Restaurant Anna, Amsterdam

It was about time to start posting again. On this beautiful afternoon we went for lunch at the new  Restaurant Anna located in one of the oldest quarters in Amsterdam, the infamous Red Light District. The sun was shining, our bellies were rumbling and looking forward to some good food. Anna here we come........

View of the Oude Kerk, one of the oldest churches in Amsterdam.

The bar and open kitchen area at the entrance of the restaurant.

The cool decor.

The little savoury delights with our aperitif.

Amuse of a grapefruit gel and a parmezan cheese foam. Am not very sure though because I lost the menu.

A starter with Iberico ham, parmezan cheese crackers and dry cured deer.

Confit de saumon with apple marsh mallow and a suspicious powder.

On our way to have a sigarette break in the cellar.

Smoking area, underneath the restaurant. 

Next were our entrees, starting with a very flavoursome fish soup with stuffed baby squid, scallops and mussels.

Next the panfried halibut with a Hollandaise (?) sauce.

In a city where many restaurants suffer from the
'form over substance' virus, Restaurant Anna is a very pleasant exception. From the cool decor, the professional and friendly staff right down to the flavoursome dishes and clean cooking, it all made sense. The entrance is located on the Warmoesstraat and the restaurant stretches all the way to the Oude Kerksplein, right in the middle of the Red Light District. A diverse clientele enjoys the relaxed atmosphere and the good food. Restaurant Anna deserves to have a bright future.

Restaurant Anna, Warmoesstraat 111,  www.restaurantanna.nl

A quick dinner at Bridges, Amsterdam

                                                    About ten years ago this former City Hall and iconic Amsterdam building, which is located in one of the oldest parts of the city's historic centre and bordering the infamous Red Light District, was transformed into hotel The Grand. The world famous Roux brothers were hired to set up the brasserie. Their dishes were, as you would expect from a French brasserie, quite rich and old school-ish . A couple of months ago The Grand finished the latest renovations and fortunately the brasserie has gone and made way to a new, may we say more 'hip', loungy restaurant. Although the lounge-concept has been around for as many as ten or fifteen years, it's still a major  improvement.

The food of Bridges restaurant can best be described as modernized brasserie food. After our amuse of Dutch herring (above) we were served a tartare of Yellowfin tuna with pont neuf potatoes. When there are only two or three components on your plate, you want them to be perfect and well they were not. The pont neuf potatoes were a bit soggy and the tartare very chunky, which made this main course a bit of a chewy situation. Hard to digest, especially since this dish will set you back € 26. Our wine to go with our main course was a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand. Forgot the name of the wine farm but it was a smooth, dry and flavorsome wine. The desserts fortunately made up for former mistakes. The chocolate fondant was cooked to perfection and the (melted) champagne sorbet had a subtle taste. Loved the little chocolate tree! The raspberry dessert, with white chocolate ice cream and meringue had a nice crunch and was a nice and refreshing end to this dinner. All in all we felt that they might need some more time to get into their groove. The service was good though and the friendly waiters took good care of us. We applaud The Grand's glamourous makeover and though the food wasn't quite there yet, we certainly will be back because every one deserves a second chance.

Bridges Restaurant at The Grand,
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 197, Amsterdam.
www.bridgesrestaurant.nl