Our 2010 Europe Trip

Growing up, neither of us had been to Europe. All of our international travel had been to Asia, even though we both had longed to see the sights in Europe for a long time. Our first opportunity came almost 10 years ago on our way to Singapore where a long layover gave us a "day trip" in Germany. We absolutely loved it and once our wedding (and other wedding trips) had passed, it was finally time to start our European adventures.

Amsterdam canals

The first real trip to Europe we took was in 2010, when we visited the Netherlands and Belgium. (If we had had more time, maybe we could have made it to Luxembourg and I could just tag this the Benelux trip, but unfortunately that didn't happen.) We flew into Amsterdam and out of Brussels, stopping for a couple of nights in Brugge along the way. It was a wonderful low-key introduction to Europe, and we absolutely loved it.

Amsterdam

We did a lot of exploring in Amsterdam. We logged lots of steps wandering the city and the canals (especially on the first day when we got a little lost and then chased a beer bike). We visited 12 different museums thanks to our Museumkaart. We loved riding around on the tram. We took a day trip to Den Haag and marveled at the Peace Palace. We managed to try just about every type of food that we wanted to get in the Netherlands and even some that we didn't even know we wanted before we got there. We fit a lot of stuff into our time in the Netherlands, which was only about 5 days.

More Amsterdam canals

We got frites, lots of them. We started at the airport with Vlaamse Frites, but also got some at Pietersma Snacks, Manneken Pis, and Vleminckx. Our favorite fries themselves were from Vleminckx, but our favorite toppings were from the airport, with that delicious combination of curry ketchup, mayo, and onions. We made 3 visits to breweries - the Heineken Experience and then 2 visits to Brouwerij 't IJ, which we loved for its beer, its bar snacks like ossenworst, and its atmosphere. We got rijsttafel at 2 different spots, the more traditional Tempo Doeloe and the modern Blauw. We went to Frens Haringhandel twice for herring sandwiches. We went to try Dutch pancakes at Pancakes Amsterdam and liked them so much we made a special trip to get some more before leaving for our next destination. We also got the small Dutch pancakes, poffertjes, at the Albert Cuyp Markt. We wandered around on our first night and ended up getting a traditional Dutch meal at De Rozenboom, a meal we had no idea we wanted but turned out to be the perfect introduction to the city.

Rijsttafel
In addition to all the stuff we planned to get (fries, beer, rijsttafel, pancakes and herring), we also ate a bunch of random stuff: burgers and sandwiches from B&B Lunchroom, giant burgers from Burgermeester, Thai food at Bird Thai Snackbar, Nepali food at Sherpa, stroopwafels and other random drinks and snacks, and 2 stops at FEBO automats. And of course, our visit wouldn't have been complete without trips to the nearby grocery store, Albert Heijn.

Antwerp

Antwerp's Grote Markt
We hadn't focused much on Antwerp when we planned our trip, but it was the place where we had to stop to switch trains on our way from Amsterdam to Brugge. Since we were already in Antwerp, we figured we might as well do some sightseeing, since the one thing we knew was that they had a castle/fortress (Het Steen). We saw that, as well as the Grote Markt and other shopping areas, during a pouring rainstorm. We were only there for a few hours and didn't get to explore too much of the city, but did grab some fast food at Quick Burger.

Brugge

Brugge was one of our favorite places on this trip. Since we spent most of our time in the older area of the city, it just felt like being transported back in time, strolling the canals and taking in all of the architecture. It was quaint and cute when it wasn't overrun by tourists, but even the touristy things to do, like a canal cruise and a visit to the De Halve Maan brewery, were fun.

Brugge canal cruises are fun
On our first real stop in Belgium, we got 3 of the things Belgium is famous for - chocolate (from Dumon), beer (Brugse Zot), and wafels (from Laurenzino). We also had a wonderful dinner at Cambrinus, full of beer and soup and pasta, followed the next night by a traditional Flemish meal at De Vlaamsche Pot, where we indulged in carbonades, waterzooi, and more Flemish classics. We also got lunch twice at L'Estaminet, some croque monsieur and croque shoarma the first time and lots of spaghetti bolognese the second time. And, as usual, we stopped at the grocery store, and got some other snacks.

Window shopping in Brugge
We were sad to leave Brugge (and our amazing, giant hotel room). It was the type of place where we really felt like we were out of the city and in a place so different from home. Leaving for our last stop also meant our trip was almost over.

Brussels

Coming from Brugge, with its narrow, winding streets and tree-lined canals, we exited into Brussels and felt like we were back in New York's concrete jungle, complete with all the dirt, grit, and smells of a city. It was a tough adjustment back to the city, and while we wanted to make the most of our time in Brussels, we found ourselves mostly missing Brugge. Dealing with a patronizing waiter at La Rose Blanche and missing out on a bunch of attractions because of bad timing, all on our first day there, certainly didn't help matters. We also felt a little disconnected because we don't really speak French (and every time I tried, the words came out in Spanish), which we also noticed when we visited the Comic Strip Center after a pasta lunch at Brasserie Horta.

Grand Place
That said, there were some nice things about Brussels. We got to see an outdoor festival that we hadn't expected to see. We were at the Grand Place during a spectacular blue hour, and all the buildings were incredibly photogenic. The Musical Instruments Museum was fun. We had one of the best wafels we've ever eaten from one of the yellow vans, and we had a tasty all-you-can-eat mussels night to close out our trip. We were introduced to kriek and got hooked on it. It wasn't all bad.

Traveling

We flew out to Amsterdam on KLM, having both dinner and breakfast, after already having dinner at JFK (where we just made our flight thanks to an amazing car service guy to whom we will be eternally grateful, since these were the pre-Uber days). The service on KLM was great, the in-flight entertainment was fun, and the food was pretty good for airline food. We were impressed. Our return flight was on Delta, which we didn't like as much as KLM, but it was still good. Lunch was better than we expected, and the snack was more of a meal than we ever imagined it would be (pizza and gelato!). (For other random airport links, here's some grocery store exploration at AMS and our "breakfast" at BRU.)

KLM planes from the panorama terrace in Amsterdam
In addition to our flight, we took a bunch of train trips during our vacation, although we didn't eat much during them. We ended up eating at Amsterdam Centraal at Burger King, and got a sandwich and some candy in Antwerp, but that was it. The Antwerp train station was the only place on that entire trip that we ever saw the Haribo Smurfs which became one of our favorite gummy candies. Mostly we were impressed by the train systems in the Netherlands and Belgium, and lamented why we couldn't have such good infrastructure back home. Traveling from city to city was fairly inexpensive and so convenient compared to the way things are here, and that's something Europe will probably always do better than the US.

Concluding Thoughts

We have some pretty great memories from our first European adventure. It felt so good to be in different countries, being exposed to different cultures and ways of doing things, learning so much at the museums, and exploring so many new foods and flavors. We felt like we had gained so much in such a short period of time, and we couldn't wait to visit Europe again. Although we wouldn't choose to rush back to Brussels by itself any time soon, we would love to see Amsterdam (and the Netherlands more broadly) and Brugge again. There was so much that we didn't get to do there and we were pretty happy being there. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again someday.

Heineken Experience

We missed the "5 years to the month" self-imposed deadline on our 2010 Europe trip recaps, but maybe we'll be able to finish them before the end of the year? (Unlikely, but we can dream.) Time to reminisce a little bit about being back in Amsterdam...

When we recapped the entire Amsterdam portion of our 2010 trip (way back when), we skipped over the Heineken Experience. Apparently at the time, we thought it was "not really about food," but thinking about it now, we're not sure why it wasn't worthy of a post. Not only did the exhibition go through the history of the company and how to make beer, but we also got to drink beer. That's not really very different from a visit to an active brewery, which we would definitely include, so we're jumping back a little bit to briefly show you what we saw on our visit to Heineken.

The Heineken Experience was high on our list of places to visit back then. We liked Heineken beer, so it only seemed logical that we would stop by. It also seemed like a fun way to spend an afternoon learning more about one of the Netherlands' most famous exports, so we headed over after having our delicious burgers at Burgermeester.

The Heineken Experience was in a huge space and there was a lot to see. One of the things we liked the most was the display of old Heineken posters and advertisements. This one was probably one of our favorites, but there were a lot there to see.

There was also a section of the exhibition where they took you through the process of making beer. They told us about all the ingredients and why they're important. A already knew about the process and ingredients that go into making beer, but he still learned quite a bit.

