Qype User (Epicur…)
Yelp
Monsieur and I recently lunched at Cafe Luxembourg in the intellectual district of Spui in Amsterdam. The weather was fine, if chilly, so the terrace was full as patrons basked in the sun. Inside, a waiter waved his hand around sit wherever you like, he said as he rushed off, plates in hand. We walked towards two vacant tables in the covered terrace area, but a waitress came up and shooed us away, people have been waiting for these tables, she told us brusquely.
In the fairly full dining room we found a table for two to the rear of the restaurant, looking out onto the canal. A harassed but courteous waiter brought us a couple of Dommelsch beers, forgot our water, took our order, forgot some of that but the food was good and heartfelt apologies came each time he forgot something, including the bill.
My fellow bloggers at Blog08 had warned me that service in Amsterdam is a bit slap-dash, which turned out to be more accurate than I realised it would be. I guess it just goes with the territory. If you lived here, I think you'd get used to it.
As a starter I had a single Ostend (Belgian shrimp) croquette, served on a single slice of white bread with some sort of dill mayonnaise. It was an unattractive proposition on the plate, but creamy and tasty. I'm mad on croquettes, and this one didn't disappoint.
Monsieur had ordered a beef burger, which we'd been warned would take about 20 minutes to prepare. He was ready to wait, but when both starter and main courses arrived all at once, his starter was missing. In the end, we didn't fuss because his plate of burger, fries and salad was plenty to keep him going for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, my main was called 'Smoking Salmon as a Handicraft'. I'm not sure if that was a direct translation of something meaningful in Dutch, but it sounded intriguing. The thick slices of lightly smoked salmon was served on a bed of lettuce, between two half-moons of flatbread and was incredibly tender and tasty. Highly recommended for a light lunch.
One thing that interested me as I looked around the room was the little bottles of milk on a lot of tables. They looked like miniature Grolsch bottles, with that flip cork attachment. Apparently, the Dutch are mad for milk. I guess that explains the cow memorabilia everywhere.