Hung Kee, Rotterdam
On the Witte de With, open from 4pm till 5:30am, and serves a great noodle soup; do you need to know anything else about Hung Kee? No you don’t. Go there for a big comforting bowl of noodles heaped with meat. (more…)
Eetlokaal Kuiter, Rotterdam
We had heard about Eetlokaal Kuiter for quite a while and were excited to finally try it. An unpretentious restaurant in the west of Rotterdam with an open kitchen and a staff of only four – one in the kitchen, two serving, and one in clean up. They serve a three-course menu for 32 euros with four items to choose from for each course. It’s French bistro type of cooking with local sourced products. Pure, simple and flavorful food without unnecessary frills and not unimportant, the portions are quite generous, so you will not go home hungry. (more…)
Firma Pickles – Burgers & Wines, Rotterdam
Rotterdam has a new fancy food hall called Markthal; it houses all sorts of food stands and restaurants and we decided to try out Firma Pickles – Burgers & Wines as the name contains three things we like: pickles, burgers, and wine! I had walked by earlier that afternoon with a female friend of mine, D, and we had asked if we could make a reservation for that evening. One waiter said no, and then another waiter came up next to her, points at the first waiter and then plants a kiss on her cheek. She flinched backwards and I, too, was in shock at this extremely inappropriate gesture. The first waiter looked uncomfortable as well and slowly made his retreat. Unfortunately, my mind goes blank when completely unexpected things happen, so I didn’t come up with clever retorts until we walked away. Though I suppose a slap in the face would have been the best response. D was a bit sharper than me, my brain was still short circuiting when she said, “So can I get a reservation now?”, and we were told if we come back that night we would get a table. We scrubbed her cheek clean and lamented about the male chauvinistic society we live in, and went back later to try the damn burgers (and pickles and wines).
Gamasot, Rotterdam
Another favorite of ours for a quick meal is Gamasot on the wonderful Pannekoekstraat, where you also find Beijing Bao. Gamasot is a small Korean restaurant with seating for only 20 people and a small menu of only 14 items. By now we’ve had everything on their menu and nothing has disappointed us so far. We keep coming back because the food is simply delicious.
Vis aan de Maas, Rotterdam
My oyster craving had still not been satiated so we went looking for a seafood restaurant and wound up at Vis aan de Maas. This restaurant sits in an unusual area of Rotterdam (for restaurants), definitely not somewhere you accidentally walk by. Since the weather was nice and we were planning on drinking, we took the subway and made the error of letting me navigate us. For the record, I can read a map and follow instructions. I had simply entered the wrong address into my phone. A 10 minute walk turned into a 25 minute walk where we witnessed all sorts of street activity from a Rastafarian party to an adult on a tricyle that accompanied us for a good 5 minutes and told us not to cross the road when the light was red, safety first! Never a dull moment in Rotterdam. (more…)
De Falafel, Rotterdam
Looking for a quick lunch in downtown Rotterdam? We chose De Falafel, which is situated right outside the metro station Beurs. It’s a tiny place with only 5 seats as most people get their falafel to go. The falafel here is freshly made – there is a bowl of batter and the lady behind the counter uses an ice cream scoop to portion and place the falafels in the hot oil. The result is crispy falafels with great flavor. (more…)
Japanese cuisine Yama, Rotterdam
Little over a year ago I attended the umami event at the Rotterdam World food festival, where professor Ole G. Mouritsen gave a presentation about umami, complemented with food prepared by chef Pepijn Schmeink (at the time chef/owner at Eendracht, now at Dertien) and chef Yamamoto or Yama for short. We had some interesting dishes at the hands of the chefs, but one dish in particular really blew my mind: chef Yama’s sushi. Perfectly balanced flavours and textures. Hands down the best I’d ever had.
So, when I heard that chef Yama was opening his own place I knew we had to go. In fact, we actually went the very first day the restaurant was opened in February, and have returned many times since. (more…)
Gauchos Grill, Rotterdam
Last night I had dinner with my two favorite buddies, Boaz and Dion, at Gauchos Grill. The boys wanted steak, so steak was to be had! As expected, the conversation was ridiculous and I wondered how long it would take for the restaurant to kick us out. Fortunately, the loud chatter from other tables and the constant sssstttt of meat being grilled over an open flame meant no one could really hear us. (more…)
Chili Time, Rotterdam
Looking for dinner on a Friday night without having made reservations is always tricky. Do you wait in line for at least an hour at the popular spots or try something new? My friend A and I were standing out in the cold and rain and across the road was Chili Time, a Thai restaurant we had seen before but never tried. A quick check online gave mixed reviews, but mostly positive, so we went ahead and gave it a try. With a name like Chili Time, and a bunch of chilis depicted on the menu (the usual 1 to 3 chilis for spiciness level), we were expecting some serious heat. Well… not so much.
L’Entrecôte Museumpark, Rotterdam
We were looking for a simple yet good dinner for this Wednesday night and came across L’Entrecote Museumpark. A place that does one thing, and one thing only, the iconic French steak frites. They write in their menu that they have taken the concept from the Parisian Le Relais de Venise – L’Entrecote and brought it to Rotterdam. Another comparison could be made with Le Relais de L’Entrecote, which we have been to, and has three restaurants in Paris. The reviews online were very positive so we had high hopes and, thankfully, weren’t disappointed. (more…)