Summer Ribbons

Today I went to Jean Georges for lunch with some of the summer associates at our firm.  A and I have previously gone to Nougatine, the more "informal" dining room next door to Jean Georges, for their lunch prix fixe, but neither of us had been to the Jean Georges dining room before.  I was excited to see how the experience would be different.

The meal started out with a three-part amuse plate, with sashimi, a strawberry mozzarella cube, and watercress sorbet.

According to the servers, the first thing to try was the sashimi.  I missed what type of sashimi (big group) but it came with fruit (cantaloupe, I think) and a thin slice of pepper, on top of a mustard-like sauce.  It was a good mix of sweet, tart, spicy and tangy, on top of the clean flavor of the fish.  I liked it.  Second was the strawberry on top of a small block of mozzarella which came with a balsamic vinaigrette sauce.  The mozzarella was rich and the strawberry was sweet, but the combination of the 2 wasn't my favorite.  Last was the watercress sorbet topped with creme fraiche.  This was interesting although it had mostly melted into a green soup by the time I got through the other 2 parts of the amuse plate.

The Jean Georges prix fixe menu consists of any 2 plates (appetizer or entree size) for $38.  I decided to go with one appetizer and one entree.  For the appetizer, I got the yellowfin tuna ribbons with avocado, spicy radish and ginger marinade.  I had been trying to decide between the ribbons and the hamachi sashimi, and the server recommended the ribbons for the more "classic" JG dish, which worked for me.

The tuna was fresh, so soft it could melt, and cut into thin ribbons.  Surrounding the tuna ribbons were small pieces of radish and on the bottom of the plate, mashed avocado like guacamole.  After bringing out the tuna, they poured the ginger marinade on top and around the ribbon pile, which added a lot of a tangy flavor.  I liked how light the appetizer felt, especially in comparison the goat cheese gnocchi some of the others got.  Later in the afternoon I realized why this dish felt so familiar.  It was the same flavor profile (and the same ingredients) as the tuna tartare that I got when I went to Nougatine with A a few years ago!  The only difference was this time it was tuna ribbons and last time it was tuna tartare.  I guess this is just a winning combination!

For the entree, I wanted something light and healthy (partly because it was 90 degrees outside). I thought, of all the fish options, the cod sounded best because it wasn't crusted with anything.  According to the menu, it was a steamed cod, with baby bok choy, black bean vinaigrette and chervil.

Out of everyone in our group, I happened to pick the 2 dishes that had sauce poured on them after they arrived on the table.  When I first got the cod, it was just the cleanest, purest piece of white cod that you could find, on top of what appeared to be steamed bok choy.  That looked so healthy and I was really happy with my choice.  I completely forgot there was sauce for it until the server appeared next to me.  The sauce was a black bean vinaigrette with actual beans and some other vegetables.  It fit the fish and vegetables, as it was full of flavor but very light.

I really enjoyed the Asian flavors that came through in this dish.  Everything worked perfectly together and was the right choice for the summer day.  The fish was flaky and soft, the bok choy was crisp but not hard to chew, and the black bean sauce was full of rich flavors but still not heavy.

We decided not to order dessert but the meal ended with some sweet treats. 

There were 4 different types of chocolate, a plate of homemade marshmallows that were soft and gooey, and some mini strawberry macarons (soft, sweet and flaky).  It was a nice ending to a delicious meal!

Momos and Manchurian Sauce

The Chinese Mirch truck has been roaming the streets of Midtown for a bit, but I never had a chance to try it until today.  They specialize in Chinese-Indian fusion cuisine, offering momos (Tibetan dumplings), rice bowls (momos over basmati rice and vegetables), thukpas (momos in noodle stew), and sliders (baos).  The truck is apparently an offshoot of a restaurant, which has multiple locations in the Northeast area.  I haven't tried the restaurant but was excited to try something new from the truck!

I decided on the rice bowl with chicken momos.  Each bowl comes with Manchurian sauce or garlic sauce.  They suggested Manchurian sauce if you can take spice, and I took the recommendation. The primary ingredients in Manchurian sauce are ginger, onions, cilantro and green chili, and the spice definitely comes through.  It's nice to have a sauce where they don't hold back on the spice.  

Each momo consisted of chicken mixed with chives and other herbs.  On their own, topped with cilantro, and in the Manchurian sauce, they were really flavorful. The wrapper was soft and not too doughy, allowing the chicken inside to be the dominant flavor and texture.