You were also able to go out on to a sample production floor to see all the different steps involved in making the beer and even try doing some of them on your own. For example, you could stir up this giant vat.

They let you try some of the ingredients, like at this station, you could try some wort. Wort is the boiled water and barley which provide the sugars for the alcohol to ferment. The wort itself has a pleasant, subtle sweetness and tastes nothing like the beer it becomes.

You could also learn a lot about the history of Heineken. One of the more interesting parts of the history to me was seeing the evolution of the Heineken bottle and its design. They also showed all the special edition bottles which was pretty cool. (Probably goes hand in hand with my interest in the advertising posters.)

It wasn't all educational. They also had lots of fun stuff. The sections with games were the most crowded, as they had foosball tables and video games and more. On top of all that, there was something they called Brew You, one of those motion rides where you pretended you were the beer ingredients getting turned into beer. There was a lot to do at the Heineken Experience so it's no surprise that we were there for hours.

The end of the exhibition was basically a giant bar where you could drink your Heineken with virtual coasters if you liked. Our general thought about the beer was that it was Heineken just like we had always had, but better. That probably had to do with the freshness of the beer since it didn't have to travel across the ocean.

Once you finished going through all of the "experience," the last stop was of course the gift shop. We picked up a few things and generally just enjoyed browsing around. Some of the stuff was definitely an "only in the Netherlands" type of thing, like these blue Delft mugs. (Never made it to Delft on this trip, but certainly saw the products everywhere!)

Overall, we had a really good time at the Heineken Experience. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, learning about and tasting some beer. If you have any interest in beer generally or Heineken more specifically, we'd definitely recommend a visit.

Vleminckx

For our last meal in Amsterdam, M and I opted to try out a place we had read as being one of the best fry houses in town. Vlaams Friethuis Vleminckx aka Vleminckx Sausmeester (sauce master) was opened in 1957 and has consistently been ranked near or at the top of the fry houses by local publications. We got there before noon, and based on the line already stretching from their window, it seemed like the publications were indeed correct.

We ordered the fries with their special samuraisaus (Samurai sauce) that was reviewed and recommended by several locations we read. In the end the Samurai sauce was basically just chipotle mayo. It was good, but it was nothing too special. The fries, however, were amazing. Perfectly crispy exterior with a perfectly soft, potato interior. This was fry perfection. I just wish we would have chosen a better sauce or topping (maybe like curry ketchup, mayo, and onions).

All that being said, we did really like these fries and we would definitely return for another cone. The sauce didn't quite live up to the hype, but we've had quite a bit of chipotle mayo in our lives so perhaps this wasn't as special for us as it might have been for other people. However, these were the best fries we tried, even if not the tastiest because of topping choices.  And for that, we raise a cup to you, Vleminckx!

Vleminckx, Voetboogstraat 31-33, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Goodbye Frens

After our pancake treat, we continued our Amsterdam farewell tour with another spot from the day before - Frens Haringhandel. We were so surprised by how much we enjoyed our herring sandwich from the day before and decided to go back for another one.

Another herring topped with pickles and onions on a soft roll was consumed. I didn't like it as much as the day before since it was a little bit fishier, but it was still enjoyable. A thought that the herring was a bit fishier as well. Maybe it was just less fresh? Overall it was still extremely tasty.

We didn't know when we would have a chance to get herring like this again (we hadn't yet learned about the annual new herring festival at the Grand Central Oyster Bar that we've hit up for the past two years), and were happy to have one more herring sandwich to split before leaving the Netherlands. We're still big fans of Frens Haringhandel (and have also seen that spot appear all over TV) and would try to go back on a return trip to Amsterdam.

Goodbye Pancakes

On our final day in Amsterdam, we made a beeline for Pancakes! Amsterdam. As we said before, we loved our pancakes so much on our first visit that we decided to leave for Belgium a little later so we could get another pancake. We arrived at Pancakes! Amsterdam before it opened and just strolled the nearby streets as we waited for them to get set up. The lady setting up must have seen us waiting patiently because she motioned that we could come in even though they technically didn't open for another 5-10 minutes.

