Well. I was intending to have a quiet Sunday, when I got a call from my girlfriend wanting to have lunch with me. I've never been one to turn down an offer of some fabulous grub and wine on a Sunday, so I left 'The Buik' to his chores and suggested we head to the College hotel again. My girlfriend works in HORECA, which is restaurants to us normal folk, and she is always on the lookout for new places to eat/drink in.

We took a table, cosy alcove with some really comfy sofas and we tucked into a variety of typical Dutch treats. Yup. Fried objects galore. Not the normal nasty fried objects that are void of taste and contain suspicious looking ingredients you wouldnt want to dwell on for more than 5 seconds. We ate mini goats cheese balls fried, shrimp croquettes, some honeyed chicken which was beautiful, delicate pieces of smoked ham, mini veal croquettes and a huge piece of Reypenaar cheese complete with guiloteen and rasin bread (which I naturally discarded in disgust - please do not bastardise a perfectly good piece of bread by adding fruit to it!)

Unfortunately, we were served by 'Space Cadets' who had left their brains temporarily at home. Which was fun. And the clientele, was decidely dodgy yesterday. There were a few plastic surgery victims hanging around and a guy that had been on the marching powder, by the looks of his wild eyed gurning.  It was a all a bit much for 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. But, we tucked into the wine with gay abandon and we wobbled home at 9pm thoroughly stuffed to the brim with fried objects. Compliments to the Chief Fryer at the College hotel :)

Not sure if I'd go back again now though. The hotel has a bad case of fruit flies and I dont really like being told, when I complained, that 'the flies came free with the wine' - funny, but not exactly what you want to hear :)

Now I dont know what is going on with Red. I rang up the day before and got a table with no problem, whereas a few weeks previous, no amount of begging, pleading or foot stamping could have secured us a table. I was SMS'd earlier in the day to remind me that I had a reservation and that they were looking forward to welcoming us. Nice touch.
We arrived and our friends were already knee deep in rosé champagne. Well it would be rude not to, as they do a fantastic rosé by the glass. I wasnt in the mood for rosé and really wanted red wine, but it's a travesty to drink a heavy red with lobster so plumped for a bottle of good old Veuve instead. Lobster and champagne. Another modest, understated meal on a Tuesday night for Blondie and the Buik :)
I took the lobster with beurre blanc and the Buik and 2 friends took the 'Surf and Turf'. Not only did the food arrive this side of midnight (which is rare in Amsterdam) but the quality of the food was still as high as ever. I snuffled some of the Buik's meat and it was fabulous. Even better than the last time we ate here, although it was slightly undercooked for my liking. Not for Buik's liking as he is 100% caveman at the moment. The frites were fabulous and I decided to skip South Beach that night and eat the lot - along with their fabulous mayonnaise. I guess I am truly integrated into Holland :(
We didnt do dessert as none of us were in the mood for a heavy dinner - and got the check. The bill for 3 Surf and Turfs, 1 lobster, 2 glasses of rosé champagne and 1 bottle of Veuve was 225 Euros. Again, not the cheapest meal ever but for the quality - it is more than reasonable.
Full marks to Red. I dont think I've been to a restaurant in Amsterdam for a very long time, that served food this consistently good. I am hesitant to even put it on my blog, because then it may get busier than it is now and I wont be able to get a table there :)

Well what a fine morning it has been so far. The Buik took one look at me when I got up and told me I looked 'drunk'. Just to clarify this - I am feeling rather delicate at the moment. No, not from having one of those endless parties at home ;) but I seem to have contracted a cold from someone and in between sneezing, wheezing, coughing like a 20 a day smoker and threatening to keel over, I am trying to soldier on as normal. However this morning I should have stayed home. Going to work looking like a 'drunk' is not really my corporate uniform of choice.

My girlfriend, let's call her P, because that is what I call her :) decided to host a birthday party at home for herself to celebrate being 18 again (age non disclosed). Now I always look forward to being hosted at someones house. The warmth you feel when you are welcomed into the bosom of any home is delightful and I knew we would have lots of fun. You may be wondering why I am even blogging about my girlfriends party. Well a) she asked me to ;) and b) sorry there is no b. Today I am just following P's orders :)

I arrived at 7.30pm with 2 friends that had just arrived from work. Apologies to the apartment directly below P's. No, that wasnt 3 elephants clattering up your stairs last night, it was in fact, 3 delectable ladies with high heels on negotiating 5 sets of death trap stairs :) We were knackered from that bout of exercise and was rewarded with a glass of champagne for our ascent.

P had done her apartment proud. It looked beautiful. Table laid with pretty cloth and nibbles to put us on until the feast was served. She had obviously been reading my 'How to be a housewife book'. The other girls arrived and the cackling began. Like witches around a cauldron.