The basmati rice under the momos was mixed with peas, carrots, green peppers, red onions, lettuce and cabbage.  The flavor of the rice bowl part came predominantly from the sauce but it was nice to have the vegetables.  It felt like a really healthy meal.

The portion of the rice bowl wasn't exceptionally large and I was hungry again a few hours later.  But I do recommend the rice bowl.  My favorite parts were the momos and the Manchurian sauce.  Those alone make this worth getting again. (Or you could just get momos on their own.)  I'm also curious to try the thukpa but considering summer is here, hot soup may have to wait!

Summer Ale Lobster Roll

Last Friday was National Lobster Day, and in honor of the holiday, Sam Adams and the Red Hook Lobster Pound Truck teamed up for a free lobster roll giveaway.  The first 50 people to show up at the truck with the secret phrase ("Sam Adams!") would get a free (half size) lobster roll.  The truck luckily was right near my office so I went over about 15-20 minutes before the giveaway was scheduled to start.  I thought there would be a line of 50 people there but I guess, being a summer Friday, the city was slow and I was person #6 in line! Free lobster roll for me!

The lobster roll they were giving away was not their usual lobster roll but a special Sam Adams Summer Ale-infused lobster roll with a recipe created by Chef David Burke.  The lobster roll had lobster (obviously) and a mixture of celery, carrots, green apples, tarragon, mayo, cream cheese, lemon juice, scallions, and summer ale, on a bed of lettuce and the usual roll. (At least those are the ingredients on the recipe card they gave out.) It was delicious and perfect for a summer day.  I love that the lobster isn't overpowered by the mayo or other creamy ingredients and is allowed to shine on its own.

As good as the summer ale-infused lobster roll was, I have to admit that I actually prefer the Red Hook Lobster Pound's regular Maine lobster roll a little more.  I think I like how simple and uncomplicated the recipe is and how well each ingredient works together (someday we'll write about it). But I'm glad that I was able to try the summer ale-infused roll and celebrate National Lobster Day!  

Haarlem Grocery Exploration

After an afternoon of wandering around Haarlem, we decided to make our way back to the train station, stopping at various shops along the way.  The first was Tromp Kaashuis, a cheese market (which appears to have multiple locations all around the Netherlands), on Barteljorisstraat.

There were so many different types of cheese at Tromp.  The sad thing was that we knew we couldn't buy anything because there was no way we could get on a plane (especially back to the US) with cheese.  No one wants to have delicious food thrown away at customs!  But we enjoyed looking at all the different types of cheese, including some we had never seen before like this green cheese (pesto cheese).  There was also sambal cheese and so many other varieties.

Near the front entrance, there were some cheeses to sample.  We tried the fenugreek one and it was really, really good.  If we were going to be around longer, and had time for cheese and crackers while hanging out, we might have gotten some.

Highly recommend a stop at Tromp.  Even if you can't buy anything, the breadth of their cheese selection is impressive and worth a look.

Our next stop was at HEMA on Kruisstraat, which I think is a Dutch chain of discount department stores.  They also have a food section with some ready to eat items and other grocery items.  I found a package of ossenworst for only 1 euro and was so surprised to find this liverwurst and other meats for under 1 euro.  So cheap!  Didn't look like the quality was that bad either.

Our last stop before grabbing a snack (next post) was Albert Heijn, the grocery chain you see all over the Netherlands including a small outpost in the airport.  (We've written about Albert Heijn adventures in Amsterdam before here and here.)  I figured, from past experience, they might have some Haribo candy so we stopped in and grabbed some snacks (sadly no Smurfs).  I know some people prefer the Turkish-made Haribo bears we get in the US, but I really like the German-made candy.  It tastes different and I'm convinced it tastes better.  Each European trip includes some Haribo souvenirs (if we don't eat them all before going home).

One of our favorite finds of the Haarlem trip was this lemon passionfruit water made by Crystal Clear.  It was a non-carbonated flavored water, and the big reason we liked it was the fruit flavor.  It was so natural and did not taste artificial at all, unlike some of the flavored water we can get here in the US.  We really liked it but unfortunately this Albert Heijn location was the only place we have found it so far.

We love stopping in at grocery stores and food shops when on vacation.  Often we end up walking around saying "why can't we get this at home?" over and over, but it's nice to see what is available elsewhere.  We'll be looking for that Crystal Clear water on future trips!

