Yesterday I wrote about how my husband and I often escape across the border. If we were in America, this would mean either Canada or Mexico. How I often wish Mexico was just around the corner... Did you know many Mexican-themed restaurants here in the Netherlands are not open until after 5 PM? No enchiladas for lunch... I may eat those words, if I ever make it back into Amsterdam. I notice there are a several restaurants through Amsterdam, owned by the same people [Dobson & Uzcudun]. One of the restaurants this company runs is called Café Pacifico. It looks, from the website, like it would be ideal for Mexican dishes and they have lunch hours. ,I will one day try it out... I found this information very easily via ilocal and wanted to share it seems to be the best search engine for finding companies within the Netherlands. You just need to have some Dutch knowledge to properly navigate yourself around, but I find more information there.
Finding restaurants which are affordable is something my husband and I search for. Word-of-mouth is fantastic, but affordable is what we are looking for. I'm not a cheapskate, but I do like to save money up for trips out of town or for emergency. Which is usually why we wait until trips into Germany to get dinner in a restaurant. Because in Germany you get an affordable and excellent-tasting meal with adult-sized portions. It doesn't need to look like this:
Though this would be nice! This plate from a restaurant in Dresden [Germany] called the Kartoffelkeller [Potato Cellar], and this cost €9,50. It is Bratkartoffeln wie bei Muttern mit Schweineschnitzel und grünen Butterbohnen. And it was delicious! Service was fast and friendly. The beer was good, big and also not expensive [click here for their menu]. The last time I was there was about a year ago, but I see online they still have this item on the menu for the same price. I recall not being able to eat all of it!
I used to go weekly, at least one night per week, out for dinner in America, and I do miss this. One place I loved to visit with my parents, Marrakech Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco. I brought my mother-in-law too and she really had a great time! Except for the part when she learned she'd be eating dinner with her fingers... I need to find a Moroccan restaurant similar to this in the Netherlands. And when I do, I will update on it. As a matter of fact, anytime I find a restaurant here in the Netherlands which is affordable, I'll update on it. I've received good service in a few restaurants here, but when the bill came to the table...
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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Restaurants...
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11 comments/reacties:
Isabella, you inspired my next post. lol
Im kind of reluctant to try the mexican food here. What is served here, is not authentic or traditional dishes back home. I detest using the word cheap butif you want your euros worth, like the old song says, "you better shop around". lol Later on As soon as I get pics, Im going to post a detailed event on one of my fav resturants in alkmaar.
Thanks for the ilocal link, I've seen the commercial several times and hadnt really understood it's purpose at the time.
Thanks for your comment, Decora! The ilocal commercials: I finally sat & listened to what the orange masked man was talking about. At a table with a man, a typical Amsterdamer, who's seen it all & knows it all.. Yet he knows very little about his own city. And could also take better pictures! ;) Love it.
I am also reluctant to try the Mexican food here.. I've heard it is OK; however, seeing or tasting is believing. I've never tasted Mexican food in Europe. I hope at least for good tortilla chips & salsa! The stuff in the grocery store doesn't seem too bad.. Or maybe I'm just getting used to it?
Would love to see what you have to share about a restaurant in Alkmaar! I have a friend up in the area there & it would make a great place to go hang out with her!
Hi Isabella, thanks for reading and commenting on my blog!
The Mexican places here in Germany often don't open till 5pm either. We just tried to have lunch at a new one in Regensburg today and were thwarted by the opening times. Had a nice, cheap meal at a place around the corner though!