To start off our lunch (snack? brunch?), A got another glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and I got a bottle of perensap. I liked the pear juice as it was more unique and not a common juice option. I'm not sure if I liked the flavor better than the apple juice from the day before. (It's been three years; that memory has faded.)

Since we were planning for our lunch to be a food crawl, we decided to split one pancake this time instead of getting two individual ones. The combination we chose this time had spinach, goat cheese, garlic oil, pine nuts and sunflower seeds.

We liked this pancake, but we liked our choices from our first visit better. For me, this one was just a little richer and heavier because of the goat cheese, and I liked the lighter vegetable pancake more (so much that it made my favorites list for the year). A also preferred his daily special from the day before. This pancake wasn't bad by any means. We just liked our other choices more.

We were sad to say goodbye to the little pancake shop as we loved it there and didn't know when we would be able to return. We highly recommend Pancakes! Amsterdam for a casual and fulfilling meal!

Pancakes! Amsterdam is located at Berenstraat 38 in Amsterdam.

Tempo Doeloe

Our memories of our rijsttafel at Tempo Doeloe in Amsterdam three years ago are getting a little hazy, but on the anniversary of our visit, we thought it was about time that we got back to our 2010 Europe trip recaps (before another year goes by!).

Tempo Doeloe is the green awning on a quiet street

We went for a relatively late dinner that night, after having various snacks and meals throughout the day (pancakes, herring, beer and ossenworst). It was our second rijsttafel of the trip (the first was at the more "modern" Blauw) and we were excited to go to one of the more "traditional" places that has been in Amsterdam for years. We didn't make reservations in advance (we didn't make reservations anywhere on that trip) and there was a short wait. As we waited, they gave us some chips (krupak udang and another shrimp cracker) and a sauce that we can't remember too much about.  We were hungry so we were thankful for the free snack.  

Bar snacks

[Side note: Since our visit, we've seen Tempo Doeloe featured on TV, including on Bourdain's show. While we loved seeing it and reliving our time there, internet research tells me that reservations are basically required now since the restaurant is so small (and that you have to ring a bell to be allowed in). Perhaps it was that busy back then too and on a random Wednesday night in September we just got lucky, but I think it's gotten busier over the years.]

Ordering at Tempo Doeloe was easy, since we knew we wanted another rijsttafel adventure. We really enjoyed having such a great variety of small tastes and were really pleased to see how extensive their rijsttafel menu was. They have some smaller rijsttafel options but we went for the grand one. Three years later, we couldn't possibly tell you which of the dishes were our favorites, but I'm not sure we would have been able to do that three weeks later either. It was all really good.

Clearest photo of our rijsttafel but no iPhone yet and didn't want to use flash for everything

The rijsttafel came with two types of rice (white and yellow) and four trays of dishes (three on burners to keep them warm).

Fluffy white rice

"Yellow" rice - basically like fried rice, topped with delicious fried garlic/onions

The four trays of rijsttafel dishes were separated by type and spiciness. The small circular dish had snacks and cold salads, and the others were mild, medium and spicy.

Snacks and salads

Mild (I think)

The dishes in the rijsttafel according to the menu were:

• babi tjien (pork in mild soy sauce with aniseed)
• daging semoor (beef in sweet soy sauce and tomatoes)
• paksoy (green leaf vegetables with sesame oil)
• sawi toemis (Chinese cabbage with Indonesian spices)
• ajam opor (chicken in mild coconut sauce)
• gadon dari sapi (beef in creamy coconut sauce and fresh coriander)
• sambal goreng tempeh (fried soy cake in spicy sauce)
• sambal goreng tahoe (fried tofu in spicy sauce)
• sambal goreng oedang (small shrimp with peteh beans)
• sambal goreng boentjes (string beans in spicy sauce)
• sambal goreng hati (chicken livers in spicy soy sauce)
• oerapan (fresh vegetables with rasped coconut)
• ajam roedjak (chicken in strongly seasoned sauce of chili peppers and coconut)
• ajam bali (chicken in a sauce of tomatoes and peppers)
• sajoer lodeh (vegetables in coconut broth)
• orek arek (caterpillar cabbage with garlic)
• daging belado (beef in spicy sauce with red peppers and garlic)
• daging rendang (the spiciest thing there - very spicy beef stewed with coconut)
• sateh babi (pork skewers with peanut sauce)
• gado gado (fresh vegetables with peanut sauce)
• kroepoek (crispy prawn crackers)
• emping (crispy chips of belindjonuts)
• seroendeng (rasped coconut and peanuts)
• atjar (sweet and sour Indonesian salad)