Jamin

One thing we are always on the lookout for in Europe is Haribo candy, our favorite candy brand.  Once we find Haribo, we start looking for smurfs.  I've mentioned these in the year-end recaps (since I never got to them in the trip recaps), but we absolutely love these berry-flavored smurfs.  So much so that we bought the giant tub of them the last time we were in Germany (on a layover).

We went wandering around Haarlem after lunch (mostly because I was looking for the post office), and then stumbled upon Jamin, a popular candy store in the Netherlands which had a lot of packaged candy as well as tubs of loose candy (and ice cream).

I thought it was a long shot, but we checked for Haribo Smurfs anyway.  And they had them in one of the loose candy bins!

I was trying to be good so I only got us 200 grams of Smurfs.  They were gone in less than a day (so quickly that I didn't even take a photo of the Smurfs themselves!).  We didn't find Smurfs at any other point on the trip, which was sad.  It was so great to have a small taste of them again, but I wish we would have been able to bring some home!

Grand Cafe Brinkmann

After arriving in Amsterdam, we took the train to Haarlem for our "day trip."  Our first activity was to find lunch.  We went over to Grote Markt, the center square of Haarlem, where there were a bunch of outdoor restaurants that were all crowded with people eating lunch.  We decided on Grand Cafe Brinkmann because the food looked good, the people looked happy, and there was an empty table outside where we could get fresh air and enjoy the mild weather.

We settled in at our table and ordered lunch, enjoying the view and people watching.  At one point, a group of musicians showed up.  Haarlem's center was quite a charming area.

A started out with a Jupiler, which is a Belgian beer.  He thought it was crisp and refreshing.  We like Belgian beer.  And it's so much less expensive in Europe (at least in the Netherlands and Belgium!).

Instead of a beer like A's, I opted for kriek (this one was by Liefmans).  Kriek was one of my favorite discoveries of our 2010 Europe trip, something that I hadn't known I was missing in my life (and something we never got up to discussing in the recaps).  It was also one of the best things to come out of the Brussels portion of that trip.

If you're unfamiliar with kriek (as I was before that trip), it is a cherry-infused beer, especially common to the area around Brussels.  Once I had it the first time, I kept getting it, except for the one meal where I got raspberry lambic instead and while that was good, I immediately regretted it.  I was really excited when A pointed out the kriek on the menu here.  It was only about 1 euro more than getting water, and considering a bottle of kriek this size probably costs over $10-15 here in the US (and there it was maybe 3 euro), there was no way I wasn't getting the kriek.  It was as good as I remembered.  Smooth, sweet, a little tart, completely refreshing.

We both decided to go with open-faced sandwiches for our lunches.  Back in the US, I would normally just close up the sandwich, cut it in half, and eat it, but it looked like everyone there was cutting the sandwiches with a fork and knife.  That was different for us, but we figured we would do what everyone else was doing, as maybe that's how it should be done!

I went with the hete kip sandwich - ciabatta gemarineerd kippendijenvlees met atjar, chilisaus en gefruite uitjes (ciabatta, marinated chicken with atjar, sweet chili sauce and fried onions).

Atjar, from what the internet tells me, is a dish of sweet and sour pickled vegetables, common in Indonesian dishes and rijsttafel.  This one included carrots and peppers, and the sandwich also had mixed greens, bean sprouts and peanuts on top. The Southeast Asian flavors of the sandwich were really good and the vegetables offered a nice, refreshing crunch to the sandwich.  The bread was crisp on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside (although not always the easiest to cut with a knife).  I was happy with the choice.

Lastly, the star of the meal - A got the ossenworst sandwich - panini met ossenworst, rode ui, mosterd en cornichons (panini with ox sausage, red onion, mustard and French pickle (cornichons are small pickled gherkins)).

Ossenworst is basically like a steak tartare in thick slices, where the meat has been mixed with a bunch of spices.  We had it before in Amsterdam at Brouwerij 't IJ, where A liked it but I wasn't a big fan.  Based on this experience at Grand Cafe Brinkmann, I guess I don't really like ossenworst plain, but love it mixed with other things or in sandwich form!  This ossenworst was extremely tender and really well spiced.  It came with a spicy, smooth mustard (which seemed horseradish-based), in addition to the mixed greens, pickles and onions.  Each bite was a great mix of textures and flavors - the smooth soft ossenworst, the crusty bread, the crisp pickles and onions, the spicy mustard. It was delicious.

