Eating Amsterdam

I don't often get the opportunity to travel outside of the UK, but we managed to grab a week away this February to Amsterdam. If you haven't been, it's an incredibly beautiful city that has so much more to offer than its red light district, chips and 'coffeeshops'. In particular, Amsterdam has an awesome culinary scene that was begging to be explored... So I'm going to share some of my foodie highlights with you!

The Fat Dog

On the corner of Ruysdaelkade and Van Hilligaertstraat sits the entrance to The Fat Dog, adorned with graffiti, you feel as though you are about to walk into a biker bar to sink a few whiskies. But the inside of the petite Fat Dog is warm and invititing. Couples and small groups sit in candlelight, nursing big and beautiful G&Ts to an eclectic and cool soundtrack. With 10 gourmet dogs to choose from, you're spoilt for choice and each dog is intriging. I went for the Speedy Gonzalez -  Chimichuri, guacamole, sour corn, jalapeno-cilantro mayonnaise, pork corn. Although slightly less colourful than I was expecting, the balance of flavours was delicious. Finish of your meal with a hearty slice of vanilla cheesecake to share - creamy, sugary goodness with a buttery biscuit base.

Pancakes!

Pancakes! No I'm not excited, that's what it's called. If you're heading to Amsterdam, you have to indulge in some gorgeous Dutch pancakes. Either at Pancakes! or The Pancake Bakery. I opted for a Deluxe Dutch pancake with apple, mixed nuts, calvados and cinnamon - surprisingly savoury and well balanced. Rob's choice was a joy to behold - spinach, goats cheese, garlic oil and pine cuts. All the flavours of an excellent pizza but with a pancake base. Thoroughly recommended. Pancakes! is also located in the Nine Streets (De Negen Straatjes) amongst a plethora of boutique shops and cafes.

The Lobby

The best breakfast in Amsterdam? Head to The Lobby - part of Hotel V and right in the centre of the city. I was treated to a gorgeous latte and eggs florentine. The poached eggs were indulgently silky, a hollandaise that had the perfect vinegary tang and toasted brioche buns. Their french toast was laden with cinnamon and syrup, with a dollop of creme fraiche to cut through the richness.

De Bakerswinkel

Pies? Cakes? Sugar? Visit De Bakkerswinkel, of which there are a few branches. The classic Dutch apple pie is a must or if you're heading for breakfast, try the brioche french toast - with extra butter and syrup! They also do an excellent selection of sandwiches and lunch platters. Or you can even book in for a 'high tea' laden with delectable cakes and treats.

G's Really Really Nice Place

Continuing my 'eggsterdam' tour, we started Valentines Day with brunch a G's. Every bit as hip as an East London cafe, Gs uses old records for it's menus and has a whole list dedicated to Bloody Marys. I started off with a Bacon Bloody Mary and followed with their Healthy Benedict - two poached eggs served on spelt on a bed of cottage cheese with sauteed spinach & avocado. The spelt bread added a new dimension to the traditional florentine and kept me going for hours of canal walking. Rob ordered Le Beef Burger - custom-made for G's by their local butcher “louman’s” just the way G likes it: topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle & mayo. It was juicy and slathered in mayo but gorgeous. I recommend the Challah Cinnamon French Toast - jewish braided bread soaked in egg / milk / cinnamon then pan-fried crispy and toppedwith banana slices.

 Little Collins

If you're wandering the streets of Amsterdam's bohemian residency - De Pijp, you'll want to stop by Little Collins. A petite Austrailian run cafe serving feast worthy food. The flat white coffee isn't widely spread throughout this city, so I was overjoyed to find it on the menu at Little Collins. Their crockery was reminiscent of Caravan, and I got a pang of homesickness. I munched my way through a huge skillet of Kasundi Eggs - Roast pumpkin, spiced chickpeas, feta, coriander, yoghurt and sour dough toast; I was eventually defeated but this brunch item is something I will definitely be replicating at home.

