Different ambiances for different menus - Lieve Belgisch Restaurant

We stumbled upon an interesting food experience when we were in Amsterdam.  We were curious when we saw the opulent table settings on several tables outside this restaurant - Lieve Belgisch Restaurant on Herengracht, a short block from our BnB.  Gold cutlery and crystal goblets for streetside eating?  We stopped by and was further intrigued when the young Maitre D' tried to explain the menu to us.

It seems that depending on how much you pay, you get a different menu and different kind of food - and corresponding ambiance!  The gold cutlery was for the "Mrs. Bubbles" menu and then there was another one called Belgian Baroque where everyone shared the food from plates put in the centre.  

One of the menus, "Mum's Kitchen" appealed to us as we were looking for some homecooking.  We were seated right below a poster with someone's "Mom" on it, complete with red checkered table cloth and kitchen casual cutlery.

Farmer's pork paté with mustard preserved fruit

Cheese waffle with beer dip - the dip was perfect for the cheese which was tactfully hidden inside the waffle without overwhelming

Braised pork neck with piccalilli sauce

Beer chicken with smoked Roseval potatoes and green beans

Honey and lavender parfait

Cherry Tiramisu

The appetizers and mains were both very good, the desserts being the weakest.  But it was a very entertaining evening for us.  We were fascinated by the ambiance-switching going on inside the restaurant right beside us.  It seems that tables that were preset had the cutlery and glasses placed on plexiglass so that when guests wandered in requesting a certain menu, the whole setting could be lifted up with the plexi-glass and moved around depending on the seating.  Moving glass on top of glass was no mean manoeuver and there were times when we held our breaths through some narrow misses by the staff.  But it was all very interesting! 

Disfrutar - Michelin Star in Barcelona

Disfrutar is not just a Michelin starred restaurant in Barcelona - its three chefs and owners, Mateu Casana, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch were trained at el Bulli, the legendary Michelin 3-star in Catalonia and since its opening in December, 2014, the restaurant has won acclaim with its avant-garde cuisine, getting its first Michelin Star on its first anniversary.

Unlike our dinner at LaStage, Amsterdam, we had planned this meal at Disfrutar as part of our Barcelona experience.  I came across an online writeup on their fabulous menu and so had booked our meal three months ahead when bookings were open - lunch was the only thing available at the time.  As it was located in the Eixample, we planned our day around the meal, scheduling visits to Gaudi casas before and after lunch.  It worked out really well as they are all within walking distance of the restaurant.


We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and was taken on a tour of the design award winning restaurant.  In the kitchen, smack in the middle of the restaurant, on both sides of the corridor leading to the dining room, we were introduced to the two chefs Eduoard and Oriol.  They were in the middle of showing the team what they wanted but graciously dropped everything to have their pictures taken with us.  The kitchen was packed with team members at every station.  It was quite impressive.

The two tasting menus, Classic and Festival, were the only things offered so we went with the Classic, the one with the least raw items which one of us was averse to.  We started off being seated in the front of the restaurant but was later moved to the main dining room when a table became available.  While it was nice and quiet in the front, we felt more part of the excitement in the main Mediterranean style dining room, where everyone was talking loudly and enjoying themselves (that's what "disfrutar" means - and we got to see the hardworking crew in action in the kitchen.

     

Each of the dishes were exquisitely prepared and presented - innovative with a distinct flavour and taste.  We were also given precise instructions on how to approach each to achieve the best tasting sensation.  It was a very enjoyable tasting experience - a feast for the senses.

Refreshing frozen cocktail - melt in the mouth with lingering taste of coffee and rum

"Beet that comes out of the land" (actually beetroot meringue with a light crunch on a bed of black sesame)

Frozen lychee, tapioca soaked in gin on rose petals.  We were told to put the rose petal up against our lips and suck the contents into our mouth - a sensual experience!

Salted candy walnuts with salted rice paper on the outside - amazing taste!  Mango, tonka beans soaked in whisky!

Here is an intriguing dish "Multipescadito frito" with fresh trout roe.  The "Multipescadito frito" are fried small fish placed on the wrap with sweet fresh roe - great combination and contrast in textures, the crunch around the soft roe.  We assembled our own combo. Extraordinary!

"Disfruta de la aceituna" - the "green grape" made with olive cream and butter in the crust, the "black olive" made with cocoa and olive - crushed in the mouth with orange juice inside, sucked from inside flowers.  Bread dip in oil.

Orange juice hidden inside flowers

Cold cheese biscuit finish with warm apple cider

Deep-fried egg yolk served with mushroom jelly inside egg shell - egg yolk is sensational while the mushroom jelly is the perfect balance for the palette to take away the stickiness from the yolk

Mushroom dumplings in translucent wrap 

Ceviche deconstruction - carrot and ahi pepper, white monk fish

If you don't eat raw fish, you get ramen...;-)

Macaroni carbonara - actually made with macaroni gelatin (a delightful texture!) with carbonara cheese and Parmesan on top.  The one above is the no-cheese version but you can see the macaroni better.

Tomato "polvoron" and arbequina oil caviar translated into tomato biscuit with caviar.  The interesting "liquid salad" is made with lettuce cucumber with a bubble inside made with olive oil - so much thought and work went into this!

Langoustine "al ajillo" - "al ajillo" being the little shrimps that added "legs" to the Langoustine - I would consider this the climax of the meal!  The green foam is parsley and black garlic - instilling subtle flavour on the very tasty langoustine.  My favourite dish!

Red mullet rock fish with paper thin slices of pork belly on top (delectable combination reminding me of a Chinese steamed fish with salted pork on top).  This was served with soy sauce eggplant gnocchi (made with gelatin) and yogurt sauce.