Our lunch at Grand Cafe Brinkmann was exactly how we wanted to spend our day trip layover in the Netherlands - a nice, leisurely lunch with good food and drinks, soaking up everyday Dutch life.  If you find yourself in Haarlem, we definitely recommend Grand Cafe Brinkmann.  Of all the cafes in the Grote Markt, it seemed popular and looked like it was busy longer than any of the other cafes, and the food was delicious.  An ossenworst sandwich and a bottle of kriek sounds like a perfect lunch to me!

Strawberry Cheesecake

The Friday custard this month is strawberry cheesecake.

M's thoughts:

I'm not a big cheesecake fan but I figured that, since I liked the fromage blanc raspberry swirl, I might also like this one.  Similar to that one, my first spoonful was very heavy on the cheesecake flavor.  After the first spoonful, the cheesecake flavor seemed to mellow and I could taste a subtle strawberry flavor (which I didn't taste at all in the first spoonful).  It wasn't too bad, but I didn't love it.  Especially not with A's strawberry sorbet in the freezer which tastes strongly like sweet strawberries and is so good.

A's thoughts:

This was more cheesecake than strawberry, but that's not all too uncommon even with real cheesecake topped with strawberries. Overall it was okay. The cheesecake flavor was a little heavy, but it certainly tasted like cheesecake. Again, the strawberry was muted, but it was definitely evident. I would have preferred a stronger strawberry flavor, but in the end this was a pretty good flavor. It's most likely not one that we would go out of our way to get again, though.

Strawberry Cheesecake

A's rating: 7/10

M's rating: 7/10

Summer Noodles

It was in the high 70s at lunch today and the nice weather brought out the crowds.  Everywhere I thought to go had long lines and I found myself further and further from the office (despite trying to make it back before the end of halftime in the Italy-Croatia match - fail).  I ended up going to Pro Korean (or Korean Pro or Pro Hot Korean - I don't really know what name they go by right now) on 56th Street after walking all over Midtown West.  Instead of getting one of the premade boxes like I usually do or bibimbap, I opted for something new - summer noodles - especially attractive since it was so hot after walking.  You can either order the summer noodles by themselves ($5.50) or with meat ($7).

The summer noodles themselves were very thin noodles tossed in a spicy gochujang-based sauce.  It came with half of a hardboiled egg (but I skipped that - not a big egg person).  There were lots of vegetables mixed in including mixed salad greens, other greens I could not identify, cabbage, red cabbage, cucumbers, onions, carrots, mint, and something else which I thought was a radish but kind of tasted like an apple.  The noodles were exactly what I hoped for - light and refreshing, but at the same time filling enough for lunch.

The chicken they added was the Korean spicy chicken I love, which also came mixed with some onions.  It was a moderate level of spiciness - more of a flavorful spicy than a spicy heat.  For the most part, the chicken was also tender, which was good.

I would definitely get the summer noodles again.  I liked the balance of the light vegetables and noodles with the spicy chicken, and how healthy it all felt.  A good lunch choice (even if getting there was my plan D!).

Raspberry Linzer

The custard we were most excited for this month at Shake Shack was raspberry linzer, the Monday custard.  We tried it on the first Monday of the month (so yes, we are a week late in filing this review) and were quite pleased that it lived up to our expectations.

The raspberry linzer custard was regular custard mixed with a lot of raspberry "jam", which was swirled throughout the custard.  Unlike the jam in the cookies which is more gooey and solid, this was a little more like syrup, but I think that's the only way to make it work in a custard.  We both liked the raspberry syrup swirl.  There were also broken up shortbread cookies mixed in.  They weren't so broken up that you missed them but still easy to eat pieces.  Shake Shack custards with cookies mixed in are some of our favorites.  Good flavor + good texture = good custard.

We would definitely recommend raspberry linzer and may return to get more on another Monday!

Raspberry Linzer

A's rating: 8.5/10

M's rating: 9/10

Crisp Authentic

The menu at Crisp has undergone plenty of changes since I first started going, but one constant is that they always have filling, flavorful falafel sandwiches.  My favorite is the Africa, but I've also tried the Mexican, the Casablanca, the Parisian, the Athenian and maybe some other combinations that I can't remember and they no longer have (and most of which I haven't written about).  Even though I tried all those varieties, the one I never tried was the Crisp Authentic, the most "traditional" of all of the falafel options.  Last week, Crisp ran a rainy day coupon special (side note: you should be on their mailing list because there are great coupon opportunities) and offered the Crisp Authentic for $5 (usually $6.95).  That was all the incentive I needed to finally order the Authentic.

