Restaurant Toscanini****

My ex American boss was in town and so we wrangled up some friends and reserved Toscanini. Little did I know that it was ex boss' favourite restaurant in town, bonus. Toscanini is one of the best Italian restaurants in Amsterdam, if not the best. Open since 1985, Toscanini serves up fresh home-made pastas, where they can organic, rustic Tuscan meats, fresh fish of the day and Italian bread from the restaurants own bakery. Don't expect pizza.

It had been a while since my last visit, I think back in 2008 I had OD'd on the  delights of this restaurant and had decided to stay away for a while so that I would be enthused again.

My love for Toscanini hadn't died. On arriving you are promptly greeted by the front of house. All was a little confusing for her as on arrival there was my ex ex French boss with another group of colleagues from work. When the ex American boss arrived to see ex ex French boss all were quite bemused. Amsterdam is a village sometimes. So after much confusion of who was with which group we were taken to our table at the centre of the restaurant near the open kitchen. Toscanini is always full, so take heed and make sure you book a few days beforehand.

For starters I ordered a antipasto misto for the group. A mixed platter of grilled vegetables, stuffed artichoke, mozzerella, asparagus and sweet bread with a generous helping of bread and fine olive oil. Heaven. Although I wasn't so sure about the pickled herring.

The wine list consists of authentic Italian wines from regions located north to south of Italy. The guys went for a bottle of Barbera and my Aussie friend and I went for a bottle of Gavi “Minaia”.

The service in Toscanini is exceptional for Amsterdam, quick, efficient, with a sense of humour, smart and knowledgeable about the food and the wine list.

For main I opted for a daily special of rabbit, my fellow diners all finished their diverse plates from pasta with sage, grilled Grupa to a classic Lasagne.

There really should of been no more room for dessert but whilst in culinary heaven we couldn't say no. I polished off a delicate tiramasu and a glass of limonchello. Bellismo.

Food: 4 stars
Service: 5 fantastic stars

Restaurant Toscanini
Lindengracht 75
1052 KD Amsterdam

Voor reserveringen:
020-6232813

http://www.diningcity.com/amsterdam/toscanini/start.html 

Tavola-Disappointing Local Italian*

La Tavola


It was probably our 6th or so visit to our local Italian, but this could be the last. We had decided to pop out for dinner on Easter Sunday. Our nearest restaurant the charming 'Greetje' was fully booked, so we ventured around the corner to La Tavola. Our expectations were for great Italian food with temperamental Italian service. The chef,  Gerardo Mazziotta recipes have a classic, pure Italian base but my feeling was that Gerardo was on his Easter holiday on Sunday. The head waiter was definitely away.

The restaurant was unusually half full. (Maybe the locals knew something we didn't). On offer was a 3 course menu for 33 euros, which was unusual to not offer the full menu.

For starters my partner opted for grilled polpo and I went for my favourite- vitello tonnato. Both were fantastic, the polpo soft and delicate, with the veal just right. Maybe a bit heavy on the Tonnato.  Then things started to go down hill.
Whilst waiting for our mains I started to get annoyed. The waiter and the cook's friends arrived. I'm no party pooper, but it was just unprofessional for them to be shouting and laughing when there are still customers close by. I felt uncomfortable and made the dining experience almost unbearable.




Our mains took some time to arrive. My partner had ordered a rib eye steak, that he had to return to the kitchen as it was only lightly seared. The steak was accompanied by a tasteless, bland sauce. Disappointing. On the otherhand my Dorado looked fantastic. Grilled on the bone, with shiny skin and white flesh it was a delight to eat, although the oil dressing again was just missing something.


After the main's the wait continued, whilst the waiter humoured his friends. I was wanting to take a doggie bag home with the dessert's, but my partner is much more patient than me. The Tiramasu was ok but the flan with Strawberries was hard and undigestable. Thankfully we were full.


I so hope the chef was away as I'll be very disappointed if this is the low that Tavola has gone too. I'm going to have a break from there for a while, but hope the food is back on par in Summer.


Food: ** (usually ****)
Service: Zero (usually **)


La Tavola
Kadijksplein 9
toon telefoonnummer(020) 625 49 94

Puccini-Best salad in town***

EXPRESSO BAR PUCCINI

Puccini's is an incredibly small lunch cafe situated on a sunny corner overlooking the Stadhuis (Town Hall), next to Puccini Bomboni. As space is limited you enter straight into the cafe's open kitchen. Everytime I visit I feel lucky to get a seat and when you do you must be happy being seated really close to fellow diners. Fortunately in Summer there is seating outside- whereby you can watch the world go by.

Puccini's is officially called Expresso Bar Puccini, but I think they are selling themselves short. In my opinion they do the best salad in Amsterdam- Salad with Poached Salmon. I come here every other weekend for a helping of goodness. Poached salmon with artichokes, asparagus, boiled egg, sun dried tomatoes, onion, pumpkin seeds, dill and yoghurt dip on a bed of salad leaves with a wonderful dressing that I have tried to spy them making. I think 'that' dressing' is the secret that ties all the ingredients together.

Puccini Bomboni is renowned for it's rich chocolates and what better way to finish your meal off than to visit the chocolate shop next door.

Food: ****
Service: ***

Expresso Bar Puccini
Staalstraat 21
Amsterdam
Tel. 020-6208458
http://www.puccini.nl/

Mar Blau-Gem of a restaurant on the Costa Brava***

RESTAURANT MAR BLAU

Last weekend I was down in one of the most beautiful parts of Spain- Cervia de Ter near the Costa Brava. The circumstances for our trip were sad as it was my boyfriend's father's memorial. Friends and family from Argentina, Sweden, the US and other countries, who had known Mikael Borgstrom well, all travelled to this wonderful place to celebrate his life over the weekend. And how his life was celebrated. Each day was seasoned with amazing Catalan food.

On the Saturday we all went down to Restaurant Mar Blau near Pals. Mar Blau is situated right on the beach. It might not look anything special from the outside with it's plastic chairs but this restaurant, after 3 visits, has yet to disappoint. There must of been well over 20 of us who mmm'd and wow'd our way through a range of seafood starters that included mussels in tomato sauce, fried calamari, fried pulpo, jamon, and more. Absolutely delicious, even the bread. An American friend at the table mentioned that you would not be able to find bread so tasty in the States, it was fresh and just perfect for absorbing the wonderful juices.

After wolving down faces the wonderful entrees, no one had warned me that next came Paella. Not just one Paella but three huge dishes for us all. Although I asked for a smaller portion, the waiter was having none of it. Although everything tasted wonderful on my plate, to the dismay of the waiter I could only eat my way through half of the perfect saffron infused rice with pieces of fish with a topping of freshly caught langoustine.

The wine I'm afraid to say was not all that good, but hey it was lunchtime in the sun, so fortunately that was a good thing. For dessert there was a selection of Catalan favourites including Creme Catalan, which I didn't rate, I have had much better. Although, you don't go to this restaurant for dessert, you go to be right near the Mediteranean eating seafood that could of just jumped on your plate. Amazing. I can't wait to go back.

Food: ****
Service: ***

Mar Blau Pals Beach (the one with white chairs and tables) Tel: (972) 63 60 79