Thanks amiexpat! And thanks for this information. Seems unfortunately some good restaurants are only open for dinner.. But a breakfast and a lunch in the Netherlands usually involves only a broodje kaas [bread roll with cheese].. Can't forget the butter! LOL
Being about 15 kilometers from Germany I must share with you my best German find: knodel. The next time you're over there, stock up on them. You can find them at grocery stores there, but clearly they'll be cheaper at Lidl, Aldi or Pennysaver, the last time I think I paid about 1 euro per box of 6-8 if I remember correctly, we haven't been there to go shopping for awhile now. Anyway, you can get some that are already made, they come in special boiling sacks, you just toss the whole thing in a pot of boiling water, they're sort of bread like balls that are a bit doughy, a nice change of pace from potatoes, rice or noodles. Trust me on this one, you'll love them. I usually serve gravy over them. It's also a nice time to get some decent pastries, sourdough, rye and pumpernickel bread, low fat products that can't be found here, and kosher dill pickles.
Wow, Dee! Thank you for this! I believe a friend was just telling me about these, and I think gravy would've been what she needed to go along. I've never tried knodel, but I will certainly pick some up the next time I head into Germany. And kosher dill pickles! Thanks again :)
Restaurants here ARE quite expensive! Eeesh. There are SO many foods that I love that I haven't had yet here, simply because I have yet to find places to go... but I am still eating well and trying new things, so that's a decent trade-off! You mentioned Moroccan food--have you tried kofte (ground lamb) here?! My host mother had me pick some up from the local Moroccan/halal/whatever it is butcher and it was PHENOMENAL! I had to ask her if we could have it again the next night!
A little DELICIOUS snack you might want to try--it's not exactly Mexican, but it IS LEKKER:
-spread some cream cheese on a plate/in a bowl
-sprinkle some crushed basil or chives on top of that
-pour on some sweet chili sauce like this one: http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11688577/Sweet_Chilli_Sauce.jpg (I know AH sells it)
-use tortilla chips to dip.
Isabella,
I've been lurking for sometime now but this post inspired me to de-lurk as I feel I have important information to impart to all U.S. expats in the Nertherlands.
I'm British but for my sins I have an American girlfriend, coincidentaly also from Phoenix originally. We've both lived here for over 10 years and M struggled for many years to find the authentic Texmex food that she craved. Many restaurants here purporting to be 'Mexicaans' just really didn't cut it and seemed to specialize in what we deridingly called 'Duxmex' food.
I helped her to compensate by introducing her to spicy Indian food (popular in the U.K.) which she now insists is her favourite world cuisine. However the yearning for good ole homestyle Texmex food was still strong and she still suffered horribly between her infrequent visits back to the States.
Then we discovered the Taco Shop in Amsterdam. Located next to the river on a convenient corner at the junction of the Amsteldijk and Tolstraat they provide the most authentic Texmex food in the Netherlands (that we've discovered to date). The legend on the window reads Amsterdam, Copenhagen and The Pacifc Coast Highway. They are really only a take-away restaurant but do provide limited seating inside and outside should you wish to eat-in. The food is simply amazing. M was in heaven the first time we ate there.
As well as the usual Tacos and Burritos they also do delicious Chimichangas. The sauces are all scrumptiously 'lekker' and they do a selection of ground beef, chicken or chili verde. The portions are huge and you won't leave hungry that's for sure, plus the guy behind the counter is American so you don't have to struggle trying to order in Dutch.
All in all, it's a place worth knowing about if you suffer from Texmex withdrawal. The full address and phone number is:
Tolstraat 200
1074 VN Amsterdam
020 4703657
I just had to let you and you readers know about this because I understand how badly M suffered from not having a decent source of home cuisine.
Finally, I really enjoy reading 'A Touch of Dutch' and find it to be educational, informative and above all entertaining. Keep on keeping on honey, you're great! ;?))
Rudi, all is I can is WOW! Thank you very much for not only your very, very kind comment here, but also thank you very much for this information! I bet I have walked by this place on a number of occasions.. I am going to make it an effort to go there by the end of this year. Without a doubt! I will go there & do a blog entry about it. And, of course, give credit to you for this fantastic information! Thank you again very much :-)
Jaime, thanks for this recipe! I love trying new foods, and especially if it can taste anything like a comfort food from back home, and your recipe does indeed sound lekker! I'll give it a try this weekend :-)
Good, let me know how you like it!
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