The Crisp Authentic has falafel, hummus, Israeli salad (tomatoes and cucumbers), greens and cabbage salad.  It's a refreshing and light combination because of all the water-filled vegetable toppings.  Mixed with hummus and the usual tasty falafel, it's a solid sandwich.  I don't think it will displace the Africa but I would get the Authentic again, mostly because it's so refreshing - perfect for summer!

Noodies

This weekend we went out for lunch at a new-ish Thai place in Hell's Kitchen called Noodies.  We had seen them building out the space but didn't have time to try it before leaving for Barcelona.  We knew they had some items on the menu that were different from other Thai places in the neighborhood and were excited to try them.

Love the wall of bowls!

To start, A ordered a Thai iced tea. It was a good Thai iced tea, and A was not considering getting one until he saw just how large the glass was on the table next to us. It's one of the bigger glasses of Thai iced tea you'll find on 9th Ave.

We both got the lunch special, which is offered from noon to 3:30 pm every day.  As part of the special, all entrees come with a complimentary salad and starter (choice of 4 of the appetizers).

The salad was their standard green market salad, which consisted of mixed green vegetables, tomatoes, radishes, and alfalfa sprouts with a ginger-honey-soy vinaigrette.

The salad was very light and a good start to the meal.  All the vegetables were fresh and crisp, and it was nice having a salad that didn't only consist of lettuce and a tomato.

We decided to get two different starters and split them to try more.  On the left is the mushroom dumplings (dumpling of pan-seared trio of mushrooms and cabbage fried and then sprinkled with truffle salt and served with light soy sauce) and on the right is the steamed dumplings (dumpling of ground pork and shrimp, shallots, water chestnuts and shiitake mushrooms served with tangy soy sauce and topped with fried garlic).

The mushroom dumplings were really good. The truffle salt gave them a nice scent and mild flavoring. Even though they were fried, the dumplings felt rather clean and fresh. The "light soy" that came with it tasted more like the water used to reconstitute dried shiitake mushrooms, and it added a nice flavor.  The steamed dumplings were more similar to the kanom jeeb that you get at other Thai restaurants, but they were still tasty. The texture was just right and the fried garlic was a nice addition.

For the entrees, we concentrated on the noodles & bowls section of the menu where they had some of the "non-standard" items.

M got the kwaytiew neur sub, which consisted of broad noodles, ground beef, onions, sundried tomatoes and green leaves in thick curry powder gravy ($10).

This bowl was a bit like a stew with how thick it was.  The gravy was filled with robust flavor and the dish felt simultaneously hearty (with the noodles and meat) and light (all the crispy lettuce and spice).  One of the accompaniments on the table was a red jar which we were told was sriracha blended with sugar and vinegar to make it smoother.  They told us this would work well with this bowl and they were absolutely right.  All mixed together, it was fantastic.

A got the yien ta four, which consisted of broad noodles, shrimp, white mushrooms, tofu, spinach and floating shrimp balls in spicy tomato broth ($11).

You could really taste the tomato in the broth, and it had a nice heat to it as advertised. The homemade shrimp balls were like a meaty shrimp toast without the breading. The shrimp were fresh, and the spinach was a nice touch. The white wood-ear mushrooms added an additional texture to the dish as well. The only mildly disappointing part of the dish were the actual noodles. They were a bit clumped, and it was hard to break them apart to actually eat with the rest of the dish.

We really enjoyed our lunch at Noodies and the lunch special is a good deal.  We will definitely go back!

Noodies is located in Hell's Kitchen on 9th Avenue between 54th and 55th Streets.

Sweet Chili Twister

After landing in Amsterdam, we took a walk through the airport, passing by the food court, where I decided to check in on Burger King like I did the last time we were there.  Once again, the menu at Burger King in the Netherlands was different from ours, and once again, it looked better.

First, they still have the twister fries.  What market testing was done in the US that none of the fast food chains (except for Arby's and the nearly gone Roy Rogers) make curly fries?  I can't be the only person that likes curly fries.  They're just part of the menu at BK there.

