Before I start to review In de Keuken, I want to summarise from the get -go that this restaurant is truly an amazing place to dine and eat great, creative and inspirational food. It's my new favourite place in town.
In de Keuken is situated on the Utrechtestraat, you could cycle by it and not notice as it's squeezed in between to wider buildings. In de Keuken I'm guessing is called so, because it feels like you are in the kitchen with your fellow diners surrounded by ingredients and cookbooks. On this particular evening the restaurant was packed and with a reservation at 8.45pm we were the last guests.
On arrival we were promptly greeted by the sommelier and advised us to try a refreshing pink prosecco, which was followed by a variety of amuse bouche, all the little amuse gave us all the signal that the food to follow would be something to look forward too. The highlight being mackerel with nectarine and almonds, oh plus the bloody mary with caviar.
As there were six of us we were advised to either go for the 4 course surprise menu or the 6 course. We all (bar Miss 8 months pregnant) went for the 6 course menu. To make things simple we also opted for the wine arrangement so that we could try a different, suggested wine with each course. I am going to take you through each dish, and hope to make you salivate. I hope I remember every thing as well as the chef who took us through each dish when it arrived.
For starters my fellow non pregnant diners mmm'd their way through oysters ( I opted out of this as I have an aversion to oysters after turning green then falling sick to a dodgy one in Auckland not so long ago), then it was on to swordfish with a soup of ginger, lemongrass and coconut. To get the full sense of what you were eating the chef also came out and magic'd smoke in a small jar with liquid nitrogen to release the smell of all of the soup's ingredients. Novelty factor, but it really did awaken your taste and smell buds.
Third course was tortellini with parmesan cream and truffle with an onion soup. Oh my.
Then on to my favourite course (if I had to choose) of Angus beef with chanterelles. The beef was so tender, the knife slipped right through with ease. I was beginning to get full but still wanted to finish the dish.
Then on to the first dessert. An experiment, with apple and cucumber (it works) sorbet- you'll notice it has already vanished from the photo, blue cheese and an odd combination of walnut and pistaccio. The only thing across the whole menu (oh and the oysters) that didn't really go down too well for me.
By now I was getting full, but one last course. The final dessert was visually a work of art. A couple of home made sorbets, a cream with white chocolate wafers and strawberries.
Almost finished. Then came a scoop of cream that had been scientifically experimented on in the kitchen wit liquid nitrogen.
And then came the coffee and petit fours. It was now around half past midnight and we were the last table there. Time to leave, time to plan not to eat for the rest of the weekend.
The only thing I have to comment on is that a lot of the dishes were served bordering on luke warm yet the serving plates were hot. This is a minor comment though as it has been a long time since food has made me so happy. The food takes dining in Amsterdam to another level of creativity and I'll now be on the hunt to find other restaurants that meet that standard.
http://www.indekeuken.com/
Utrechtestraat 114
PS: I should also update you on the list of wines at some point that we tasted with each course. This will be coming shortly.
In de Keuken is situated on the Utrechtestraat, you could cycle by it and not notice as it's squeezed in between to wider buildings. In de Keuken I'm guessing is called so, because it feels like you are in the kitchen with your fellow diners surrounded by ingredients and cookbooks. On this particular evening the restaurant was packed and with a reservation at 8.45pm we were the last guests.
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