Netherlands: Delft, Leiden, Den Haag, Amsterdam

Part 1: General observations
We just got back from 10 days in the Netherlands, the center days being a conference at which I was a speaker (on the forthcoming ISO standard called IDMP for registering drug products. The standard documents are the best soporific I've ever encountered.). Our itinerary was a couple nights in Delft which we used as a base to explore South Holland, then Leiden for the conference, then Amsterdam.

There doesn't seem to be a strong Dutch cuisine, at least not past lunch. The Netherlands are famous for their cheeses, yet I didn't see those cheeses past lunchtime sandwiches (broodjes). Breakfast pancakes (large ones like a thick crepe or oversized American flapjack, or tiny poffertjes) and waffles (for breakfast or lunch, either thin "stroop" [syrup] or more Belgian style, but we didn't see liege waffles) are everywhere -- especially as desserts or snacks. "Vlaamse Frites" (Flemish Fries) are everywhere, and like Vinnie Vega said, they do drown 'em in mayo (but most shops have a variety of flavors including garlic and curry).

But there doesn't seem to be any specific Dutch flavors or spicing -- it's continental cuisine. There was a lot of salmon (zalm) and asparagus (asperge), which was in season along with strawberries (aardbeien - literally earth-berries). Indonesian food was very good. Restaurants included Italian in large numbers, probably followed by Argentinian steak houses, random variations of Indonesian+Senegalese with or without other cuisines, with fair numbers of sushi, Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese. Veal seems to be popular (perhaps it's a seasonal thing?), along with fish and pork. Travel magazines identified Amsterdam as one of the more expensive dining destinations, but it appears that dining well finds its level: we paid not much less for a good meal in Athens last year, or Lisbon the year before.

If I had to identify one universal dish, it might be spareribs: almost every menu had them on it, the one example we had was described as BBQ, but was closer to Chinese appetizer spareribs, although in a rack.

I need to transfer some images and shrink them down for LTH consumption, and I'll provide some meal details. We had a couple stellar meals, a couple "meh."

Part 1: Delft
We spent the first part of the trip with Delft as our home base. It's a quaint little town, home of Vermeer and van Leeuwenhoek, nice shops, but not a lot of tourism other than the churches (the Vermeer center typically doesn't have any of his original works, they're in Den Haag).

Our first meal off the plane was a disappointment: a fish and chips shop on the market square that was serving stuff from a freezer. Chips were just fine, but pretty nasty calamari.

South of the main market square is the Beestenmarkt, which sounds like it probably was a lot less pleasant-smelling than it is today, with the whole square filled with awnings and tables for restaurants, cafes and bars surrounding. We chose Spijshuis de Dis as having the most interesting-sounding menu. The best things there was the appetizer: mushrooms stuffed with tapenade, topped with a slice of goat cheese and truffle (and of course potatoes).

The main courses were beautiful, but came off a little flat (and my phone pix too blurry to use). I had the Backsinth met Bocksinth described as "Roasted deer fillet wrapped in puff pastry with vegetables, fine herbs, served with a little glass of homemade Bockstinth." I was expecting something like a Wellington, what I got was a pot pie, with large, rather tough pieces of venison and the veggies served alongside -- not an easy thing to eat. SueF had the rack of lamb, better than what I had. Overall, we weren't that impressed. Not bad, but wouldn't rush back there.

Spijshuis de Dis
Beestenmarkt 36, 2611 GC Delft, Netherlands
spijshuisdedis.com
+31 15 213 1782

The next day was a side trip to Rotterdam: weird architecture everywhere. The Grotemarkt is a quonset hut-shaped arcology with apartments roofing over a huge atrium with market stalls with ambitions of Boqueria-ness. Lunch was a turkish pizza, in which they dropped a tongs-ful of green salad and a squirt of mayo then folded in half. Strange and tasty. Lots of choices here, from fresh produce, fish and meats to bars, cafes, sushi, fried food, etc. We also picked up some cheese and olives for on-the-go lunches.

Dinner that night was back in Delft at "Tapas & Mezzes" which has an all-you-can-eat tapas menu. It's a mix of Greek and Spanish, as you could guess from the name. Lots of good things here. If you're hungry and don't want to make too many decisions, have a little bit of everything.

Sangria (not included in the AYCE), bread with aioli, tapenade and butter; patatas bravas (good with a mix of their romesco-like sauce plus the aoili); bacon-wrapped dates; olives; chorizo in red wine; serrano ham; manchego.


Shrimp with honey and sesame seeds (a lot like Chinese mayonnaise shrimp); saganaki; sauteed mushrooms.


Cheese-stuffed peppers; fried mussels


I swear we had one more round of items, but I don't have a pic.

Tapas & Mezzes
Vrouwjuttenland 14, 2611 LC Delft, Netherlands
tapasenmezzes.nl
+31 15 212 4819

The next day was avoiding raindrops in Den Haag. Lunch in a cafe was a broodjes (sandwich) of Old Amsterdam cheese (somewhat like an aged gouda), SueF had a tomato soup with basil cream... and then dinner was in Leiden, which I'll post shortly.

