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/

Winkel**

After a busy weekend and a bad experience in the Albert Heijn on Saturday I vowed this week not to visit Albert Heijn. The worst supermarket chain in Europe, who unfortunately have the monopoly on every street in Amsterdam. So Saturday evening we had friend's round for dinner with all produce from the market and Marqt, Sunday and Monday was food from the cupboard then Tuesday an impromptu bite at the Winkel on the Nordermarkt.

Winkel is an unassuming eetcafe. No pretense, no nonsense but still attention to detail and service, busy but not overcrowded. It's really cosy, as the locals would say 'gezellig'.

After a crazy day at work my partner and I met at Winkel around 9.30pm and were promptly greeted by the lone barman/ waiter. The menu was pretty straight forward but perfect when thinking the act of having to buy the ingredients at the AH made me smile. We skipped over the starters, there was a choice of 6 main courses. My partner went for a stuffed crepe of vegetables and I plumped for fried halibut with potato mash and a parsley oil. The plates were on our table in ten minutes. We demolished both. The food that is, not the crockery. I still had room for a huge slice of the Winkel's famous home made Apple Cake. Delicious.

Total: E35 with a couple of glasses of house red.

It's another thing I love about Amsterdam. There are numerous neighbourhood eetcafe serving decent food at a fair price. At the weekend Winkel's great location on the market makes it the perfect place to watch the world go by on the terrace. For a weekday simple bite I'll be stopping by again.


Winkel
Nordermarkt 43
http://www.winkel43.nl/

Food: ***
Service: ***

Restaurant As

First foodie review is of 'Restaurant As'. My Partner 'J' and I were offered the Restaurant week reservations by a friend as they were unfortunately ill. As part of Restaurant week in Amsterdam- many of the restaurants serve up a fixed menu for a fraction of the price to lure you in and hopefully tempt you back.

Restaurant As is situated near Beatrixpark in the South- a little way out, but after a swift 20 minute tram journey and a 2 minute walk you will notice an illuminated fencing that surrounds an old water tower. The tower used to be an exhibition space called 'Platfom 21' which sadly closed down, although the good news is the tower still houses an art space above the restaurant.

I'd been to Platform 21 a couple of years ago and was expecting a sterile interior, but instead the interior is modern and warm- accentuated by the natural, wood furniture and candlelight. Perfect for a cold Amsterdam evening. Careful interior design has exploited the circular building, with a star arrangement of refectory style tables in the middle and then more long tables in alcoves around the outside. Perfect for semi-private dining. The kitchen is housed in a temporary marquee. Outside is a garden that will I'm sure be perfect to dine in when the Summer eventually arrives.

As was packed but we were greeted pleasantly and swiftly seated. 'As' is a big restaurant for Amsterdam, seating 120+ diners.

We shared a table with a a trio of German ladies and a Dutch couple- the atmosphere was lovely. Lots of conversation and laughter in the air. Although there must of been over 100 people the waiters were swift, knowledgeable, warm and receptive to requests. Even one of the chefs was helping out on the floor. It was pretty impressive to see this in Amsterdam. They were really trying their best to make an impression.

I had read that As is about real, organic, in-season food. First on the menu was: Salad of chioggia, verona and yellow beet, blood orange, almonds and Leidse cheese.Completely unexpected and it completely worked. My taste buds were delighted. After an ok wait next up was Fleckvieh ribeye from the grill with wilted greens in red wine with roasted potatoes, braised red onions and red wine sauce. The meat was good, really good, but I guess the vegetables were a little over roasted. I can forgive though. For desert we had an amazing 'Kastenjetaart' with mascarpone filled with dates and figs. Complimented by a cold glass of Monbazzilac. Amazing.

Although the main wasn't really up to scratch, I can forgive As. The waitress was apologetic about how unusually busy they were and it wasn't the norm. Average night is one seating instead of the two. The guys who work at As are passionate about the food. I got that. I told her we will definitely be back.

Stars out of 5: Service: ***** Food:***

http://www.restaurantas.nl/

Prinses Irenestraat 19
1077 WT Amsterdam
info@restaurantas.nl

reserveren: 020 6440100

Fun in the office

A normal day in the office. Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam.