markemorse

Indeed. It's also starting to remind me of the "Laptops in Bars" thread, except that Fat Guy and I are thankfully on the same side of this one. Things have drifted pretty far from the original complaint, which I found strangely cranky and misplaced (dissing amateur food photography and food writing on a site full of people who do both). Now we're almost into a "restaurant behavior" thread (children, laptops, cellphones, entitlement, etc.)...but I'm still interested in the motivation for the original post. Was it the obtrusiveness of food photographers that prompted it? It seems not. Was it a general dismay over the fact that people in restaurants aren't always properly appreciating the food? As mentioned upthread, this is not new. Is it an anti-technology-enablement thing? I'm just asking... +++

Unfortunately I'd like to welcome myself to this topic...if any Europeans are experiencing this problem, I'd be interested in whether or not you've tried dryer sheets and if so, what brand....just spent last night throwing away a lot of stuff...

Three great recommendations, plus I'll remind that De Zotte is no slouch in the beer department either. Plus maybe they'll still have their corn cakes on the menu....

Hey presentaddress! Great that you've hit so many spots, would love to hear more about what you thought about the food at all of these places... have you had a Maoz falafel yet? you might also try some Indonesian sandwiches at somewhere like Toko Joyce at Nieuwmarkt, they'll have at least one spicy tempeh/tofu option...

Don't know if everyone saw this, but De Kas is still apparently serving creative, delicious food....at least according to eG's own BryanZ (click) I still haven't been, this has been on my wishlist for too long. +++

Thanks for the report, Betamax. I remember checking this place out when they first opened, with morbid curiosity, I think maybe because Mr. van Dam had written a glowing review. Has anyone ever been to a restaurant to which JvD has given a glowing review and found the experience "satisfying" at all? I just don't understand how he exists. His levels of tolerance for price, service, and excitement are so far off-kilter from mine that I tend to avoid anywhere that he's liked. But I think Chufi already said this kind of thing somewhere upthread. +++

From a seafood perspective it makes no sense that there's not more affordable good sushi around town, but then again...there aren't a ton of Japanese people here. There are a couple of places that look interesting that I haven't tried. Kagetsu, on the Van Woustraat, and Kaiko, in the Rivierenbuurt. Anyone been? ETA: I just realized that Betamax and I are talking about the same place. So that seems like a good address. How about Kagetsu?

Hey all, just a quick question... A friend who just took an Indonesian cooking class wants to cook some things together this weekend. He's making some sort of squid thing (that's all I can get out of him). To those of you who have cooked out of this book, care to offer up your vote for your favorite knockout dish? I'm not saying it's a competitive situation this weekend, but...well it is a little. My first thought was rendang, but I wanted to hear the opinions here first.... thanks! mark +++

I also had an advanced BLT today: the crisp serrano idea + fresh spinach and ripe tomatoes + a little Belgian mayo...that's good eatin'.

Speaking of salmon...I have not been able to find anything but bland, rubbery, flabby farmed salmon in Amsterdam lately...are you guys getting anything better? This is off-topic, I'm happy to take this question somewhere else...but since you mentioned expensive salmon...

A couple of other items I really couldn't believe were broccoli and cauliflower. Seasonal fluctuations, or economy-based? Both were 2.99 USD for a puny head. Cauliflower prices are up a little bit over here, but broccoli is still 79-99 eurocents a head...not sure if this is on-topic or not, sorry if it isn't. ETA: This shopping was all done at Publix and Kroger in ATL...

Is it just me, or has the topic under discussion here changed dramatically in the last 6 months? I was in America in May and couldn't believe the grocery store prices. Is anyone tracking the increases with any kind of granularity?

