two evenings in the Jordaan district

The Jordaan is a district in the centre of Amsterdam. Originally a working-class neighbourhood, the Jordaan has become one of the most upscale areas of the Netherlands, known for its art galleries, speciality shops and boutique restaurants. Among the Dutch, the Jordaan is known for its folk singers; several of its most popular musicians now have a statue in their memory at the corner of Prinsengracht and Elandsgracht. (wiki-travel)

We found two places to eat in this area that we really enjoyed and so for those who follow the blog for these recommendations I am posting menus/food pics/cards etc... so you will know where to head when in Amsterdam for some darn good food and friendly dining companions.

The first recommendation is Bistrot Neuf -

excellent oyster starter eaten so quickly - all you get to see are empty shells- :-(

very good pate - and an enormous portion too!

classic escargot prep-

as with every place we went - it is white asparagus season - so of course we indulged again! (and again and again!)

a terrific duck with lentils but I was already stuffed - so Phil had to help out...

an excellent red to pair with our food-

the dessert sampler was perfect to end the wonderful meal - we sat down at 8:30 and got up at 12:10... we really enjoyed the restaurant but about an hour into our meal a couple sat down at the table next to us and we got to talking to them and enjoyed a lovely evening of conversation with this local couple... BJ and Idris.. a shout out to their hospitality!

On another night we had dinner at the lovely art nouveau De Belhamel-

I had the menu with three courses - the asparagus soup, the asparagus with salmon and the strawberries bavarois-  Phil ordered ala carte-

here we are in the tiny dining room at 9:45 PM - still light outside...

Phil's first a scallop in puff pastry-

 
my white asparagus soup

Phil's lamb (sorry about the focus- must have been a good bottle of wine- LOL)

my main- salmon and white asparagus-

Phil's dessert and then mine-

we pretty much closed this place down as well - our next table dining companions were Jerry and Dale and they were both administrators at NYC area universities and were headed to Brussels and Bruges - so we spent a good deal of time exchanging recommendations for things to "MUST SEE" and thing to "not bother"- and of course - as always where to eat! LOL

so some more art and two more meals coming up - so don't miss out!