It has been quite a while since I last posted a recipe or a restaurant review. I once did a test to determine what kind of supermarket customer I was: a dreamer. No, going to the supermarket is not a quick utilitarian endeavor for me. It’s a place of inspiration, discovering new ingredients, conceptualizing new recipes, relaxing and socializing with whomever I go to the supermarket with. Being a dreamer in the supermarket is a lot harder these days though. Nowadays you should do it alone, take a cart, be efficient, and get out and home asap. Similar weird circumstances around going out to eat. Restaurant capacity is maximized to 30 & it is almost impossible to do spontaneously…at least in Amsterdam the top restaurants are almost certainly booked full if you want to reserve on the same day. I think I lost a little bit of my mojo in these odd times. Being a foodie requires a bit more effort and planning then this dreamer is used to.

Anywho, yesterday we were looking for en suite doors for our new home. After a quick visit to a showroom we contemplated what to do next. Have a walk…nope it was going to rain all day. Doing something else? Shopping? Nope, now that we are living with the parents it did not feel necessarily responsible with Amsterdam being Corona hotspot. Lunch at a restaurant? Where? A spacious restaurant with enough distance? We made a few calls – nope most were full. One last try: Restaurant Jacobsz in Amsterdam East. Hooray, they had space for lunch! And a good reason for writing a blog as the experience was fabulous!

We arrived a bit late after Stijn’s latest incident of not paying attention to google navigation and giving me a tour of a large part of Amsterdam East (he is proud that he gave me the tour and it was actually part of his plan all along). I was surprised to see the big restaurant largely empty, with only 1 other group eating aside from us. What a contrast with a month ago, when we visited Jacobsz when infections were down and the place was packed (I am hoping that for dinner they have more guests). I can’t imagine how difficult this time is for restaurants. As a foodie it is heart breaking to see these once thriving hotspots so empty, but still trying so hard to give guests a wonderful experience. Despite challenges, our host was so friendly and helpful. The passion is clearly still there and it should be as the chefs still cook little wonders. Both times we had been here, the service and food was exquisite and at no point did we need to wait too long for the menu, drinks or food. Going here will be somewhat of a surprise. You cannot find a menu on the website as it changes regularly and you cannot eat a la carte. The nice thing is that you only need to choose how many courses you’d like, so no need to fuzz over the menu.

We opted for the 3 course menu and started with a glass of Riesling that paired well with the first course: lightly smoked salmon, cooked sous vide with algae jelly and turnips. A fresh and well balanced starter.

Our second course was sous vide cooked chicken with celeriac mash, onions, beetroot and bacon from the attic (a dutch way of preserving pork). Normally I find sous vide cooked chicken quite boring, but this one had good deep flavors and the skin was pan fried to a nice crisp. The bacon actually combined quite well with everything.

For dessert I had a nectarine tart with almonds and verbena ice cream. It was good, though I would have loved to have a nice warm tart underneath that delicious ice cream (everything was cold though). It did remind me that we should be planting a verbena in our garden. It’s such an easy plant and versatile to use in tea, cold drinks or even cakes and fish!

I would highly recommend you to visit Jacobsz if you are in Amsterdam. For the high quality you get here, the prices are very very reasonable. Plus, East still has that old charm that Amsterdam had 15 years ago, so a great reason to venture out of the centre!

Restaurant Jacobsz

Ringdijk 1, Amsterdam