We spent far too much time discussing the relative merits of the Sonja Bakker diet compared to the South Beach diet and an inordinate amount of time discussing nose sprays (dont ask). I am sure if our respective OH's had seen us, they would have been suitably horrified and bored rigid. It is only girls, or at least the girls I am close to over here, that can spend a whole evening discussing whether Andy Garcia really IS 5ft nothing and the state of Brad Pitt's skin. The Middle East conflict and the war in Afgahnistan went unresolved last night, but we all had enormous amounts of fun.

Food up next. P did a fabulous spread :) Quiche to start with (none of this supermarket shite, hand made by her own fair hands). It was fabulous. Dressed with a simple salad, it was the perfect light starter. In true Amsterdam style, the last person to finish eating signalled a 2 cigarette break and more cackling began over Cameron Diaz's skirt that M saw on People.com the other day. All high brow conversations here you know :)

For main course we ate a chicken curry which I loved. Creamy and spicy, just the way it should be, all mopped up with Turkish bread from heaven. And for the token vegetarian, P made a 'Yemini curry dish' which had the devils work that is Tofu in, a beautiful tomatoey, spicy sauce. Tofu should be eaten this way and this way only.

Another 2 cigarettes later, we had the ultimate of desserts. Chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmellows. Now you know my utter hatred for anything fruit like. Well I can report that fruit is the perfect vehicle for melted chocolate. You simply cant beat it. And by the time we'd finished that little lot, most of us were comparing our 4 month pregnant bellies.

It was a civilised dinner as everyone shuffled out well before midnight - well done to us all. Our OH's could learn a lesson or two from us (Blondie readjusts her beautifully polished halo)

Thank you P Meister for holding a fabulous dinner party.

Till next year x

I am excited. Or should I say, I was excited. A new concept has arrived in Amsterdam in the Park Hotel, which is situated on the border of Oud Zuid and Centrum. Now the mention of a 'new concept' would usually be met with sniggers from Blondie and the Buik. The only 'new concept' I've seen in the 7 years of living here, is the no smoking ban (which is laughably failing) and some fancy new bike racks installed down the road from us.
The Park Hotel has been a long standing fixture in the lives of Blondie and the Buik. Many a Sunday afternoon has been spent drinking the bar out of their bloody good mojitos and eating the kitchen out of fried objects. I was sad when I saw it being knocked down but looked forward to frequenting whatever would take its place.
Me and a girlfriend wandered over there at 10.30pm. The place was heaving. We managed to get the only spare table and ordered a mojito (for me) and a 'Virgin Angel' (for her). We cast a critical glance over the place. The serving staff were running around like headless chickens. Tables had dirty plates that looked like they were not going to be cleared this side of midnight - and some of the clientele were starting to get agitated. Our cocktails arrived and were 'so so' (and at 17 Euros for 2, I am thinking they should have been better). The place looks great. Very modern and clean and something that would not look out of place in London. This is definately not like any other place I've been to in Amsterdam. The menu, which we did not try on this visit, is Asian influenced and a few dishes have been nicked from Nobu in London. Blackened cod, for starters.
The clientele were depressingly familiar and predictable. Any new trendy hotspot brings out the P.C Hooftstraat wife attempts in their droves. In fact one just pranced past in hotpants, brand new breast implants and a top that said 'Fuck Me'. Just in case you weren't already aware that she was up for some fun after her champagne ran out. The guys had the P.C Hooftstraat uniform down to a tee. Long, unkempt hair, jeans, stripey shirts, with the standard issue white t-shirt underneath and loafers. Table fulls of guys, drunkenly clutching glasses of rosé whilst bellowing 'Gezellig hoor', leering at the girls that were desperate to shack up with one for the night. Me and P took one look at each other and got the cheque.
In short, Momo is a lovely looking place. Perfect, I think for a midweek dinner. But the service was really chaotic, which I will overlook seeing as they are on their 'soft launch phase'. But with the official launch of Momo this week, the service will have to improve.

Keep your eyes peeled for the food review that will follow, just as soon as I've persuaded The Buik to leave his Oud Zuid haven of tranquility :)

Edited to add, we went to Momo for drinks a couple of weeks ago - and am afraid to report that the place stank of a combination of industrial strengthed cleaning fluids and fried food.  Which is never that good a combination.  I ordered a mojito and it was - worse than average.  I gave it to The Buik to finish it was that bad :(

The College Hotel was a lovely addition to Amsterdam a couple of years ago, when it seems like we had exhausted all the 'nice places' to eat and drink in the city. And even handier, it was just 10 minutes walk from our house. Job's a good 'un I thought.

After going there several times for drinks, it soon became clear why it was called 'College' hotel. All the staff were in training, which is something I dont particularly have any problems with. I mean, we all have to start somewhere dont we? But what I have a problem with, is when the prices are in the lofty league. Cocktails were around 12 Euros. Their wine list is good (with a good range of vodka's, gins and fizz) and the cocktail list is ample, with the barman being able to knock up anything you want that isnt on the list.

