DBMA: Feeding Tourists - Part I

When on vacation, people do two things: nothing and eating.

I had actually planned on writing a lengthy essay on the merits and the downsides of being at a place that specializes in feeding these hungry hoards, but after a few paragraphs I came to the conclusion that it would be far too rambling.

So instead, here's a rundown of a few places we ate during our stay in the Netherlands:

First of all there was Wagamama in Amsterdam. It's actually a Japanese chain, but I'd never been to one, so we sat and ate:

This is Yaki Udon, which contained all sorts of vegetables, chicken and prawns. I'd never before realized that Udon noodles taste a bit like potatoes.

We also had a starter, which the good people at Wagama like to call a side dish:

Grilled asparagus. I must say, it sounded better on the menu. I guess I'm just not much of an asparagus man.

On Texel, where tourist feeding places are abundant, we had our first dinner at a tex-mex-pizzaplace-asian mixture of a restaurant, aptly named Maxima Classic Grill Restaurant Argentina. The logical conclusion was for me to have an entrecôte:

It wasn't the best steak I'd ever had, but hey, it was my vacation and it was meat, so I was happy.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for more detailed stories on what to eat where and why on the isle of Texel.

 

Restaurant in Amsterdam: Wagamama Restaurant Wagamama Restaurant Restaurant in De Koog: Maxima Classic Grill Restaurant Argentina Maxima Classic Grill Restaurant Argentina

Tagged amsterdam dbma food netherlands restaurants texel udon wagamama

DBMA: Feeding Tourists - but not so fast

I know I promised to present to you today a sad but entertaining rundown of the ways tourists are fed in places popular with, well, tourists, but being the fickle person that I am, just can't be bothered today. So I'll post a picture of beer instead. Beer I had in Amsterdam!

More about that and some other most succulent stuff soon.

Tagged amsterdam beer drink iki japanese netherlands

DBMA (Death by Martini Abroad): At Douwe Egberts Koffie Cafe

Now, before I start venturing into the culinary delights of the Netherlands, and after having written about how good they are at importing stuff, I'm going to post a little disclaimer here. First off, the Netherlands are not a place with a rich unique cuisine. To be precise, there seem to be two things they like to attribute to their cuisine, and that's pancakes and fries. Everything else seems to be imported. So don't expect me writing about this or that Dutch specialty, because, well, there really aren't any.

With that out of the way, here's another thing I might add. They don't do coffee too well. The only read good coffee we had was at the Douwe Egbert's Cafe in Amsterdam.


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And yes, the Google Street View image shows a construction site, but trust me, it is there.

They made a pretty good Café Latte and the first day we were there, I had a chocolate muffin for breakfast:

My girlfriend opted for an apple pie, which I was told wasn't half bad either.

Since we only spent two nights in Amsterdam and the café was so close to our Hotel, we went there not just once, but twice. The next day my stomach needed something a bit more hearty, so I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich:

With the cheese molten to perfection, I was what you may call a happy camper, only that I didn't really camp, but, well, stayed at a hotel.

I do feel a bit bad for not venturing much further into town on the lookout for a less chainesque café, but on the other hand, it was my vacation, so give it a rest already.

Come back tomorrow for a sad but entertaining look at the one-size-fits-all cuisine of tourist locations.

Cafe in Amsterdam: Douwe Egberts Koffie Café‎ Douwe Egberts Koffie Café‎

Tagged amsterdam cafe coffee dbma douwe egbert food netherlands