Medium (I think)

Spicy (definitely)

A story about Tempo Doeloe's spicy dishes, which I will let A tell:

M and I had heard so much about the spicy dishes of a traditional rijsttafel, and I was really intrigued to try them. I remember the first four having decent heat, but it wasn't that overpowering. The second to last spicy dish was the dish with red chili peppers shown above. This had a definite kick to it. The burn was pretty intense, and that made us pretty worried about trying the last dish. So we each built ourselves up and tried little pieces of the spiciest dish pictured above with the slice of what appears to be a scotch bonnet pepper as a garnish. To quote The Simpsons, "It tastes like... burning..." Dear god, this was one of the spiciest things I had ever eaten in my life. The burn consumes your mouth, and no amount of anything helps alleviate it. Our waiter recommended some toasted coconut that comes with the rijstaffel, but that only did a little. M didn't eat as much of the spicy dishes as they were a little overwhelming, so the majority of these dishes were mine to eat. I'm pretty sure I ate it all, but I suffered through it.

However, this wasn't the end. On their menu is a stewed chicken dish that is hotter than the spiciest dish listed above. They actually offer you a taste if you really want one, and it's also offered as a full dish. We decided against destroying what was left of the feeling in our mouths, but one brave soul at the far end of the restaurant tried it. He had apparently been bragging all night about how he could take any heat to the staff so they were more than happy to oblige. After the small dish was delivered, our waiter came back with a wry smile and told us to watch as the guy ate the chicken. He put on a brave face for the first 10-30 seconds, and our waiter told us to wait for it. Within 5 seconds of saying that, an intense look of pain crossed the guys face. He got really red, started sweating profusely, and was banging his fist on the table in an attempt to stem the tide of pure flame coursing through his mouth. He ran back to the bathroom, and I'm pretty sure we didn't see him again before we left. Our waiter enjoyed a small chuckle with us before departing to continue his duties. Knowing that it's spicier than the spiciest dish we tried, we couldn't even begin to imagine how nasty that chicken would have felt.

Even after 25 dishes, we wanted dessert, so we got the "grand dessert" (to go with our grand rijsttafel) - a selection of various ice creams (can't remember the flavors) with tropical fruit (one piece each of kiwi, star fruit, passion fruit, watermelon, strawberry, pineapple). This was a sweet and refreshing end to a great meal.

Pretty fruit plate

There was also a complimentary plate of mints/chocolate chips at the end of the meal.

Our blackberries! This was so long ago...

We were glad we got to try the rijsttafel at both Blauw and Tempo Doeloe, since they were very different experiences and both delicious. The dishes at Tempo Doeloe centered mostly around beef, pork, chicken and vegetables, while Blauw's rijsttafel also had fish and goat. Tempo Doeloe had more dishes in the rijsttafel but Blauw compensated for less variety with larger dishes. We really thought both restaurants were excellent and would love to go back to Amsterdam for more rijsttafel. Unless you live in an area with phenomenal Indonesian food, we highly recommend a rijsttafel meal during any Amsterdam visit.

Mediterranean Sandwich Bar

Our last meal on the Amsterdam segment of our trip was back at Schiphol Airport at the Mediterranean Sandwich Bar.  Traveling seems to make us hungry (or at least we always want to eat), and we thought it would be best to get one last snack before getting on the plane to Barcelona.

We decided to keep it simple and split a sandwich and bottle of water.  There were a bunch of sandwiches to choose from and I just let A pick out one that looked good.

One thing he picked up that we really liked was this Sourcy vitamin water in lychee-lime flavor.  By its look and flavor, it seemed like it would be most similar to the Multi-V lemonade flavored Vitamin Water we get at home. But, similar to the lemon passionfruit water we got in Haarlem, the fruit flavors in this bottled water seemed more natural.  We wished this were an option at home.

