A Short Break In Europe

I have been coming to The Netherlands for work for the past 5 years but I have not really taken the opportunity to visit the place other than a trip to the south of France 3 years back.
I have decided to explore a bit of Amsterdam, Italy and London this time around. I do hope to do more posting as I make my way through Europe and share my travels. 

Visaandeschelde

I have done a posting on Visaandeschelde previously. Its located opposite the RAI in Amsterdam. This restaurant has become a must visit for me whenever I am in Amsterdam. The menu I usually go for is the chef's surprise.

My last visit was two weeks ago in early April. As usual, I was not disappointed. Attached are pictures of dishes I had. Enjoy.

Shrimp with sweet corn mousse

and Thai Green Curry Soup

Tuna tarta, King Crab Mousse,

Mousse of Cucumber and Wasabi

Lobster Tail Salad with

Duck Liver

Orange Shrimp Soup,

Deep Fried Smelt with Red pepper myo

Pan Fried Halibut, Baby Razor Clam

on a bed of risotto

Restaurant Sazanka, Hotel Okura, Amsterdam

I love Japanese food in general. I knew I was hooked when my parents first introduced me to sashimi that many years ago when I was still a young boy. I guess I must have been no more than 12 then. I loved it for its simplicity, just a piece of raw fish with nothing but wasabi and light soy sauce. I guess my love for Japanese food, or should I say sashimi and sushi, is because it’s non-oily and for the most part and it’s clear and refreshing.
Since then, I have sampled different types of Japanese cooking. I can’t say I am big fan of teppanyaki. Anyway, as part of the series I am writing on restaurants in the Netherlands, I think I should not leave out Sazanka at Hotel Okura in Amsterdam. The teppanyaki at Sazanka has somewhat made me change my view on teppanyaki. Well, below are some of the dishes we had :

Restaurant Sazanka, Lobster tail cooked in rice wine served with scallops

Duck meat cooked to perfection served on top of a salad, followed by beef cooked in

sukiyaki sauce.

Finished off with a simple fried rice and ice cream wrapped

in crapes flambayed with Tia maria

Visaandeschelde

It’s been some weeks since my last entry. Both the New Year and the Chinese New Year festivities are over. It’s now back to the reality of a full work year ahead. In fact, I just came back from a work trip to Amsterdam. As in my previous post, one of the things I look forward to during my trips are the dinners. We usually visit this restaurant called Visaandeschelde. We were recommended to this restaurant by our Dutch partners quite a number of years back and it has become a ritual that we visit it every time we are in Amsterdam. The chef does a 3, 4, or 5 course chef’s surprise and the menu changes every 3-4 weeks. Here are a few pictures I took during my recent visit :

Do visit their website at http://www.visaandeschelde.nl/ if you want to know more about the place.