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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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Singel 101 – Amsterdam

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5| TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.7/5  | Google – 4.4/5

Food-drinks is enthousiast about an newly discovered restaurant in Amsterdam. Located on Singel 101 bearing the same name.

The restaurant operates without a menu. The chef, Orlando David Iradi, who has worked with three Michelin star chef Sergio Herman, is based on the chef’s menu only. It starts of with three courses for € 35,= and can be extended to 6 courses.

Our visit started of with some nice amuses presented in a trendy style. Our three course menu started of with a very nice salmon, served in a cucumber soup, with a kroepoek of potato and an ever so nice wasabi creme.

For us the star of the menu was the braised veal cheek in it’s own jus. Accompanied by some grilled green asparagus and leek.

The dessert was a very tasty panna cotta style pudding with passion fruit.

The restaurant is family owned and run which provides a good understanding of hospitality. The lady serving is very friendly and does everything to make your dinner a great experience.

We understand the menu changes often depending on availability, season, quality, freshness and price of the produce. That showed when, a week later, we visited Singel 101 again and had a completely different new menu.

Restaurant Singel 101  |  Singel 101  |  1012 VG  Amsterdam

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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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PorterHouse – Naarden

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 3.5/5 | Facebook – 4.5/5  | Google – 4.0/5

PorterHouse is a wonderful modern and contemporary restaurant with a casual atmosphere. It’s located at the marina of Naarden.

The porch overlooking the marina functions as a terrace and is a perfect spot to enjoy a nice dinner or some bites with family and friends while enoying  the harbour.

The interior of the restaurant has a great industrial look and feel, with a big bar and an open kitchen.

Maybe you can get a spot at the chef’s table and enjoy watching your food being prepared.

The menu is based around steaks, but they also serve rotisserie farmhouse chicken, burgers, salads and fish. Except for the burgers, which comes with fries, you can order all side dishes separate. They are big enough to share with your other guests.

For an enjoyable time with just some nice wine and smaller dishes the PorterHouse  menu contains a section of bites. Perfect for sharing!

We enjoyed the crispy onion rings with lime aioli and the chicken wings with herbs and garlic from the bites menu as starters. As our main we had the ladysteak and a premium bavette. Both were perfectly grilled and very tender. The steaks are served standard with a sauce based on Madeira. For the bavette I chose the chimichurri that is prepared at the table.

The good habit of asking for specials that are not on the menu resulted in us being the first guests to enjoy the new dessert based on coffee with orange.

It is like Grand Marnier on a plate. Very tastefull and I can highly recommend this as a great way to finish your meal.

 

The staff at PorterHouse is very friendly and welcoming. Service went smooth and the timing between courses fitted our expectations.

PorterHouse is a very popular restaurant and I advice you to book a table before going there.

PorterHouse  |  IJsselmeerweg 6  |  1411 AA Naarden

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Restaurant De Hanninkshof – Usselo (Enschede)

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

Restaurant Hanninkshof is located in the small village of Usselo that is a part  of the municipality of Enschede.

Hanninkshof is located in an old building that dates back to around 1800 when it was already in use as the local cafe. It has convenient parking right in front of the restaurant.

Entering through the hallway you are in the lobby and are welcomed by one of the staff members. If you like you can enjoy your aperitif here seated in the comfortable Chesterfield chairs.

The interior has a warm feel with a nice mix of classic and modern furniture and decoration.

The food can be described as classic French taste with a modern twist. Hanninkshof works as much as possible with Dutch products in accordance with the season. They source from small farmers and producers and know exactly where the products came from. The herbs used in their dishes are homegrown.

You can choose between 3,4 or 5 course menu, eat à la carte or go for the 4 course sharing dinner.

Our party of six was at Hanninkshof to celebrate, so what better way to do that then with the sharing dinner? We were surprised with a nice amuse bouche of asian style mussel and salmon that paired wonderful with the Champagne (Bernard brut tradition premier cru) that we enjoyed before starting our dinner.

What followed were three perfect courses of various items from the menu supplemented by more delicious food that isn’t offered standard. My host had done some wine pairing beforehand and checked his choices with the staff to make sure everything combined. I can tell you that we enjoyed great wines that evening.

Last but not least we were served a great variety of desserts, served by the very young, and very capable, pastry chef.

The staff at Hanninkshof is young, well trained and very impressive. Of course the are mentored by the chef and owner Jojan Kersbergen who has worked at Librije (Food on Tour), Dorset in Borne and Mooirivier in Dalfsen and Sabine Hof (hostess and sommelier) who worked as hostess at ‘t Zusje van Librije, Dorset and Mooirivier.

I have to mention the sous chef of Hanninkshof, Gert Bakker. Only 23 years old and already capable to manage the kitchen. Gert featured on Chefsplateform with an interview.

Our whole party enjoyed this culinair adventure at Hanninkhof. I can highly recommend Hanninkshof for an intimate dinner with your significant other or for dinners with more then just the two of you.

Restaurant De Hanninkshof  |  Usselerhofweg 5  |  7548 RZ Usselo (Enschede)

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Restaurant C – Amsterdam

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5  |  TripAdvisor – 4.5/5  |  Facebook – 4.8/5  |  Google – 4.4/5

I had heard a lot about restaurant C in Amsterdam and have been following them on their Instagram account. They quite intrigued me and they were high on my list of resturants to visit. You can imagine that I was very happy when my husband Bert and I were invited by a good friend of ours to have dinner at C.

Sunday June the 11th we started our visit on the nice big terrace of C. We enjoyed a nice glas of Cremant d’Alsca Kuehn, Cuvée Prestige and a cocktail by the name of Dark & Stormy which was made it Gosling’s Rum, lime, Angustura bitters and ginger beer.

After finishing our drinks we went into the restaurant. It features an nice open bar/lounge space. Behind the bar is a big open kitchen with the tables on both side.

© Michiel van der Eerde

The staff is very friendly and will answer all your questions. We decided to take our pick from the menu and leave the 4, 5 or 6 course 360-degree (surprise)menu’s for what they are. A menu that is based on degrees Celsius and has no definition for starter or mains is perfect for creating your own perfect menu.

We enjoyed -amongst other dishes- the veal tartar, the tuna in a Thai salad, the Hoisin pork belly, the veal cheek and the pasta from Iringi mushroom with truffle and egg yolk. Everything tasted and looked great.

As a dessert we had the smoked chocolate, which was served by the pastry chef herself. Caught under a glass bell filled with smoke -freshly made with real wood chips- was a wonderfull dessert based on chocolate, with salted caramel, and whiskey.

The quality at C measures up to, and maybe exceeds some of the Michelin star restaurants in Amsterdam. No wonder when you realise that the chef duo of Michiel van der Eerde and Arnout van der Kolk both worked in some great restaurants before joining C.

Restaurant C  |  Wibautstraat 125  |  1091 GL Amsterdam