The sandwich we got was a chicken and olive sandwich.  It was on a soft ciabatta roll with pieces of grilled chicken, greens, tomatoes and a creamy kind of sauce (but not too much of it).  The olives appeared to be baked into the bread.  The sandwich was fine, but neither of us remember that much about it one month later.

The sandwich bar was a nice place to stop for a snack, but it won't be replacing another Schiphol spot (which we will write about much later on - hint: it's a place we've visited before) as our favorite.  On to Barcelona!

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?

To Den Haag and Back

One year ago today, we took a short day trip to Den Haag, where we went to a ton of museums (if you go to the Netherlands, museumkaart is seriously the way to go), and finished off the night with our first visit to Brouwerij't IJ. Want to relive it with us?

We had an unsatisfying and unplanned meal at Burger King at Centraal Station, the above-mentioned awesome trip to Brouwerij't IJ and a late dinner at Sherpa in Leidseplein.

For next time (whenever that may be), any recommendations for Den Haag since we never actually ate anything there?

(Running low on posts from our 2010 Europe trip... pretty soon "one year ago today" will have not been written about!)

Snacking Around Amsterdam

One year ago today, we spent some time in Museumplein in Amsterdam, visiting a bunch of museums, and also toured the Albert Cuyp Market and the Red Light District. Want to relive it with us?

We ate a lot of snacks that day, trying poffertjes and frites at the market, fruit drinks and mini stroopwafels from the grocery store, and another set of frites with mayo at Manneken Pis. We also went for Dutch hamburgers and sandwiches at B&B Lunchroom and a delicious Thai dinner at Bird Thai Snackbar.

We ate a lot of fries in Amsterdam, and somehow they were just better than the fries we usually get here. Do you prefer topping your fries with ketchup or mayo?

Croquettes and Rijsttafel

One year ago today, we spent our first full day in Amsterdam getting acquainted with the city, visiting the Heineken Experience and partaking in the Dutch automat tradition. Want to relive it with us?

Check out our first visit to FEBO, the gigantic but delicious burgers we ate at Burgermeester, our second visit to the FEBO near the Red Light District, and our first rijsttafel ever at Blauw.

We really liked getting the rijsttafel and have been looking for good Indonesian food since leaving the Netherlands. Any recommendations?

Some Fries With That

One year ago today, we had just arrived in Amsterdam for an amazing vacation. Want to relive it with us?

Check out the delicious fries with mayo, curry ketchup and onions that we got at Vlaamse Frites in the airport in Amsterdam and our traditional Dutch meal at De Rozenboom.

Wish we were headed back to Amsterdam now!

Back to Brouwerij 't IJ

This will be a bit of a short post. Unfortunately we can't seem to find most of the pictures that we took of our second trip to Brouwerij 't IJ. However, you can see our first trip here.

We rushed to the bar close to closing time much like our first trip, but we were determined to make it after such a positive experience the evening before. As we approached the bar, we could see the big gray rainclouds brooding on the horizon. We entered, bought our first round and a snack, and we settled in to the room. It was much busier this night so we were forced to go to one of the back corners to sit and enjoy our time.

M got a Trippel, and I started with a Columbus which is their spicy amber ale. For the snack, we got a plate of their ossenworst. Ossenworst is basically steak tartare in sausage form. I was very pleased with this since we didn't really know what to expect before we ordered, but M was slightly less pleased. Not being a big red meat eater, this wasn't quite her style of food. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The balance of spice and meat combined to be very flavorful, and since I like my meat closer to rare, the texture was perfect. M, for what it was, acknowledges that it was good, but she still wasn't that into it.

M's Trippel and the Ossenworst

We originally thought to stay just for one drink with our snack. However, as soon as we were about halfway through our first beers, those ugly gray rain clouds opened up in a BIG way. Since it was pouring outside, we had no other choice but to stay at the bar and drink more beer. Well, I drank more beer, I'm not sure M had another. Regardless, it was another fun evening at the brewery.

Frens Haringhandel

Herring is a classic Dutch snack. When you walk around Amsterdam, you encounter a lot of stands like this:

A at Frens Haringhandel
This one is in Koningsplein near the tram stop we often went to and the local Albert Heijn. Every time we saw it, we thought that maybe we should try the herring since we were in Amsterdam and herring is a Dutch thing. On our penultimate day, we finally ventured in for a post-pancake afternoon snack.