Part 2: Leiden
Unfortunately the conference I was speaking at in Leiden was a mile or so out from the city center, with nothing within walking distance except the buffet at the Holiday Inn. Their breakfast buffet was pretty nice (mmm gerookte zalm!, lots of pastries, although their version of poffertjes were pretty awful), the dinner buffet held no interest for us.

The first night we were tired from touring, and since it had good reviews (I think TripAdvisor) we went to David's Burger. The Bacon and Bleu burger was quite good (we both ordered it), frites were among the best we had on the trip. They advertise as everything being organic, which isn't a big deal for me, but the quality did show through. Beef cooked perfectly medium rare, decent bun, the whole package. One of our cheaper meals on the trip. They also carry Fritz Kola products. The Kola is pretty tasty: a little more herbaceous than Coke without going overboard (do NOT try Red Bull's Cola if you're averse to licorice flavors, I'm warning you).

David's Burger & Beef
Steenstraat 57
2312 BV Leiden
T: 071-7504324
http://www.davidsburger.nl

The next day we went into Amsterdam since we didn't want to wander Leiden's streets in the rain (as it is, we spent more time outside than we planned, including a 2-hour line for the Anne Frank museum), I'll cover dinner there in the next installment -- it was the best meal we had.

Tuesday and Wednesday were conference days for me (SueF went off touristing). Tuesday night we were taken out for dinner by a possible business partner at Restaurant Wine & Dine. SueF started with the charcuterie, which had a nice ham, a pate/rillettes sort of thing, and a dried beef. I had the smoked salmon with asparagus panna cotta, quite good. For the life of me, though, I can't remember what the main courses were. I didn't take pictures because of the business situation, serves me right. Prices were medium-high -- nice place, great service, but it's not going to be a life-changing experience. Regardless of the english-language name, this was the only place we were in that did not have an english-language menu.

Restaurant Wine & Dine
Endegeesterlaan 2, Oegstgeest, Netherlands
restaurantwinedine.nl
+31 71 303 0111

After the conference ended on Wednesday, we walked around Leiden -- the rains had finally stopped. SueF had already been around town and remembered a couple neighborhoods with restaurants, so we wandered down those ways. A very friendly native who'd just exited his mini-van with a wine-vendor logo gave us some advice (pointing out which ones served his wines), and we went to Brasserie Wielinga. There's a brasserie in front, a more expensive menu at the 'restaurant' in back. I had the monkfish, served very nouvelle with crisp vegetables with a very mild southeast asian taste to it. I think what SueF ordered was the braised lamb shoulder, with one huge gnocchi atop it. From my receipt, we ordered a two-course menu, but for the life of me I can't recall what we had as starters. The chocolate tart we added on was a small version of the now-hackneyed molten chocolate cake, not worth the 9.50E.


Restaurant Wielinga
Nieuwe Rijn 28, 2312 JD Leiden, Netherlands
restaurant-wielinga.nl
+31 71 781 0012

Part 3: Amsterdam
As mentioned upthread, we went into Amsterdam on the Monday after we arrived in Leiden. We hit the Van Gogh and Anne Frank museums (pro tip: order tickets well in advance for the Anne Frank house, as lines are ridiculous). This day also featured the best meal we had on the whole trip: Cafe van Kerkwijk. This was recommended by the Rick Steves guide as having interesting food with no set menu. There's a chalkboard outside the restaurant which just lists some typical appetizer and main course prices with no specifics.

It's a bright, high-ceilinged space just a block off the Dam square on an alley-like street with lots of construction scaffolds on it, so it would be easy to miss. There's no reservations, no printed menu, just fantastic service. The real surprise was the lack of a cocktail menu: food of this sort in Chicago would have a craft cocktail menu as long as your arm. However, they made a darn fine Gin and Tonic using Kinley tonic. Sue as usual had a red wine of some sort.



They had about four appetizers and four entrees available. For starters I chose what was described as "smoked mackerel mousse" but was closer in texture to a midwestern whitefish salad: great smokiness, good fish flavor, truly outstanding. SueF's was a stilton spread with port syrup, and a bacon-wrapped date, also terrific.



SueF chose the veal chop, which was sort of a deconstructed saltimboca, with a crisped ham chip, and sage butter. Tender and delicious.



I had Indonesian braised chicken, just called kipjes (chickens) on the bill. Spicy and rich, at least as flavorful as what we had later in the week at a rijstaffel.

Salad and fries were brought to the table and added to the bill, but not a significant cost.



Dessert was chocolate "pie" which was somewhat between a brownie and a cake. Lots of nuts, but probably the weakest element of the dinner (should have gone for the apple instead).



Overall, fantastic friendly service, excellent and beautiful food. Go early -- there was a line when we left.

van Kerkwijk
Nes 41 Amsterdam
Tel.020-620 33 16
http://www.caferestaurantvankerkwijk.nl