Lanksroom

Finally, the stroopwafel. For those who aren't familiar with this revelation, stroopwafels are made from two thin layers of baked dough with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle. You can buy them in supermarkets in England, but they originated in Gouda (Netherlands). To get a taste of tradition, head to Lanksroom for a stroopwafel with different flavoured caramels. Coffee Caramel is a winner!

Best Eats of Frankfurt

Today's guest post comes from Kate of Relokate - check out her blog: http://relokate.eu/

Hey there, my name’s Kate and I am a serial expat travelling the world who is currently living in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Today, I want to share with you some of the beat eats of Frankfurt, my current home away from home, and hopefully help you in planning where to eat on your European adventures! 

Margarete 

Maragarete is pretty fancy as restaurants in Frankfurt go. The menu has a vast selection of different foods to eat from typical German to cuisine, to steaks, salads and so much more. I recommend going with a large group, all ordering different foods and enjoying a bite or two of each thing ordered! I highly recommend Grüne sauce (green sauce = a herby, yoghurt sauce of goodness) with boiled egg and bread as your starter meal! After all, Grüne sauce is one of Frankfurt’s signature dishes! 

Helium 

Not only does Helium serve great food, but the atmosphere inside and outside of the restaurant makes you feel instantly drawn to it. Helium is a club in the evening, which means it’s decked out to the nines with disco lights, a full bar and plenty of seating for either a coffee or a full blown lunch meal. I recommend visiting Helium in the summer, sitting outside to enjoy the people watching opportunities and ordering a burger, I can promise you won’t be disappointed! 

Good Times 

This is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE place to go in Frankfurt. Good Times is actually a nickname for the bar and it’s constantly stuck between that name and “Ohne Name” (no name), as the bar quite literally doesn’t have a name. Good times is the kind of place you can go for a coffee meeting with new friends, cocktails with old friends and lunch with just about anybody. Seriously, the food is that good! ‘Good Karma Chicken’ is the sandwich to order on the menu if you want to give your taste buds a little something different and ultimately, be totally satisified. I also highly recommend a ‘real hot chocolate’ which is sent straight from the heavens. 

Souper! 

If sitting in garden chairs covered in plankets or even standing to eat are your thing, then Suppe is for you. Whilst those things do not sound appealing, you definitely shouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it! Suppe even has a garden swing you can sit on to enjoy their delicious soups. I highly recommend the Indian Curry Soup, which is the favourite of anyone who has tried it. The wonderful guys at Suppe are there to serve your delicious soup, hand out all the free bread and cheese you could want and all with a wonderful smile on their faces. Suppe is a little bit like Frankfurt’s worst kept secret, so keep this one to yourselves ;). 

For more on the best eats of Frankfurt and to see all the wonderful things Frankfurt has to offer, head over to my city guides.

Duck and Waffle

Back in September, two of my very best friends came up to visit me and to see Martin Freeman in Richard III - which was absolutely excellent! All being big foodies, I took this as my opportunity to rope in a couple of dining partners for Duck and Waffle, who I have been desparate to visit since they opened their doors. So let me talk you through the best meal I've ever eaten...

We started with cocktails overlooking the incredible view that comes with having a restaurant on the 42nd floor of the Heron Tower. I had a Bacon & Caramel Manhattan (’piggy’ bourbon, DWΣ Salted Caramel Liqueur, vermouths – served sweet style), Kat had a Hemingway (Bacardi Superior rum, maraschino liqueur, lime and grapefruit juices – clarified) and Alex had a Duck & Stormy (Gosling’s dark rum, ginger beer – bottled and bagged).

It is recommended at Duck and Waffle to share smaller plates between you in order to experience as many dishes as possible.

We started with a warm Rosemary and Garlic Bread with a lovely chewy crust and a soft, fluffy centre. I could have stayed and eaten this bread alone all night. We would have had a lovely date, this bread and I.

Next was the Spicy Ox Cheek Doughnut with apricot jam and smoked paprika sugar. Cheek is one of my favourite cuts of meat and this did not dissapoint - a light and fluffy savoury doughnut stuffed with melt in the mouth meat, complimented beautifully with the slight spice of the paprika and sweetness of the jam.