Frens Haringhandel has different types of fish, but we were there for the herring. I guess traditionally the way to eat herring was to hold it by the tail and eat the rest of the fish. We decided to go for the sandwich instead but I did like seeing the banners in the window:

Even the herring is patriotic
The sandwich comes with one piece of herring (no tail, no head, but otherwise whole) with pickles and onions on a soft bun. The herring itself isn't raw - it's pickled or salted or something prior to being served.

Herring plus pickles plus onions equals awesome
I was really pleasantly surprised by the sandwich. I kept hearing people talk about it so apprehensively (not in the city, but online in our research) and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I was expecting a tough fishy bite and then to hand it back to A, but at least I could say that I tried it. But that wasn't the case at all. The fish was pretty soft and tender, and it wasn't that fishy at all. The onions and pickles on top gave the sandwich a nice crunch and were really complementary.

A wasn't sure what to expect. He didn't know if it would be fishy, salty or sour. Texturally, A thought it was a little slimy (but expected that when he saw it), but the pickles and onions added a nice texture. He also thought that the bread, since it wasn't toasted, was soft and chewy, which was nice to pair up with the soft herring. If the bread were harder or tougher, it wouldn't have worked as well with the herring. Overall, he really liked it.

Here's what it looked like once we got halfway through the sandwich:

Pretty Amsterdam houses in the background of our sandwich
See how soft and flaky the fish looks? I was so surprised by it but it was really good.

Since Frens Haringhandel is located in the middle of a plaza, they don't really have any of their own seating, so we stood in the plaza eating by a canal. We didn't mind. We could have sat on the benches but unfortunately it had recently rained, so we just stood for a little bit.

With my half of the sandwich in the plaza
Sometimes I find myself thinking about these herring sandwiches - how refreshing they were, the unexpected flavor, and how fresh it all tasted - and I find myself wanting one. Sadly, this is something we definitely can't get at home. Next time we're in Amsterdam we will definitely be seeking out some more herring!

Everyone Loves Pancakes in Amsterdam

I already mentioned how much we loved Pancakes! Amsterdam, but what about the food? I think the fact that we decided partway through our pancakes that we would just go to Brugge a little later the following day and try to come back when they opened for brunch speaks for itself.

We started out with some drinks - appelsap (apple juice) for me and orange juice for A.


I liked the little bottle of apple juice. A really liked his orange juice because it was fresh squeezed. I agree - it was good.

For pancakes, they have a long list of options. You can get a regular Dutch pancake and add in whichever toppings you choose - from bacon to apples to ham to ginger to camembert cheese, and many more. The menu also has some pre-arranged combinations, which we decided to do, since they were probably "proven" combinations. At the time we were there, they also had Korean pajun options, American pancakes with maple syrup and a French pie option. But if we're going to eat pancakes in Amsterdam, we were definitely going to eat pancakes the Dutch way!

On the table, they advertised a special:


A decided to get the special. Eggplant, mushrooms, tomato tapenade? What's not to like?

Here's A with his pancake:


And a closer look at the pancake itself:


This was really, really good. As I mentioned, we decided while eating our pancakes that we wanted to come back the next day, so they had to be good. This also just missed the cut to be in A's top 10 food memories of 2010. A liked the tomato tapenade because it was sweet and tangy at the same time, and probably his favorite part. The eggplant was also perfectly cooked for the pancake - a bit of crispness to pair with the chewiness of the pancake itself. The mixed textures within the pancake paired well.

I ordered off the menu and got the veggie pancake. This may look familiar because I've written about it before.


And a closer look at the veggie pancake, which came with mushrooms, spinach, onions, tomatoes and pine nuts:


I liked this pancake enough to put it in my top food memories of 2010, so clearly, I really liked it. I loved the combination of pancake and vegetables. Savory pancakes are awesome.

The pancakes look huge but they're really not that overwhelming. The pancake may be big but it's also really thin, and it's loaded with whatever toppings you choose to add. I actually like Dutch pancakes better than the big fluffy American pancakes, but maybe that's because they're also really into savory pancakes, and I choose savory over sweet. We highly recommend going to a pancake house if you're in Amsterdam. They're perfect for brunch, lunch, dinner or snack. Everyone loves pancakes!