Month: October 2009

Restaurant Looks Amsterdam – Mostly Looks…

Restaurant Looks near Nieuwmarkt has received a lot of attention and rave reviews including an impressive 170 mostly positive comments on the DiningCity community and much praise in almost all major local papers.

There is definitely something very intriguing about Looks. First of all, there is the location in a formerly shady side street just off Nieuwmarkt. It’s a typical Amsterdam alley: narrow with uneven pavement and plenty of rusty bikes parked haphazardly against Amsterdammertjes (little poles).

And then there is the beautiful decor. Looks is situated across two old buildings and consists of several semi-open rooms on various levels connected by short stairs and doorways. Right at the entrance you will catch a glimpse of the bar on the top left and several dining rooms straight ahead and towards the bottom right. Each room has a slightly different decoration, all held in dark colors with 60s retro shapes and textures.

It’s all about the concept and – in their own words – providing a total experience…

restaurant looks amsterdam - barrestaurant looks amsterdam - dining room

While that sounds good, in Amsterdam it unfortunately often means more attention is paid to the design and less to food and service. And unfortunately that suspicion was confirmed at Looks – great look, good but not great food and poor service.

The menu at Looks changes weekly and consists of three starters and three mains – fish, meat and vegetarian. Dishes are interesting, with ambitious ingredients like reindeer, skate or rabbit, prepared in a Dutch / International way with some Asian influences. And the team gets creative with the names of the dishes like “green cabbage bomb” or “responsible garlic soup”. Then there are two signature dishes that are always available – oysters for starters and a grilled, smoked entrecôte.

The execution was inconsistent. The entrecôte was great. Good quality meat with a very special smoked flavor. But the duo of beef was rather bland, overcooked and hard.

Then what really got us was the unprofessional service. Placing orders was slow even though the restaurant was nowhere near fully booked. And it was all downhill when the main courses arrived – in stages rather than at the same time, and leaving us struggling to pick a different bottle of wine as Looks had run out of the one we were having and failed to inform us about that when opening the first bottle.

We were still in doubt whether the positive or negative outweighed when leaving, but were shocked to find three bottles of water at almost €5 each on our bill. We had clearly ordered tap water and the bottles with no labels did not suggest that we were served bottled water either.

After long discussions, Looks took the water off our bill, so we might go back, enjoying the amazing decor and memorable entrecôte, and hoping for more consistent food and service to complete that “total experience”…

Restaurant Zus en Zus Back in Business

In early September I happily reported that restaurant Zus en Zus on Overtoom was about to re-open. Last week I finally had a chance to go back and find out what has changed. The answer is not much and that’s a good thing!

Zus en Zus had to close because the owner of the building needed to do major rework of the building foundations. It was tough for Zus en Zus who had to close business for months and things got worse when the construction took longer than expected.

Now Zus en Zus is back with the same formula of good value for money and friendly service with a personal touch.

zus en zus card

The menu at Zus en Zus is small – three starters, three mains and three desserts. It changes monthly and they do a good job of providing options including fish and vegetarian. You can order dishes individually, but most people opt for the menu – a very good deal at € 25 for three courses. The same goes for the wine list. It’s short, but has variation and some great deals. We went for a € 16 bottle of South African pinotage. The wine was great and I really wonder why so few restaurants have pinotage. Give Zus en Zus credit for resisting the mainstream and selecting good food and wine!

The restaurant is quite small and the friendly and personal service will make you feel welcome and comfortable. We were served a large jar of ice cold tap water, which is a nice touch. At most other restaurants in Amsterdam you have to insist on being served tap water, with some even refusing trying to make extra money on overpriced Spa Blauw.

The food is good, while nothing special. We had steak and breaded risotto balls. The steak was cooked right and had a great creamy balsamico sauce. The risotto balls were slightly on the bland side, but well prepared with the rice al dente.

Overall, Zus en Zus reliably provides comfort food in a friendly setting on the far end of Overtoom, away from Leidseplein.