 

Next came the Smoked Mozzarella with granola, sage, honey and amalfi lemon. This was the dish of the evening for me. The mozzarella was delightfully creamy and not too rich due to the addition of the lemon, which added a beautiful uplifting fragrance to the dish. The granola gave a lovely crunch and sweetness. It is unlike anything I have eaten before but was so wonderfully balanced in flavour and texture.

What followed was the dish of the night for my two fellow diners - roasted octopus with chorizo, potato, lemon and caper. Octopus is often a gateway seafood for non-seafood lovers, providing a solid and meaty texture (not too fishy). One of go-to home meals is octopus with chorizo, potatoes and green beans. The addition of capers to this dish was a stroke of genius, perhaps I will start adding them to my salads!

We finished our savoury adventure with the classic Duck and Waffle - crispy leg confit, fried duck egg and mustard maple syrup. So simple but so delicious. If you are to visit this restaurant, you cannot leave this dish off your order. The confit leg alone is divine.

We couldn't resist the dessert menu, so I opted for the Orange posset with Aperol granite and pineapple crisp. If you are too full for a rich dessert - this is ideal. The posset was light, creamy and bursting with citrus, the aperol granite was incredibly refreshing and that pineapple crisp was nearly too beautiful to eat... nearly!

We also sampled the pistachio & dark chocolate macaroon sandwich with drunken cherries and crystallised white chocolate - a dessert for anyone wanting their chocolate fix. A work of art to look at and a delight to eat.

All in all, this is probably the best meal I have ever eaten - the food was fantastic, the service was perfection and the location is beyond words. I can't wait for my next visit!

Tasting Texas

Back in March, I flew to Austin, Texas to attend SXSW 2014. Without blabbering on too much, I wanted to share with you some of my culinary exploits that I experienced while I was in the US.

Day One - Waiting for a transfer in Philadelphia, I began feeding my iced tea addiction. 

Our first meal in Austin, after nearly 24 hours without a proper meal. We visited Iron Works Barbecue.

Beef Ribs were had, along with Beef Brisket. Everything is served with a slice of white bread. 

A visit to the Flagship Wholefoods got me very excited and I bought a ticket for the Kombucha train. Kombucha is lightly effervescent fermented drink of sweetened black tea made with live bacteria and yeast. This concoction was particularly tasty due to the incredible flavour combination of Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Ginger, Sea Salt and Agave.

The next morning we started our day with a good cup of Tazo English Breakfast Tea. Yes I did go and find tea on my first day in the US. But to accompany we had deliciously sticky and sickly cinnamon buns (or chinnabons as they were soon to be renamed). Indulgence at it's best.

Our film badges did come with some perks. At a screening of TNT's The Last Ship, we were given free drinks, 'candy' and Bluetooth Speakers! Wonka Sweetarts were my top candy discovery of the trip. They are like eating dextrose tablets. Hyperness ensued.

I have a confession. Until this trip I had never really eaten Fried Chicken. So I'm extremely glad that my first experience was at Gus'. This was one of the food highlights of our trip. The chicken was moist and flavourful, the crust was crispy and moreish, the coleslaw was something particularly special and we all got to keep our soda cups! 

Rob and I had a more sophisticated lunch at La Condesa - my personal favourite restaurant in Austin. It was beautiful, fresh and the food was heavenly.

I had an Alma Blanca cocktail which was habanero-infused siembra azul blanco tequila, ginger liqueur, agave nectar, pineapple juice, fresh corn, hoja de hierba santa and a hisbiscus-rose-infused salt rim. It was almost too beautiful to drink but it was the best cocktail I have ever tasted. So intricate and delightful.

For lunch we had Tortas (mexican sandwiches). I had the Pambazo, which was homemade chorizo, black bean puree, mexican crema, cotija, baby romaine, avocado, duck fat-braised potatoes and a guajillo-tomato salsa.The potatoes were the unusual aspect yet highlight of this dish with the homemade chorizo adding an incredible richness. 

Brunch at the Moonshine Diner was a must. A ferocious bloody mary to start...

Followed by Gumbo - something that I was very excited to actually try whilst in the States as we have only made it ourselves at home before. Trying real andouille sausage was a treat.