Hotel food isn’t known, necessarily, to be good. And the truth is that it was late and we were hungry. But, The Bloomsbury Club Bar was excellent.
Sausage
Ploughman’s Board
Ample olives and Pecans
Many cocktails
Check it out if you’re nearby - 8.8/10
Borough Market is one of the great pleasures of London. On our first trip to the city she asked me what I wanted to do in London I said “take a walk on the South side of the Thames.” After that I made no effort to understand what was there and decided to let chance and adventure take control. On that trip we found the roast pig stand along with an overwhelmed feeling of awe. What a beautiful place to look… On my second trip I went there specifically and on this last one we spent several hours. Venison pie, roast pig on rice, Ibirico sandwich, dry cider, etc, etc, and on and on.
In the end there was no plan or menu. We just wandered around, at what looked good, and shopped for our lunch on the train to Amsterdam.
Borough Market - 9.3/10
Not too long ago we were looking for some steaks to grill and found that our normal places to shop were closed for the day. We instead found ourselves at one of the big name/box grocery stores trying to find something. We settled on a couple steaks that looked pretty good and bought them.
After the usual pat dry, and add a little salt and pepper moves I threw them on a screaming hot grill for the normal 5 minutes a side (more or less depending on thickness). All seemed well until the first flip and I was confronted with a grey mass that had no browning at all. Not sure exactly what to do I left it flipped and gave the other side the 5 minute treatment. Ultimately, after an excruciating amount of time, they looked palatable. They were dry, and tough, and terrible.
I don’t know what was different about those steaks but I do have thoughts. I never seemed to be able to dry the exterior enough to allow the surface to brown. They seemed to be dumping off liquid the whole time leading me to believe that maybe they were injected somehow with liquid?
This wasn’t those. This was a perfect steak that took a light salt and pepper coating and an almost immediate crust from the grill. It was thicker than the others and this meant that, after the five minute treatment, I was able to pull it off the direct heat and let the center temp rise to just short of rare. Another ten minutes rest and it was perfect from the crust to the center. Along with the corn and salad (beet, grilled green onions, and kale) we had dinner.
It might be too cliche or repetitious for some, but for me a steak on the grill with some corn is like home. If it’s a good one.
Grilling in the summer - 10/10
Ramen is our joy and on this trip all I wanted was some noodles to start the day. We stopped in front of the closest place and found a line that no soup, in my opinion, is worth. On the next block we found Tonkotsu and were able to get a table. We didn’t know it was a chain when we went in, though that wouldn’t have been a deal breaker, and sat down.
We had:
Tonkotsu ramen – Pork broth & sea salt base, enriched with lardo. Thinner-cut homemade noodles topped with roast pork belly, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, spring onions, burnt garlic oil and seasoned egg.
Seafood ramen – Chicken broth & sea salt base. Classic homemade noodles topped with softshell crab, prawn tempura, crab meat, bamboo shoots, spring onions, wakame and seasoned egg.
Gyoza - Pork, ginger & garlic
It was exactly what I was looking for even if it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had.
8.1/10
She’s been reading a lot and came across this idea for grains with confit onions and kale. We also had some radish greens that were sauteed up and tossed in. The sausage came from the coop meat counter.
Rich, wholesome, warming - 8.9/10
Looking for a wholesome meal we took a chance on a recommendation. Her Vietnamese background makes her a tough critic but her adventurousness means we keep trying. The House of Ho had a steep hill to climb with it’s name, but the walk was a perfect distance and we gave it a try.
Top to bottom:
Crispy Vietnamese Rolls
Pork Belly BBQ Ho Sin
Lemongrass Chicken
Beef PHO
The PHO broth lacked any depth or spices and the brisket(?!) tasted like it had been boiled to make the broth and had no flavor. Neither of us had ever had a “Crispy Vietnamese Roll” like this and that’s not a good thing. And, the chicken was boring and uninspired. This leaves the pork belly and, while the bun was different than I would have expected, this was the highlight of a very dim meal. The clear accent of the lady of the house gave us hope that this would be great Vietnamese. The result wasn’t.
Not again - 3/10
The “Red Light District” gets a reputation in America as a crazy den of sin and vice. Certainly there is “sin” and vice here, as there is anywhere, they just don’t pretend that it’s not. And the truth on our trip was that we walked through the RLD a couple times without even realizing it. It’s more of a bar, restaurant, and shopping district than anything.
Which takes us to Van Kerkwijk. In the RLD and in a dark alley getting there should be all the craziness Americans think Amsterdam is. Except, of course, it’s not. It’s just people out for a quiet evening and some good food. And believe me, this is good food.
At full capacity they probably seat 50 people and another 10 waiting at the bar. There’s no menu to find and no list of names waiting. The dark haired guy meets us and tells us we’re behind 6 groups and we say OK. We squeeze into the bar area and grab a beer. The light haired guy offers some friendly banter but is busy with tables and needs to come and go. After several tables flip I glance up, the dark haired one notices and says “I have 3 Frenchmen in the alley next, then it’s you”. No notes.
We had been discussing that there appears to be only one person cooking and that that meant it was likely that there was a prep area and lift to bring up food from the basement. Just before our table opened she went down to use the restroom. She came back and relayed that there was one guy down there doing dishes. No kitchen. It was here that we came to the stunned realization that the whole operation was four people.
At our table the light haired one cheerfully sat down and ran through the menu. A choice of a couple openers and three mains. It was exceptional. The food was, perhaps necessarily, simple with only a few ingredients. In many cases this could be bad but done well, with great ingredients, they all shine. Dark hair stopped by after and asked about desserts and we grabbed a cheesecake, wrapped in foil and dropped in a “doggy bag”. to go.
The way they handled themselves, and the guests, and the food - poetry.
Bacon wrapped figs and creamy blue cheese with salad and vinaigrette
Mussels in garlic oil with rustic bread
Sirloin and sun-dried tomato mousse
Cod with croutons, greens, and garlic sauce
Fries
Salad
Sometimes luck is all you need - 9.85/10