Zus en Zus
Overtoom 548
1054 LM Amsterdam
+31-(0)20-616 5825

Michelin Star Only Restaurant Week

I have written several times about restaurant week Amsterdam. I like the idea but struggle with two major flaws. Firstly an abundance of low quality restaurants that make the fixed price deal seem rather expensive in terms of value for money. And secondly the reservation procedure that makes it impossible to get a table at one of the higher end places.

DiningCity, the organizer of restaurant week, is now launching a new initiative that definitely addresses the first flaw: Dining With the Stars is a restaurant week for Michelin star restaurants only!

michelin star restaurant week amsterdam

For € 50 you get a set five course menu, although the two and three star restaurants might charge € 15 extra. You will need to book through the Dining With the Stars web site, so I am skeptical about being able to get a reservation. Reservations open on 4 November 2009 at 10am. DiningCity subscribers can make reservations starting 2 November 2009 at 2pm, so I assume it’ll be hard to get a good reservation on the 4th. And if Dining With the Stars is like restaurant week, there will be pre-reservations before the 2nd available to sponsors like American Express.

There are some interesting restaurants on the list from the Amsterdam area:

I will give it a try on November 2nd. Fingers crossed!

Pure Markt Amsterdam – Last Chance in 2009

Pure Markt Amsterdam is an artisanal food market that takes place once a month in Park Frankendael in Amsterdam. I first went there in August and loved how the food producers personally offered their wares, providing insights and stories and encouraging people to taste their precious produce.

This Sunday, 25 October 2009, from 11am to 6pm is your last chance to visit the Pure Markt and stock up for the winter. The market takes places each last Sunday of the month and closes during the winter.

Pure Markt Amsterdam

The Kroket – Holland's Glory

dutchgrub’s been somewhat quiet recently – traveling and enjoying fabulous food in Hamburg, New York and Montreal. Will report later on the culinary part of those adventures.

Upon return I was greeted by my Dutch colleagues with the infamous kroket, a deep fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs and somewhat of a national passion. On the menu of the restaurant serving us kroketten it was ominously listed as “Holland’s Glory” – two croquettes served on bread with a sauce that is a mix of mustard and mayonnaise.

I thought I would share these pictures with you, knowing that dutchgrub’s readers are quite particular about their food choices. I hope they give you a good impression. Or should I say warning?

dutch kroket dishdutch kroket inside

Many lunch rooms and snack bars serve kroketten. They are filled with meat, cut or shredded into longish threads, in a brown, creamy, salty sauce. They are covered in a thick, crunchy breading. They are deep fried and quite likely to burn the top of your mouth if you’re not careful. They are usually served on white bread, often sliced or hamburger buns.

The Dutch collectively get very excited about kroketten, especially when served famous brands van van Dobben or Kwekkeboom. Be careful when you try them out!

The Kroket – Holland’s Glory

dutchgrub’s been somewhat quiet recently – traveling and enjoying fabulous food in Hamburg, New York and Montreal. Will report later on the culinary part of those adventures.

Upon return I was greeted by my Dutch colleagues with the infamous kroket, a deep fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs and somewhat of a national passion. On the menu of the restaurant serving us kroketten it was ominously listed as “Holland’s Glory” – two croquettes served on bread with a sauce that is a mix of mustard and mayonnaise.

I thought I would share these pictures with you, knowing that dutchgrub’s readers are quite particular about their food choices. I hope they give you a good impression. Or should I say warning?

dutch kroket dishdutch kroket inside

Many lunch rooms and snack bars serve kroketten. They are filled with meat, cut or shredded into longish threads, in a brown, creamy, salty sauce. They are covered in a thick, crunchy breading. They are deep fried and quite likely to burn the top of your mouth if you’re not careful. They are usually served on white bread, often sliced or hamburger buns.

The Dutch collectively get very excited about kroketten, especially when served famous brands van van Dobben or Kwekkeboom. Be careful when you try them out!