Second, this menu sign caught my attention.  If we had these, I might take a trip to Burger King to try them.  Sweet chili chicken, offered on grilled chicken, tendercrisp and "long chicken" sandwiches, as well as in wrap form?  I know it's just chicken topped with sweet chili sauce (and all the sandwiches have mayo, which also probably cuts the sauce flavor a bit), but why can't we have nice things like this?  Why is our menu so boring?

I didn't look closely at the rest of the menu after seeing this, but there were probably other things that were different from ours.  Why can't our fast food places have the special things the rest of the world does?

Another Breakfast Box

About an hour before we landed in Amsterdam, they came around with breakfast boxes.  This breakfast box wasn't that different from the one we got on our last KLM trip, so we knew what to expect.

The box, just like last time, came with 3 components - orange juice, yogurt and a baked good.

The orange juice was a small cup of Minute Maid, nothing special but it was fine.

The strawberry nonfat yogurt came from Upstate Farms, a more local (New York, based on their website) brand of yogurt than the Breyers we got last time.  It was smooth, sweet and creamy.

The last part of the breakfast box was a small muffin.  Even though it's only been two weeks, we can't remember whether this was blueberry or chocolate chip.  I could blame this on the haze of just waking up and still being sleepy, but I think it just wasn't very memorable.  A thought his muffin was a little dry.  Mine was ok, but just not very special.

The toughest thing about the breakfast box was that when it arrived, we weren't really very hungry.  In the past 12 hours (or so), we had eaten chicken from Buffalo Wild Wings at the airport and then the entire dinner tray.  Combine that with not sleeping that much, and we weren't really ready for breakfast!  A managed to finish his box, but I think I left half the muffin because I just couldn't eat anymore.

Not long after breakfast, we arrived in Amsterdam, ready to start our next European adventure!

June Custard Calendar

The June custard calendar is up... and I'm glad to see some repeated flavors.  Seven new flavors per month is tough to keep up with, both for scheduling and health reasons!

Source

Here's the lineup for June:

Monday - raspberry linzer - a new one for us and we love those cookies!

Tuesday - mud pie - our review from January where we mostly liked it but it just reminded us of a Frosty.

Wednesday - blackberry buttermilk - another new one for us - it sounds good but I'm hoping that the richness of the buttermilk doesn't overpower the flavor of the blackberry.

Thursday - s'mores - this flavor will probably go on our "all time favorite flavors" list should we ever make one.  Given how much we liked it in March, I'm glad to see they're repeating it.

Friday - strawberry cheesecake - we've tried other strawberry ones and other cheesecake ones but I don't think we've tried strawberry cheesecake before. This one may be new for us.

Saturday - coffee & donuts - we reviewed this one back in October, describing it as similar to a creamy frozen coffee (which explains why A liked it and I didn't).

Sunday - buttery caramel cocoa nib - another solid custard choice that we tried back in March.

We're most excited for raspberry linzer.  Monday!

Second Dinner

We were big fans of the dinner service on our KLM flight to Amsterdam a couple of years ago, so when we saw them starting to serve dinner we were excited to see what it would be.  I checked on the in-flight entertainment (there is a meal section!) before the food came which said the options were either a Dutch beef dish or pasta.  A and I both picked the Dutch beef option.  It's a Dutch airline, so of course we went with that!

Our dinner tray

Each meal came with a warm soft dinner roll.  We skipped the butter but it was nice having a warm roll.

Each tray also came with a small package of crackers and some cheese.  In this case it was the Carr's water crackers which are common here along with some Tillamook cheddar cheese, which we knew was from Oregon.  That was a nice snack.

The "appetizer" for the meal was a salad.  The salad had lettuce, cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots and a protein (which we can't remember but might have been tofu or fake seafood or chicken), in an Asian sesame dressing.  It wasn't the best salad in the world, but it was light and refreshing.  It always feels good and very cleansing to eat salads on flights.

The main course was like the Dutch dish hutspot with beef, and consisted of beef in a thick brown sauce with onions accompanied with mashed potatoes that had carrots and onions mixed in.  We were happy with our choice.  Although I don't usually eat so much beef (and gave some to A), the sauce and the mashed potatoes were both good, which made for a great combination.  A thought the beef was more tender than he was expecting, the mashed potatoes were good, and the dish was nicely flavored.

Dessert was a cake which A remembers as an apple cake.  I don't remember the exact flavor (even though it's only been 2 weeks!), but it was moist and sweet and a good ending to dinner.

After dinner, we tried to get some sleep (mostly unsuccessfully since the flight was so warm) before it was time for breakfast!