with ricotta and spinach covered with truffle butter.

Now starts the pastas, which were arranged in trios. First up were the
Ecuadorian Shrimp Over Squid Ink Spaghetti with roasted peppers and broccoli di rapa in a shellfish sauce with calabrian chilis, Butternut Agnolotti with a sage brown butter topped with amaretti and buffalo mozzarella, and Pappardelle In A Game Sauce with venison and hare finished with barolo wine and bitter chocolate.

The next three were Orecchiette In A Spicy Garlic And Olive Oil Sauce with escarole, sausage, cherry pepper and anchovy finished with caramelized pecorino romano; Spaghettini “Arrabbiata” with mushrooms, black olives and minced spanish anchovy in a spicy tomato sauce; and Sauteed Ricotta Gnocchi In An Arugula And Sundried Tomato Sauce finished with grated goat cheese.

A wonderful 8th pasta followed but was not photographed…Rigatoni with pancetta, onions and pepperoncini in a light tomato and basil sauce finished with mascarpone. Then came a palette cleanser — mascarpone gelato with a drizzle of sweet balsamic reduction served on a chilled strawberry “soup”. Incredible, but we needed more!

Last came a nice dolci, Panino Of Crispy Pistachio And Hazelnut Caramel Wafers filled with hazelnut gelato. The meal was enjoyed over some Napa Silver Oak 2006.

Fish market below

One of the appetizers. It is called the Milos Special, and it is made of fried zucchini and eggplant chips (not soft inside like tempura, but very crispy) stacked in a tower with a cavity in the center, which is filled with a sour greek yogurt dipping sauce. And on the side are pieces of fried Greek saganaki cheese.


Tuna crudo appetizer. Again, amazing.

Chicken Flautas

Beef empanadas were served with chipotle mayo and pickled relish which was crazy good…sweet and sour perfectly balanced.

Tuna tacos were also a special treat as one of their specials of the day. Seared Ahi Tuna with avocados, lettuce and spicy mayo. Served with an appropriately sized portion of rice and beans

We also were able to try the awesome Roasted Corn on the Cob which was covered in Parmesan cheese before it was roasted, giving an awesome salty crunch to the sweet jersey corn. La Esquina (in New York) has this as well and pulls it off better, soaking the corn in butter first and if im not mistaken there’s paprika used as well.

Brought an awesome hard cider to drink there…oh?! I forgot to mention? This place is BYOB.

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