Envy, Amsterdam

This review comes thanks to Kristain, via Twitter, who answered my plea for recommendations in Amsterdam. The restaurant is in the nine streets area of Amsterdam, and is quite hidden away. We nearly walked straight past, despite knowing that we were in the right place.

As you enter the restaurant you walk past the open kitchen, and all the chefs called out ‘good evening’, which I liked. The restaurant itself is quite long and thin, with regular tables on one side and raised tables with stools on the other.

The concept here is one that is becoming more familiar, namely the portions are small and not divided into traditional starters and main courses. The idea is that you have two to four plates per person, and share them. If you don’t want to make your own choices then you can go for a tasting menu of either four or five courses.

The menu divides into cold meats, cheese and other plates. I was there with a colleague, who wasn’t too keen on the sharing idea, so we went for two dishes each, and a shared plate of bresola.

The bresola was nice, and well cut, but there isn’t much more to add really. Personally I would have tried some of their salami or cured ham, but my colleague doesn’t eat pork.

First off I had wild duck breast, confit leg and salted caramel sauce. Unfortunately the confit leg was in a spring-roll type wrapper, which I couldn’t eat, so my colleague had that. This was a disappointment, as it took away half of the dish, and left me with just the breast. This was well cooked, and the sauce was good in a generic sort of way. I would never have been able to identify the sauce as salted caramel though, and it felt a bit like they were just jumping on the bandwagon.

My second dish was much more successful. This was a risotto with taleggio, chanterelles and pecorino crisp. The risotto was deliciously creamy, while retaining a little bite, and the tiny portion was plenty given the richness of the cheese. The pecorino crisp on top gave it some texture, and added a slightly salty note. This was a well balanced and well executed dish.

My colleague had a salad of king crab with avocado, and then courgette cannelloni with herb ricotta. She seemed to enjoy both of these, but I didn’t try them. The cannelloni in particular looked inventive, as there was no pasta involved.

I would return to this restaurant, as in general I thought the food was great and I liked the ambience and would like to try some more of the dishes. I would definitely go back with a friend or R though, so that we could share lots of plates.

There were some negative points though. The service was painfully slow, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full, so there were no excuses really. I also told the waiter that I couldn’t eat gluten, and he said he would check with the chef if there were any problems with what I had chosen, but the duck still arrived with the spring roll. Also I think that someone should have pointed out that both of the dishes my colleague had chosen were cold. She felt a bit hard done by that she had no hot part to her meal.

The bill came to about €50, which wasn’t too bad, but I could see the bill shooting up pretty quickly if you added in a few more dishes and some wine.

Japan Inn, Amsterdam

I really fancied sushi while we were in Amsterdam, and the client that we were working for recommended the Japan Inn. It is in the TimeOut guide as well, and even though it is in one of the busiest tourist areas in Amsterdam it seemed worth giving it a go.

We arrived to a small but bustling restaurant, and were sent away for half an hour before a table was ready. After enduring a drink at a terrible bar we returned and were given a table crammed in between two others. We started with Japanese tea and endamame while we looked at the menu. There was a huge variety of sashimi, sushi and yakitori (skewers), and in the end we decided to go for two set menus to share between us.

First to arrive was the sushi, which looked well made and tasted deliciously fresh. It definitely satisfied my craving, but my colleague had never had sushi before and was less than keen! Fair play to her for giving it a go though. My favourite was probably the scallop, but the salmon was good too. Then the yakitori arrived. I haven’t really had skewers served like this before, but I am definitely going to have to find some in London.

They were piping hot, and delicious. The meat was tender, and the vegetables retained a bit of bite. The selection included chicken, beef, lamb, pork, chicken balls and quails eggs. I had to let my colleague have the majority as she wasn’t eating the sushi, but otherwise I would have walked out of there feeling really fat!

There was masses of food, and it cost €25 a head, which was pretty good value for the amount and the quality. I would definitely return if I find myself in Amsterdam again.

Looks, Amsterdam

After the rather old fashioned ambience of Brasserie Flo the night before, this time we decided to go for something rather more modern-looking.

Looks seemed to fit the bill, and so I duly booked a table. When we arrived we waited by the desk for some time before someone came to show us to a table, and this set the tone for what was some pretty shabby service. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but they must have been short-staffed or something. Everything that could go wrong with the service did, including not having menus for the first fifteen minutes or so, and half the first drinks order not appearing.

Luckily the food made up for what was lacking in the service. I started with tartar of Scottish salmon with a farm egg filled with vermouth infused sabayon, with toasted brioche. It was slightly difficult to work out how to eat this – was I supposed to pour out the contents of the egg or use my brioche like soldiers? In the end I went for the latter, and very good it was too. The tartar was also very good. The temperature was perfect, and it was cut the right size so the texture was perfect. However, it was let down by some quite strong chopped onion that was mixed with it, which on occasion overwhelmed the delicate flavour.

I then had a steak, cooked rare. This was really interesting, as the steak had been smoked before it was cooked. This left a strong smokey taste, but it worked well with the flavour of the meat. I wouldn’t want my steak to always have this treatment, but as something different it was great. It also came with a good béarnaise and chunky, yet crispy, chips, which must have been double or triple cooked. A few roasted cherry tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment.

No room for dessert after all of that. If it hadn’t been for the service I would have been raving about this restaurant, even with a few minor quibbles. It’s such a shame, and I hope they were just having an off night. I like the concept of the restaurant too. There is a weekly seasonal menu, with three changing choices for the starter and main course. Oysters for starter and steak for main are additional permanent fixtures. Dessert is a selection provided by the kitchen, or cheese.

I would definitely give this restaurant another chance, if I am ever back in Amsterdam.

Brasserie Flo, Amsterdam

I am working in Amsterdam at the moment, which is fun. It’s great to be able to eat out every night on expenses, although unfortunately our budget doesn’t go very far with the current exchange rate. Luckily we were late in the first night, so only had sandwiches, and then had a cheap and cheerful Wagamama near the hotel the second night, so we now have a bit more to play with.

I don’t know how people coped with being away before the internet. Twenty minutes in my lunch break had left me with a list of places that looked worth trying, and we decided to try Brasserie Flo.

After getting a bit lost (I find Amsterdam really confusing, and I have been here a couple of times before) we eventually stumbled across it. I hadn’t realised it was a hotel restaurant, and first impressions weren’t great as it was very brightly lit, and we were led to a table that was incredibly close to the ones on either side. However, things improved from there.

Both of us went for the set menu in the end, as it seemed a bit of a bargain. There were two choices of starter and three each for main course and dessert. Being two girls we decided to go for a main course and a dessert, and in the end we both went for the same main.

I nearly diverted when I heard my colleague wanted the same thing, but eating out with people from work doesn’t allow for quite the same sharing, so I stuck with it, and I am really glad I did!

Grilled fillet of corn fed chicken, stuffed with truffle, with truffle mash, mange tout and a ‘boletus’ jus arrived. It was absolutely superb. The chicken was soft and succulent, and perfectly cooked. I think it must have been poached first to achieve the texture. The truffle shone through without being overpowering, and both the sauce and the mash set it off beautifully. I had to google ‘boletus’, although I assumed it was some type of mushroom. It turns out it is a porcini.

Dessert was a perfectly adequate crème brulee, which was such a huge portion I could only eat half of it. I was rather jealous of my colleague’s chocolate fondant with rum raisin ice cream, but I have given up chocolate for Lent. The total bill, including a bottle of wine, water, and service, was £86, which seemed like very good value, particularly given the weak £.

This was unexpectedly good, and now I just have to hope I can find some places that live up to it in the next couple of days!