Bord'eau**, Amsterdam
Till now my culinary explorations have concentrated mainly around Rotterdam. This is in part due to the fact that I live there, so it’s more accessible for us to go for dinner there. Traveling back after a long dinner, may be a problem if you have to depend on public transport in the Netherlands. This time, however, both my parents were in town and we decided to go for dinner with their good friends who live in Amsterdam. I took this opportunity to suggest we go to Bord’eau, which is a two-starred restaurant from Richard van Oostenbrugge located in the hotel De l’Europe and has a beautiful view over the Amstel river in Amsterdam. We had previously visited the Hoofdstad Brasserie, and considering our disappointment, I thought this would be a great way to actually experience his cooking.
We were first presented with some lovely little signature amuses by the chef. The first amuse was a luke warm Chicken Amuse, which consisted of a jelly and a herb sauce. It was surprising how much taste their was in this little bite and we enjoyed it very much.
The next amuse was a Green Couscous garden, there were various green vegetables accompanied by a soft cheese. The presentation of this was impeccable, it looked like spring on a plate.
The third amuse was Smoked Crab and Avocado. Always being a fan of seafood and crab I loved this bite. The smokiness of the crab was spot on and the thin slices of avocado were the perfect accompaniment. After the amuses they also started serving bread, which may I add, was probably some of the best bread I’ve eaten in a restaurant. I know, you shouldn’t fill yourself up with bread, and I usually am very good at only having a taste of the bread basket. But I think the bread the restaurant serves, is quite a nice representation of the quality of the food given. The bread here came warm and freshly baked out of the oven. I think my brother may have eaten at least 7 to 8 pieces, just because he thought it was so great and every time he saw them coming out with the next round of warm bread he would quickly finish what was left, so he would get another piece.
Our final amuse arrived, which was a Tartar of Veal, Marrow and Caviar. This dish was very nice and subtle. The saltiness of the caviar paired surprisingly well with the raw veal and was enjoyed by all of us at the table. Also the marrow, wasn’t actual bone marrow, it was actually made out of potato filled with sour cream, a interesting play on this.
The first course was Mackerel, Quinoa, Tomato. It was a tightly plated dish, with tight I’m referring to the mackerel being wrapped around the quinoa. This must’ve been such a tedious task to do, but all our plates looked the same. I’m not really a fan of quinoa, well actually more like grains and pasta in general, when you have so many courses. I often feel like it’s a way for the restaurant to cheat and try to make you full, as to compensate for the smaller dishes. Therefore I also just left the quinoa, since it didn’t have much flavor (maybe if you paired it with the mackerel, but I’d rather enjoy the protein pure) anyways.
The second course was an Oyster with Champagne Foam and Beurre Blanc. The oyster was plump and very fresh. I’m not really an expert on oysters, since I don’t eat them that often, but according to the rest of the table this was a very good one and they loved the dish.
Our one friend doesn’t like oysters, so she got served an alternative, which was Beet with Mustard. This was beautiful, the colors of the beet really stood out on the plate and the taste was wonderful. I actually enjoyed this more than the oyster dish, so I was somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t also changed mine. But hey, since I got to try some from her, I got to have both.
Next was Lobster and Mango with Tandoori Masala. This was the dish I’d been looking out for the entire night. Basically this lobster claw was as big as the “half lobster” I ordered in Brasserie, something seems off with the portion sizes at the Brasserie. Anyways this dish was wonderful. Mango is probably my favorite fruit, and although this wasn’t a Thai Honey Mango, the slightly sourness of this mango went well with the lobster and the curry flavors. All in all, a lovely dish.
The course before our mains, was a Dover Sole topped with iced Foie Gras. I must say the sole was fresh and perfectly poached. But that foie just tasted fatty and unhealthy. I didn’t think it added much, so after a quick taste I quickly swiped it all off (before it melted) and gave it to my brother, who didn’t really mind.
For the mains I opted for my fish course again. I was given a Red Mullet served with Artichoke. For a main this was tiny. It was half a baby artichoke! But anyways, the fish was nicely done and I loved the crispy skin on both sides. I enjoyed it very much.
The rest of the table got served the Saddle of Lamb. They all complained about the portion size, since they were expecting something more substantial. This was also the only real meat dish this evening, so especially the men had wanted more meat. The lamb, was cooked to perfection and the next day my mum still couldn’t stop going on about how great the quality of meat must’ve been.
The menu had two desserts, which my family didn’t mind at all, considering our sweet tooth. The first was the signature Apple Dessert. This consisted of an Apple Core made out of Apple Sorbet with Chocolate seeds on top of puff pastry and encased in a sugar shell. This was beautiful to look at and was refreshing. I did feel, that it was nicer to look at than to eat. So I was happy that we were getting another dessert after this.
The second dessert of the menu was the Strawberries with Goat Cheese. It didn’t appeal to me that much, which is why I switched mine out for another dessert I had spotted on their menu before. But according to everyone else at the table it tasted good and they were surprised at how well the goat cheese went with the strawberries. Considering both my brother and mum don’t like cheese that much, that is quite a compliment.
Now on to my dessert, the Chocolate Balloon Eclipse. I had spotted this beauty on Instagram and was amazed by it. So I was very excited when they said it was alright for me to have this dessert instead of the strawberry one. When it came on the table I couldn’t stop smiling, I was so excited. The waiter poured the warm white chocolate coffee sauce over the sphere and it began to melt away, my eyes just lit up. This was amazing! Inside the sphere the core got revealed, which consisted of different preparations of chocolate, which included some phenomenal dark chocolate ice cream. It was chocolate on chocolate, but for whatever reason it didn’t feel like too much. I was in chocolate and dessert heaven. Writing about it now, I wish I could go back just to have that.
It was already extremely late, but that didn’t mean that I was going to pass on tea with the beautiful Friandises I had spotted beforehand. First to arrive at our table was this little garden consisting of a Chocolate Tree, with Passion Fruit Leaves and some Chocolate “Nuts.” We also were given a bowl with White Chocolate Truffles in Black Truffle Soil, which was a fun concept. Digging for our own truffles.
The chocolate friandises they had were beautiful. Autumn inspired, there was a Pumpkin Chocolate, a Hazelnut Praline, the berries made out of Candy, and a white Truffle filled with Armagnac. I got both the pumpkin and the hazelnut, which I thought looked beautiful and tasted great. Just so beautiful to look at. This was a great finish to a lovely meal, and definitely much better than the Brasserie. By the time we finished we still had a long journey back home, and I think it was around 2 am when we were finally home. That’s the downside of going to a different city for a meal, but it definitely was worth the long sleepy ride home.