We're in the final leg of this food travelogue and the conclusion will be brief compared to the previous two editions (I arrived in Amsterdam a Saturday afternoon and was back in Toronto the Tuesday). As such, with the amount of time and food sampled much smaller... I'll likely veer more into general observations I felt during this 72 hour span spent in three different countries, a ferry ride across the Irish Sea thrown into the middle of that, and of course how freaking cool Amsterdam is.
Heck, I'll butter that bread on the table right now. Jokes aside about how Amsterdam is thought of as this "free for all" haven where anything goes (when in fact they have very strict regulations for all those particular freedoms you're probably thinking of)... it's just a freaking beautiful city, folks. With incredibly welcoming people, too.
I rented a bike for 24 hours, got immediately lost (those curving canals really throw off your sense of direction), stumbled upon the infamous Red Light District by accident (I'm not kidding) and miraculously managed to find my hostel despite my phone being dead and that neighbourhood (Duivendrecht) not appearing on the paper map I'd grabbed from the bicycle rental shop.
The hostel happened to be adjacent (just a walk under a bridge, lots of those in Amsterdam suburbs) to a college, which had a supermarket open until ten. While Amsterdam was/is an expensive city in regards to accommodations... the beer prices in this supermarket were absurdly cheap. We're talking like, well under two Euros for basically any tall can... which might be nearly half the costs I saw in both Ireland and the UK.
(Hilarious!)
I had my beers in my bunk for later that night/morning (Game Two of the World Series, which I'd end up sleeping through most of... damn 3am start time locally) but until then I was feeling rather hungry and there were no immediate options still open anywhere closeby (this was around ten o clock at night). For a while I debated getting back on the rental bike and adventuring a return north towards downtown: the weather wasn't great and I'd gotten horribly lost previously just trying to find this place... but my phone had some juice now and on the map I'd found a late night spot burger spot right by the Amstel river. Obviously I think you know where this is going...
Food Brothers Cheeseburger
Amsterdam is definitely an impressive maze of a city (the endless bike path intersections and general curving/winding quality of said paths drive that notion home) and as such... it's a bit of a disconcerting place to be riding a bicycle through at night... especially when everything is unfamiliar, dark, raining, with lots of forest and park areas in the southeastern region... there was one part of the journey I was pushing that heavy clunker rental bike as fast as it could go, imagining some kind of unhinged maniac about to leap out from behind the wet shadows of a tree. Maybe this is too much North American media warping my brain...
Google Maps said Food Brothers was about 4 kilometres from the hostel, equaling a 20ish minute ride. Balderdash! That rental may not have been the quickest wheels but we're talking nearly 40 minutes each way, subtracting my occasional missed turn and pull over to check my digital map again.
As the photo shows, Food Brothers is extremely small! It very much resembles a minimalist diner with just a trio of small communal tables inside, a waiting area that consists of a chair by the front door, and an open kitchen/grill behind where the register is. Kind of like if Vesta Lunch had more of an all night cafe vibe than the glistening old spoon it unmistakably is. Food Bros have a variety of different hamburger creations but I kept things simple with their grilled cheeseburger, not even getting fries as I had a bag of potato chips waiting back at the hostel (more on those soon). About fifteen minutes later I was on my way back to Duivendrecht with the burger in my knapsack.
After the honestly transcendent fare I experienced at Bleecker Burger in London, it felt inevitable that any cheeseburger I had next was going to be a let down. Working in the favour of this Food Brothers burger however, is how stylistically it is very different to that globally revered London gem. This is much more like an excellently home cooked cheeseburger, with the patty lovingly molded and seasoned by hand, the firm but fresh bun grabbed from the local small bakery down the street... there's a delightful genuineness to this burger that cannot be exaggerated.
That "made with care" applies to the taste as well. This is a very dense beef patty that gives you lots of that distinct meat taste... with a considerable hint of rosemary and other herbs as well. Think an old school Toronto burger spot like Burger Shack up on Eglinton, or Apache Burger... except this is considerably better than either of those. There's no suggestion at all this was ever frozen, while the beefy flavour lingers marvelously like a high quality patty would. The pickles and cheese and the "Dutch Sauce" (like a sweet mayo) do some fine work to give this thing a few more dimensions as well... but really it's the burger here that is so dominant above all else. Which, when you've got a burger patty that tastes this distinct and flavourful... definitely not a bad thing at all. A terrific cheeseburger that was definitely very different than anything I'd had in a while.
Tyrrel's Slow Cooked Truffle & Sea Salt Crisps
Truffle flavoured chips are a fantastic concept... in theory... but much of my experience trying various versions of them in North America has been disappointing. Even Kettle brand, usually excellent, go way too heavy into the salt in their 'Truffle and Sea Salt' flavour... while others (*cough* PC) just don't bring enough of the truffle presence to make it work (or it tastes very artificial when you do get a decent dose of it).