So when I was to meet up with a girl I used to work with, and became very good friends with, we decided to go back to the College Hotel after not being there for a year. I hadnt been back for that long because the last time we went, it seemed to have been infiltrated by mafia and their molls, which is not really my cup of tea, if I'm honest. Plus, the service was atrocious. Something which I have no patience for.

We managed to get a cosy table with 2 sofas and plumped for the drink that I always order when I cant decide what I want to drink - a 'Kir Royale'. And a very good Kir royale it was too. The kir balanced out the acidity of the champagne, but didnt take over from the champagne and it was altogether a vey nice drink. And so it should have been for 12.50. I see someone has been meddling with the price list over the past year ;)

We ordered 'Risotto with chanterelle mushrooms, cheese and poached egg'. A dish that I would usually stear clear of, on the premise that I can make a splendid risotto at home and every such venture into risotto land, when eating out, fills me full of disappointment. But we were both feeling lucky and braved it. It was utterly fabulous, plump grains of rice, brilliantly, perfectly cooked, plenty of bite and certainly nothing like the stodgy, overcooked crap served up in most restaurants where risotto is featured. The chanterelles were beautiful and the cheese, I found, was somewhat heavy. I am not sure what cheese they had used to finish the risotto, but it was really heavy and definately not pecorino/parmesan that is usually used. In fact, the risotto was swimming in cheese, something that I didnt mind, because I'm a 'Cheese Whore' (as one of my friends eloquently called me one dinner party) but to the risotto traditionalists, your stomach may not have been able to stand it. Poached egg, which I have never had on top of risotto, was a nice touch too.

Nevertheless, it was a nice dish and all satisified I ordered a glass of Merlot to wash it all down with. One last cocktail, 'A Mandarin Cosmopolitan' had more alcohol in it than I have ever seen, but we thought we'd give it a go anyway. Blimey. It blew my socks off and was perfectly proportioned. Any more of those and I would have to got a taxi home ;)

The bill for 2 Kir Royales, 1 water, 2 Risotto, 2 Cosmos and 2 glasses of wine came to 90 Euros. Not the cheapest 'meal' in the history of eating out, but the service has improved massively and the clientele is back to what I feel comfortable with. Food, wine and cocktails were very good and I shall be taking 'The Buik' there soon.

I am always reluctant to visit a restaurant that describes itself as 'the latest hotspot in Amsterdam in the style of a trendy French brasserie'. The words 'hotspot' and 'trendy' when it comes to describing restaurants, particularly in Amsterdam, usually has Blondie and the 'Buik' running for the hills. Never has so many evenings been spent in the latest 'hotspot' or 'trendy' restaurants and you realise that the locals concept of 'hotspot' or 'trendy' is very far off the mark.

What put me off even more is their incredily limited menu. How can a restaurant proudly say that they only thing they serve is 'lobster and fillet steak' and expect people to come stampeding through the doors. Now I love steak and lobster as well as the next person, but to have no other choice, I felt, was either brave, or bloody stupid.

We let our friends test it out first ;) as they are usually a good judge of what is good and what is not in Amsterdam. Once they eventually got a table, they gave it glowing reports.

So one evening, Blondie and the Buik gingerly ventured out of our square kilometre Oud Zuid residence and made the 15 minute walk to Red.

Service was good. We got attended to quickly and with no drama. The serving staff knew the menu, particularly the drinks menu without having to ask someone else. I got a great glass of champagne to start with as I am always on the look out to try new fizz. Our friends were feeling celebratory (no idea why ) and they drank Veuve Cliquot, which is reasonably priced at around 60 Euros. I took a bottle of red, naturally (Argentinian Malbec) and Buik drank the fizz, along with a bottle of Montagny Premier Cru, which was fabulous.

I took the lobster with 'Chef's butter' and the Buik took the 'Surf and Turf'. I couldnt believe the quality of the food. My lobster was tremendous. Just the best lobster I possibly, have ever eaten. Perfectly cooked, succulent, tender with the most beautiful, butter sauce over it. The Buik's Surf and Turf was hearty. The meat, again, one of the best steaks either of us have eaten. Truly amazing. It was served with frites, big thick crunchy Belgium type ones, with mayonnaise which certainly didnt taste like it was hand pumped by wenches out the back.

I took the cheeseboard for dessert and that again was good. Good selection of cheeses and plenty of fresh bread to go with it.

I cant believe I've found a restaurant in Amsterdam where the food is amazing, the service is good and more importantly, doesnt cost the earth.

We are going there again tonight for dinner - and managed to get a table, bizarrely enough. It was booked up for days in advance some time ago. I hope the quality is the same as it was a few months ago.