Amsterdam

Photo Series: House Of Bols Cocktails, In Amsterdam

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The Snow Owl & Aged Mai Tai

THE SNOW OWL
* 30ml Bols Natural Yoghurt Liqueur
* 30ml Bols Lychee Liqueur
* Fresh lemon juice
* Bols Maraschino Liqueur

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into glass filled with crushed ice.

AGED MAI TAI
* 37.5ml Bols Barrel Aged Genever
* 22.5ml Bols Dry Orange Liqueur
* 7.5ml Sugar syrup
* 7.5ml Almond syrup
* 30ml Fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into glass filled with crushed ice.

The Monarch

THE MONARCH
* Fresh mint leaves
* 30ml Bols Genever
* 30ml Bols Lychee Liqueur
* 22.5ml Bols Triple Sec
* 7.5ml Fresh lemon juice
* 7.5ml Sugar syrup

Muddle the mint leaves in the glass. Fill with crushed ice. Shake the rest of the ingredients with ice and strain into the glass.

Adam’s Apple

ADAM’S APPLE
* 45ml Bols Jonge Genever
* 15ml Bols Sour Apple Liqueue
* 60ml Cloudy apple juice
* 7.5ml Fresh lime juice
* 7.5ml Bols Grenadine

Squeeze and drop a lime wedge into a shaker. Add the other ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into a glass filled with ice.

Ejo #34 – TEEC: Day 15 (Wonderful Wine Bars In Amsterdam)

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So far we’ve “happened” upon two wonderful wine bars in Amsterdam. The first, Vyne, is part of a design/drink/eat team’s conglomerate in town. The other, Bubble and Wine, was recommended by our good friend Mr. Wilde (no, I’m not making him up, I swear!).

So… which one is better? Vyne was Winebar Of The Year in 2010 and B&W won that accolade last year. If you were to ask my honest opinion about which one deserves to be crowned this year, I would have to say…. Vyne. By a whisker. The service was slightly warmer in B&W but the wine itself shined through at Vyne.

We had the champagne flight at both places, and while one of the three serves at Vyne had to be replaced for being flat, two of the three at Bubbles and Wine were less bubbly than bubbly should be. We were the first customers for the day so perhaps they’d been sitting there uncorked for a while, but for the price we were paying (€26.95 at B&W versus €20 at Vyne) the staff should have tasted/checked it before serving.

Champagne Flight at Bubbles And Wine

Also, even though we didn’t eat at Bubbles and Wine, the food (though comparable, on paper, to that served at Vyne) was twice as expensive. We did enjoy some of the bar snacks at Vyne (mixed tapas plate of shrimp wontons, shrimp croquettes and veal croquettes as well as a mixed Italian charcuterie plate) and they were probably some of the best, tastiest and freshest bar food I’ve ever had. First class.

Italian charcuterie at Vyne. Generous AND delicious!

Bubbles And Champagne, impressively served most of their wines in Riedel stemware. Classy!

Corks at Bubble And Wine.

I think if we had all the time in the world we might have returned to both bars, but seeing as we only have three more nights, if it’s a choice between the two, my choice is Vyne.

Ejo #34 – TEEC: Day 14 (Fondue In Amsterdam)

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Yesterday we farewelled all our friends. So tonight, we went out to dinner alone for the first time in a few days. And in a way I feel like we betrayed one of our friends by going to a fondue restaurant. While we’d been together, we’d had several (interesting) conversations. One of which entailed admitting your crack. What does this mean? It means confessing what food (or drink) item you either can’t live without or simply cannot have because once you start you can’t stop. You know, your crack!!!

Mine is bread and chocolate. Which I avoid like the plague. Claire’s is cheese! Which she chooses to eat most days. So in a way, I feel mean that we didn’t have fondue night while she was here. But maybe… just maybe it’s for the best??? You know, I don’t want to be an enabler!!!

So off to Cafe Bern we went. Bubbling with the lilting chatter of a room full of Dutch people, it was a welcoming restaurant to step into. That welcome was extended when the friendly and charming waitress translated the Dutch menu to us. They don’t do an English menu, you see. And that’s one of the reasons I liked Cafe Bern from the start. It doesn’t go out of its way to attract a tourist clientele, preferring to cater to the local crowd. Just my scene!!!

Cafe Bern’s menu

It’s a fairly simple menu. Melted cheese in a pot (with bread to dip) and entrecôte that you cook yourself over a flame. So that’s what we got. Now I don’t, as you know, eat bread. But that didn’t deter me. I just dipped my salad into the cheese. Yum!

Why not lettuce and Gruyère?? Why not, I ask you?!!

Delicious entrecôte that you cook to your own liking by placing it in the yummy herb sauce which is sitting over a low flame. Divine!!!