Don't know if anyone can verify this, but it'd be great if you could... Last year in my eG foodblog I talked about how the cooking of Suriname uses Chinese fa cheong sausages quite a bit... This appears not to be totally accurate. What they call fa cheong in Suriname is a roasted sausage actually called sow cheong in China. Here's a pic of Surinamese fa cheong: before cutting, the sausage was 8 inches long or so. Does this look like sow cheong? It was hard to figure out what a useful camera angle would be. Additionally, thought you might find the spicing of these Surinamese ones interesting. The recipe I have calls for five spice, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, rum, red bean paste, and sesame oil.... +++

Awesome weekend project.

hey chris, sorry that didn't really work out...that allspice conversation yesterday had me looking through my notes. I think the plan was to try another pass in the test kitchen, using some tips from here. Which happens to use twice the habaneros and only 2tbsp of allspice. But I think that's why this never went into RecipeGullet...I never did try it again.... hopefully it still made for passable eatin'...

Great post, you're a lucky man.... This is going to sound pretty inane, but file it away for when you've tried everything else...I regularly enjoy some serrano ham sauteed almost until crisp as if it were bacon, then adding a tbsp or two of maple syrup, cooking for another 10 seconds, and putting it on toast with an over-easy egg. Depends on the particular ham, but sometimes this is revelatory. +++

Ah, yes, guess I could've clicked on that handy link to the recipe... this makes more sense. Carry on. ETA: that amount of marinade looks right based on the photos....

I'll be interested to know how this turns out. Did that recipe really call for 1/4 cup of allspice? Sounds like a lot, but really, how much less would make sense for 3kg (6.6lbs) of pork? Time will tell.....

Ah, John....thanks for bringing closure to my Abattoir experience. It did look like an interesting restaurant, didn't it? Sorry the food didn't work out...

Looks like kecap manis....

Bummer...sounds like you might have missed the city entirely. Basically what Chufi said: this characterization describes a part of the city I never see. Your disappointment and confusion over the lack of a distinct cuisine are a result of being stuck in the completely artificial tourist center...trying to extract a sense of Dutch cuisine from this sample is like trying to make some determinations about the local cuisine of Disneyland. You missed some great, unusual eating...hopefully you'll get another chance! Great report in general, thanks....

hey kermie, welcome to the thread.... is it Lof, on Haarlemmerstraat?

hey DCMark, welcome to town...I don't have any up to date sushi recs, i'll do some asking around.... Unrelatedly, I just gave someone a bunch of recommendations for your new 'hood the other day, I'll reprint them here for our convenience: Starting a bit further west, the Jan Pieter Heijestraat is a little more than halfway down the Overtoom, and there are a few places here that I like: Abyssinia for extremely friendly Ethiopian, my favorite in a town full of good Ethiopian food. Paloma Bianca is a very good Moroccan place that I haven't been to in a little while but I've heard it's still great. No alcohol is served here (but they have great fresh mint tea!), and service happens at a very leisurely pace, but it's nice food. You might also try Proef on the Overtoom for interesting beers and wines. I've covered Toko Ikan Mas upthread...their loempias aren't as amazing as they used to be, but the maiskoekjes (corn fritters with lemongrass) and lempers (sticky rice filled with coconut chicken curry) are great as are the rendangs and most everything else. There's also a nice fishmonger across the street from Toko Ikan Mas, also on the 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat, Smit Volendammer Vishandel. Just a block or two up from these two is somewhere I haven't been but that Chufi and I have been hearing good things about: Zina, another North African restaurant. Abyssinia. Jan Pieter Heijestraat 190 Paloma Blanca, Jan Pieter Heijestraat 145 Proef, Overtoom 160. Toko Ikan Mas, 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat 61. Smit Volendammer Vishandel, J, Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat 92. Zina, Bosboom Toussaintstraat 70bg. +++

I've seen a Surinamese recipe that serves fufu with dried cod and a peanut soup, I'll see if I can dig up some more info. Here's a BBC article about fufu flour's benefits to modern Ghanaians... +++

In Phoenix, Dick's Hideaway for breakfast or lunch. Don't order the pizzas or pastas. Also go to El Nopalito for tacos. +++