Moroccan style pigeon in a ras el hannout sauce -  a potent mix of cumin, ginger, allspice, pepper, cinnamon, coriander and cayenne

Mango sorbet sandwich - the "bread" is actually meringue!

Mano and cardamon sorbet on a cheesecake cornet

The peppers are actually chocolate with oil and salt

The grand finale - cotton of cocoa with mint flavour - you pick your own cotton and eat it off the tree!

We stayed at Disfrutar for 3 hours that afternoon and enjoyed every minute.  Bravo!

LaStage - Michelin star in Amsterdam

We lucked out when we were in Amsterdam this past September - we were able to get a last minute table at Michelin-starred LaStage, Chef Rogier Van Dam.  There is an abundance of Michelin-starred restaurants in Amsterdam but we chose this one because it's got good reviews, offered a three course option (which is all we could take in the evening), just a 20 minute walk from our BnB, fit in with our schedule and is reasonably priced.  

There were only a total of 12 courses on the menu, two in each category and guests can pick any combination to make up their dinner ranging from 3 to 8 courses.  Interestingly, the couple sitting beside us started off ordering a 5 course menu but half way through, they had to ask to "downsize".  The wait staff had a friendly discussion with them over which courses it made sense to remove and it was done without any fuss, which is a reflection of the excellent service at this restaurant with an unassuming front.  There were no "airs".

On top of the 3 courses we ordered, there were 3 amuse bouches - two before and one after!  Overall, the meal was tasty, well-prepared and definitely a restaurant I would return to next time I'm in Amsterdam.

Amuse-bouche 1 - piperada with pepper, onions and tomatoes, pork beef sausage and yummy hazelnuts coated with curry

Amuse-bouche 2 - smoked mackerel with a touch of sake!  exquisite taste!  served with "gomesco" (almonds, green pepper, green peas)

Turbot fillet - perfectly done with

with seaweed, saffran risotto, terrine of pork cheeks and langoustine sauce

Tomato bouillon

with pata negra, burrata di bufala and tomato - great combination

Never thought we would order American steak in Amsterdam but it was delicious - rare with foie gras foam

(with celeriac, artichoke in bacon, chard)

Pan fried perch - with crunchy skin, green peas creamed, with bits of smoked mackerel, hazelnuts and beet - only negative was the hollandaise sauce which was a bit salty

Amuse bouche 3 - tambouche with white chocolate and cherry preserve

Raspberry and pear

with white chocolate fudge, lemon verbena, liquerice, macadamia and raspberry sorbet

Speculaas soufflé (light and crunchy!)

with tangerine, egg nog and caramel icecream

Soy Sauce Chicken

I was utterly surprised by the popularity of the post on how to make "white-cut chicken" (June 23, 2013), a very basic but ever popular dish in Chinese cooking.  In the three years that the post was up, it has had 3,481 page views, almost ten times the average for this blog (364).  So I turned my thoughts to the other basic chicken dish - soy sauce chicken, done with very similar technique except with soy sauce.

The key to a good soy sauce chicken is obviously the soy sauce.  Get a good quality naturally fermented soy.  I use the 美味棧古法頭抽, available in larger Chinese supermarkets (in Toronto) but other brands of quality will work too. Thanks to my dear friend MC for introducing me to this brand and to the Rose Wine which truly enhanced the taste of this chicken.   MC's ratio of soy sauce was 3 tablespoons of premium soy, 3 tablespoons of dark soy (also get a quality dark soy) 3 tablespoons of Rose wine, 2-3 tablespoons of rock sugar.  This small amount of liquid is barely enough to cover half the chicken and will only work if you have a heavy cast iron pot like a medium sized Le Creuset pot that will hold the chicken snugly and retain heat even after the stove is off.  MC used a specially made heavy cooker but any heavy heat retaining pot should work.  I have gradually changed the recipe as I accumulated the sauce each time. Here's how I did it.

Ingredients: rose wine, premium soy, dark soy, rock sugar

Use the so-called "butter free-range chicken" available in Chinese groceries.  First time, use the basic recipe of 3 tablespoons each of the three liquids - soy, dark soy and rose wine plus 3 lumps of rock sugar.  Add lots of fresh ginger pieces and green onion.  Bring liquid to a boil in a heavy enamelled cast iron pot and quickly immerse chicken, breast side down.  Cover pot.

When the liquid boils again, turn off the heat. Cover pot.  Leave chicken in pot for 15 - 20 minutes (depending on size of chicken) then flip to the other side, bringing liquid to a boil again then turn off heat.

Because of the heat retention properties of the enamelled cast iron pot, the liquid would still be very hot even after the stove is turned off.  Leave chicken in pot for another 15 minutes.  At the end of the 15 minutes, bring liquid to a boil again and use a ladle to pour hot liquid over the parts of the chicken that were not fully immersed for a few more minutes.  Remove chicken from pot and let cool before applying sesame oil to the skin.  Then cut into serving pieces.  I like to put mine on the dish with the chicken pieces lined up.

Keeping the sauce for the next time -
After removing the chicken, bring the liquid to a boil again then let it cool.  I keep the liquid in the freezer and reuse it for the next soy sauce chicken.  Every time I add the 3 tablespoons of each of the liquid in the recipe and adjust the rock sugar as needed.  After cooking a couple of chickens, there should be enough liquid to cover at least half the chicken and there will no longer be a need to ladle hot liquid over the chicken, which makes the recipe even easier.  I sometimes add a couple of shelled hard-boiled eggs to the liquid with the chicken.  This will produce tasty soy sauce eggs without any extra effort.