restaurant Archives - Page 12 of 20

Oriental 128 for Restaurant Week

With all Michelin star restaurants booked days ahead of the regular start of reservations, we decided to try out Oriental 128 for restaurant week. Oriental 128, a self-proclaimed culinary Chinese, is one of a number of interesting new restaurants on Amstelveenseweg.

Dinner was great and we found Oriental 128 one of few places that execute restaurant week well. They served a standard menu at reduced price and put a lot of effort into winning new customers.

The decor is upscale and a pleasant blend of modern western and harmonious Asian. You immediately notice that Oriental is ambitious when it comes to appearance and service. The dining room is meticulously clean and organized and the staff is dressed in formal suits and dresses.

Oriental 128 Amsterdam - dining room Oriental 128 Amsterdam - amuse

We were quite impressed by the service, which was attentive in a subtle way and very friendly with a welcome dose of personality. For example, the waiter noticed that the bottle of white wine was not cold enough and exchanged it for a nicely chilled one with a friendly smile.

Oriental 128 call its menu Chinese, although I would probably give it more of Pan-Asian or even slightly fusion. There is a lot of fish, including lobster and seafood platters as well as duck specialties such as Peking duck. Then there are several variations of standard sweet and sour or five-spice meat and rice dishes, but also a more western roast chicken, spring rolls and several vegetarian tofu dishes.

They highly advertise their menus – a simpler 3 course sample menu as well as a more ambitious 4 course menu with Alaska king crab and peking duck. For restaurant week, Oriental 128 served the sample menu at a reduced rate. We thought that this worked very well as we got to know the restaurant by sampling smaller portions of three main dishes rather than the usual starter, main and dessert.

Oriental 128 Amsterdam - shrimps Oriental 128 Amsterdam - beef

All dishes were excellent! We started with battered shrimps with bell peppers and onions. The shrimps had good flavor and everything was cooked just right. We then had perch grilled on its skin and also nicely prepared. The final dish was a combination of beef and Peking duck with rice and mie.

All in all it was a great dinner. The dishes were standard but well executed and the service friendly and attentive. We will definitely be back outside of restaurant week.

Restaurant Week all Summer at Odessa

I went to the Odessa for restaurant week 2007 and had a wonderful cucumber eel melon soup and a nice menu overall. Definitely one of the most pleasant restaurant week experiences.

The Odessa is participating in restaurant week again in 2009. But even better, they are offering a prix fixe summer menu throughout the months of July and August at the same the restaurant week price of € 25,=.

De Odessa is an old Russian merchant ship anchored on the waters east of central station. The interior has a 60s disco look and the staff is helpful and laid back. The menu is French international.

The summer prix fixe menu starts off with a mixed platter of scallops, cod terrine and quail. For main course you have a choice of salmon with beurre blanc, entrecôte with green asparagus and haricot cannelloni. With a white chocolate brownie for dessert, this sounds like a simple but delicious summer menu in a beautiful setting on the water!

Amsterdam Restaurant Week 2009 – Still No Reservations

The summer edition of Restaurant Week will hit Amsterdam August 24 to 30, 2009. Reservations open tomorrow at 10am. But be warned, getting a good reservation in 2009 is just as impossible as in previous years.

Restaurant week is a great idea that in Amsterdam suffers from two major flaws: First of all too many average restaurants participate with menus that are not worth the fixed rate of €25,- for a three course dinner. And secondly restaurant week is so popular that it’s hard to get a reservation.

Like all diningcity subscribers I received an email with a link that allows me to make reservations 24 hours before the official start. I tried as soon as I had received the email and was greeted by a site that was largely unresponsive and generated time out errors. When I finally got through, all the good restaurants were already fully booked! And that’s a day before the official opening of reservations.

Michelin star restaurants La Rive and Ron Blaauw were just unavailable as the Brasserie in the Amstel Hotel, Christophe, and Lute in Ouderkerk. I just checked again and 44 out of 155 restaurants are already fully booked.

And while €25,- for a three course dinner is a great deal at the top Amsterdam restaurants, it’s really not worth it for places like cocktail lounge Barça, simple eetcafe De Duvel or average at best Italian l’Incontro. Sounds more like a cheap way to fill these restaurants than a way to make an exquisite cuisine available to everyone for a few days.

I did get a reservation for Oriental 128 which I was curious to try out. Oriental 128 is a high end Chinese on Amstelveenseweg that gets good reviews for its specialty dishes and wine list.

Amsterdam Closed for Vacation…

I thought I would post a brief warning for unsuspecting visitors. Many restaurants and cafes in Amsterdam close for summer vacation. Around the time of late July and early August, it’s better to check to avoid disappointments.

I have heard of a few vacations including De Witte Uyl, one of dutchgrub’s Best Amsterdam Restaurants, and Yam Yam, makers of one of dutchgrub’s Best Amsterdam Pizzas. Both will be closed until 16 August 2009. During the same period recently opened Italian l’Ozio will be closed for lunch, but remain open for dinner.

amsterdam closed for vacation — Omnipresent bikes and closed for vacation signs in Amsterdam

Pizza to Go at Forno Communale

One of the nice things about Forno Communale, one of dutchgrub’s best pizzerias in Amsterdam, is the possibility to get pizza to go!

They don’t do delivery or take advance orders by phone. So you will have to make your way over to Rhijnvis Feithstraat, order your pizza and wait for it to be freshly made. The wait is actually a lot more fun than it sounds since you get to hang out in the kitchen, admire the wood fired pizza oven and watch the expert pizza maker roll out the pizza dough and garnish it lusciously!

Burgermeester Opens Restaurant by Artis

Burgermeester – maker of the best burgers in Amsterdam – has opened its third restaurant on Plantage Kerklaan near Artis!

The new location follows the same formula – inventive burger concoctions, made from fresh ingredients, in a no frills setting of red booths amidst cow pictures on the walls.

I love going to Burgermeester for a good lunch and have been at the locations on Albert Cuypstraat in de Pijp and on Elandsgracht in the Jordaan many times. The third restaurant will be convenient when you’re east of the center and calls for being combined with a visit to local micro-brewery Brouwerij ‘t IJ for burgers and beer of the finest quality!