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Café Par Hasard – Almere

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.9/5 | Google – 4.2/5

In April 2018 Par Hasard opened their doors in Almere. Located on the Belfort, the restaurant square of Almere.

It’s the first franchise of this concept that has been proven successful in Amsterdam. Richard, the franchisee, has been the chef in Amsterdam for over three years, before opening his own Par Hasard.

The atmosphere is that of a Belgian ‘frietkot’ combined with that of a eatery. Par Hasard has a nice menu, with starters and main courses. Most products are homemade, and that reflects in the taste. The fries are fresh as are their sauces and side dishes.

Special wishes? No problem for Richard. If possible he will accomodate you.

We always enjoy eating at Par Hasard. Service is friendly and professional and fits the cafe feeling of the place. We enjoyed the small sole fish, the satay, the hamburger, the chicken, the fish and chips and of course the ‘zoervleisj’.

You are also welcome for just a drink, or a few. We are sure you will order some nice snacks to go along.

Café Par Hasard Almere  |  Belfort 128  |  1315 VD  Almere

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Gasterij Stadzigt – Naarden

Ratings : F-D – 3/5| TripAdvisor – 3.5/5 | Facebook – 4.1/5  | Google – 4.1/5

Driving by we have seen the sign ‘Gasterij Stadzigt’ very often and it was one of those places on our list ‘to visit when the occasion arises’.

Last week finally we had a reason the visit this restaurant. It’s located in the middels of a nature park operated by the organization Natuurmonumenten. Of course we are only interested in the part where you can get food and drinks…

Beautiful weather, and luckily we were able to get a table on the terrace.

We ordered drinks and studied the lunch menu. The white wine is Spanish, the girl serving us had no idea of what grape, but of course willing to go inside to check. The beer is from Docqmans, a small brewer in Tiel in the Netherlands but the beer is advertised as Belgium???? Maybe worth some more research…

We ordered the fish trio -advertised on their printed menu as ‘variety of smoked fish and tuna salad’ with bread and butter-, the tuna melt and two veal croquettes on bread.

When served the fish trio was made up of salmon (smoked), some very tasteless and watery crayfish and the tuna salad that looked and tasted like canned tuna without anything done to prepare it and turn in into a salad. We mentioned our disappointment with the waitress who discussed it with the kitchen: “we always do the smoked salmon and the tuna and the third fish is whatever we have of could get our hands on”.
(Strange that the menu on the website states a trio of fish without further specification.)

The tuna melt consisted of one slice of sourdough bread with the same boring tuna thinly spread and of course the cheese melted on top.

The two veal croquettes came on one slice of the sourdough bread.

All very ‘sparse’ and there was not enough value for money. Service was adequate but not very warm or welcoming.

Gasterij Stadzigt  |  Meerkade 2a  |  1412 AB  Naarden

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Prik – Amsterdam

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.5/5  | Google – 4.6/5

Last weekend food-drinks.info had an appointment with a friend in Amsterdam and we decided to meet at the Prik.

Prik has become a famous gay-bar in their 11 year of existence. Always packed, good music, nice terrace and the best cocktails. The very friendly staff provides a very relaxed atmosphere both for locals and tourists.

The drinks are brought to your table and even if you visit Prik for the first time they offer you to run a tab. Let me tell you that not many places in Amsterdam do that anymore.

We enjoyed beer, wine and of course a cocktail. The wodka strawberry delight is one of our favorites. We were there at the Sunday happy hour so snacks were offered for free.

The wodka strawberry delight is the one on the right.

Prik often has special offers on their drinks and organizes all kinds of events. Check out their website for moren information and whenever you are in Amsterdam we recommend you visit Prik!

Prik | Spuistraat 109 | Amsterdam

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Restaurant Bentinck – Amerongen

Ratings : F-D – 3.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.9/5  | Google – 4.7/5

Driving through the Dutch countryside we decided on a visit of the Buitenplaats (estate) Amerongen. This beautiful estate is the place of a castle and in one of the old outbuildings you’ll find restaurant Bentinck.

We found a table on the terrace with a great view of the castle. We had to ask for a menu and overall the service was not too observant. We enjoyed a few  neighborhood beers and a Bobby’s gin tonic with slices of orange with cloves.

From their ‘bites’ menu we ordered the cheese platter, the shrimps in panko and the homemade small meat croquettes. The cheese platter had five very small pieces of cheese on it. Shrimps and croquettes, six of each, were nice.

Unfortunately we had to ask the staff to clear the table. When ordering a second round of drinks they apparently didn’t notice the snacks were finished so they left the platters on our table.

We left at 16:12 hrs. and everybody was very busy setting tables for dinner and placing the reserved signs on them. This seemed very early to us, and the effect was that people arriving just for a drink were denied a table. Maybe they have a good reason, but it seems they are missing out on business that way.

When we are in the area again maybe we go back to Bentinck because of the nice terrace but it’s not on the top of our list.

Restaurant Bentinck | Drostestraat 12 | 3958 BK Amerongen

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De Kluis – Doorn

Ratings : F-D – 3.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4/5 | Facebook – 4.2/5  | Google – 3.9/5

Food-drinks.info needed a lunch while touring on a beautifull and sunny day in August. We are always on the lookout for nice place to have a bite to eat. That is how we found ourselves on the terrace of De Kluis (The Vault) in Doorn.

Bert started with a latte macchiato and a pastry called ‘skitaart’ and I had a cappuccino. After that we decided to order from the lunch menu. We had a sandwich roll with warm meat and peanut sauce and the chef’s surprise.

Normally this type of sandwich is made with slices of roulade but this one was made with ham, and lots of it. Unfortunately the request to put butter on the sandwich wasn’t honored. Ham and bread tasted great and made a nice lunch.

The chef’s surprise consisted of four slices of French bread with carpaccio, ham, goats cheese and salmon. Made me think of pinchos.

All four were very tasty and fresh with appropriate dressings.

 

Very friendly staff, nice location and terrace in the center of Doorn. Food-drinks.info would go back whenever in the neighborhood.

Gasterij De Kluis | Plein 1923 nr. 24 | 3941 ER Doorn

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G’vine Wijn | Bier | Lounge – Almere

Ratings : F-D – 4.0/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.8/5  | Google – 4.7/5

A popular spot for food-drinks.info to relax is G’vine (George’s Vineyard) in Almere. We frequent this place to enjoy some of the great wines, beers or gin tonics served by George.

George opened G’vine in Juni 2016 and managed to get a nice group of loyal customers. That combined with the occasional visitors and tourist makes it a nice mix.

Besides a drink you can also have a snack at G’vine. They serve the famous Dutch ‘bitterballen’ from De Bourgondier, make a mean set of pinchos or you order a cheese or meat platter. All combinations are possible. Another option is to get something from the surrounding restaurants of Belfort to be served at G’vine.

Inside you can sit at the bar, at the bar tables, the lounge chairs or in one of the cozy corners in the back. Outside there is a nice terrace on the Belfort.

Often on Fridays and Saturdays G’vine offers live music and throughout the year there are various events scheduled such as wine or beer tastings.

Maybe we see each other at G’vine!

G’vine Wijn – Bier – Lounge | Belfort 130 | 1315 VD Almere