All Streets G.
Yelp
Booked d'Vijff Vlieghen ('Five Flies') based on tourist sites that pointed out its 'art rooms' - recalling Amsterdam's Golden Age and Rembrandt's influence on its culture. A self-proclaimed 'culinary museum' intrigued us enough, along with solid ratings, to make it a must-try. We love culture, art, and food - so color us intrigued. The also hail using only seasonal Dutch ingredients only - which is exactly what we looked for forward to.
Now, for a bit of palate context, Amsterdam is a cacophony of tourist spots with very touristy and, very novelty, options. When you get your fill of those, you will crave a rescue from that fate. It doesn't take more than a few pieces of fried food when you'll want that taste and bit of history of the storied city of Amsterdam. With about 23 (as of writing) Michelin-starred restaurants within Amsterdam, there are many options for fine dining.
The restaurant was built across five canal houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. Each of their dining 'rooms', constituted by the different houses, is decorated in different styles and eras. All have the fingerprints and panache of Nicolaas Kroese - born in 1905 - and quite the personality of mid-century Amsterdam. The website does a great job of walking through its history - https://www.vijffvlieghen.nl/en/about-us
The menu is divided between a prix-fixe chef's menu (4, 5, or 6 courses) or a la carte. As usual, we like to try both - have one of our party try out the chef's menu, while another gets an appetizer and an entree dish apart from the other.
We started with a crisp, sparkling Dutch red wine with sweet berry notes throughout. Our starter was a fresh, mixed herring tartare. It was tossed in the slightest of oils - then adorned with pickled radishes, samphire, and tarragon. Delicious! It tasted of the Dutch seas - in a decidedly unrefined touch. While sitting in the decor of the Knight's Room - it recalled to mind a rough herring salad of hundreds of years ago. Bread and fresh butter were served alongside marcona nuts.
The chef's menu's first course was a beetroot salad with prepared apples, nuts, a light pesto, and a foam that we simply could not figure out. (We asked twice, but my ears could not pick it up.) Refer to the photo to see if you could discern it - but this was the surprise of the evening. It was Dutch seasonal vegetables, prepared lightly warmed, moist, and interwoven with several different textures and flavors. The foam added an umami oiliness to the whole thing. It was quite the break from the norm - it harkened of Dutch summer fruits and vegetables - apples, endives, celery, beetroot....
Next was a freshly poured seafood bisque - thick and gravy-like - poured over a selection of Dutch shrimp and crab. It was hearty, with deep, flavorful notes throughout.
For the main - we asked the server to help us decide between the entrées - to make sure we alternated them well. He suggested going for the Duck Breast versus the Sea Bream. Both were prepared excellently. The duck was served in a rich roux with seasonal accents, cooked to soft perfection. The bream was pan-fried well, still tender and moist - loaded with broccoli, a flavorful roux surrounded the flavorful bulgar.
For dessert, we alternated again - opting for the cheese option with the four-course chef's menu. For the sweet, we had the Dutch Advocaat - a filling mixture of stroopwafel, alcohol panna cotta, and topped with fruit and ice cream. It was probably the highlight of sweets for the trip.
As for the cheese - we found it so interesting that the Dutch serve cheese 'as is' - where we may expect a selection of bread, they serve the cheese alongside marcona nuts and two preserves (fig and currants). These cheeses came with a selection list (hurrah!) - Witte van Koning, Oudwijker Stella, Rouvener Extra Extra Oud, and Oudwijker Lazuli. Our favorites were the first and the fourth - the more profound, aged notes suited us well for the end of the meal.
Of course, you must take turns in your party to wander around after you're done. Kroese's spirit can still be felt in all the warm touches and smiling faces - that was the delight. Even if you may not go in to eat, peek through the windows and see the delight on the customer's faces!
You may see varying ratings for d'Vijff, but our experience was lovely. We had to make reservations, so that is a must - they will also charge 15 Euro per person. On entering, our servers were warm, friendly, and accommodating throughout. The food was served when it was ready, meaning don't expect it to come out right away -this was fine with us because the quality was there. We recommend their selection of wines; they paired well throughout the meal.
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