Not these. These chips here are pristine: the perfect amount of crunch and the precise amount of both truffle and sea salt. The flavour isn't immediate either, instead building up slowly on each chip. Maybe I was just hungry that morning and munching on anything would've tasted good? Perhaps... although exhibit A against that notion is coming up next.
Awesome chips! Not too dry or stale, not all that oily or salty... just right on the bullseye for both crunch and flavour. I need to find these again somewhere because they are top tier.
Burger King Whopper from Schiphol Airport
Yes, I suspect you all have many questions, most of them being a variation of "Why?" I suppose it was simple curiousity: almost everything I ate or drink on this trip was local (a continent-wide chain or product at most) and so sampling something actually familiar (a brand I've eaten before in North America) seemed like a clever idea for comparisons sake. Clever at the time, at least.
Boy. The problem isn't that this Amsterdam Burger King is worse than any Canadian version... it's actually marginally better to be honest... no the problem is that's such a low bar that such a marginal level of improvement is still going to produce pretty bad results. Watery and hollow, a faint whisper of beef flavour constantly eluding the tongue... it's a modern Whopper all right. Not great!
At least some of the grilled taste lingers for a bit, making this actually taste like something (I've had worse Whoppers), but this was a rough exercise. And a pricey one! Converted into Canadian dollars, this Whopper alone (no fries or drink) was around sixteen dollars. Guuuuah! Gak! Probably the worst thing I ate in Europe.
Mark's & Spencer Extra Dry Gin and Tonic
As though punishing me for spending actual money on an airport Burger King in Amsterdam... my flight to Liverpool ended up delayed by about three hours. A bummer, since like Amsterdam my time in Liverpool would be limited (likewise a single night stay) and so arriving early evening instead of mid-afternoon eliminated the chance to explore a couple parts of the city that had been recommended to me.
It was also raining and windy to all hell (my first hour in Liverpool was a pretty brutal first impression) and with the bus ride from the Liverpool airport (That's John Lennon International Airport to you) to the city centre being about an hour... well I was thirsty and annoyed and so bought one of these for that wet twilight bus trip.
The "Extra Dry" claim is certainly no exaggeration. Very little sweetness here from the tonic but a serious jolt of dryness. Nothing like a beverage that makes your mouth feel dry and thirsty, eh? And yet it's still delicious. I found this very refreshing especially considering the circumstances. Eight percent though? That's dangerous.
Irish Ferries Pizza
We're jumping a fair bit ahead here, despite this pizza being less than twenty four hours from that canned beverage above. What happened in Liverpool, you ask? Well...
And then there was...
And don't forget the...
Geez, somebody should've told me this wasn't Pokemon for ciders and I didn't have to catch em all... I also recall all three of these being excellent yet couldn't tell you anything about what they tasted like.
Liverpool was indeed a blast in the end: checking out The Cavern Club (yeah that one) really energized my spirit for the place and its vibes. I ended up no-showing to my hostel (the north bus that would've taken me there just never came) and booking a shockingly cheap hotel room right downtown and much closer to the train station, where I had to be for 9am. After nearly two weeks sleeping in bunks and shared rooms with total strangers... I'm not sure I've ever appreciated having private space as much as I did in that moment.
(I'll get to the letharic pizza eventually, I swear.) In the morning I had to catch a train from Liverpool to Holyhead (via Chester) as I had booked a ferry across the Irish Sea back to Dublin. I'd also not considered the fact I'd be entering another country, making me nervous about all these ciders I still had from the Liverpool shops. Looking back... it probably would've been fine to bring them into Ireland in my backpack (my only bag)... I can't even remember if the Irish custom officials checked my bag or not... but to play it safe, well I made sure those refreshing ciders didn't go to waste, I'll say that much.
Fast forward the train ride through northern Wales (which was beautiful for stretches) and onto the ferry, which is just a behemoth of a ship. At this point I'm hazy and tired, my stomach empty, and so I find one of the restaurants and see a pizza option. Ham pizza, I just need to eat something...
...nevertheless because I'm me (ie: a certified pizza maniac) of course I had to take some notes on it. Sourdough! In the aftertaste, with quite a heavy hint of flouriness as well. The ham was salty sweet and surprisingly vibrant on here, which might say more about the overall composition of this pizza than it does these bits of diced ham. You can very much see how most of the cheese pools in the centre, leaving the crust outsides of each slice much more hopelessly dusty.
Simply a very by-the-numbers pizza, on par with the most generic of pizza franchises. I was hungry, it didn't taste bad... just didn't taste much like anything. Only offensive in the annals of blandness... to which again that sourdough hint does save somewhat. This is a classic "C--" pizza to me. It's a pizza they make on a giant ship that traverses across a sea frequently. What was I realistically expecting(?) is a totally fair question.
Supermac's Mighty Mac
We're finishing off, rather fittingly, back in Dublin with one of the most popular Irish fast food presences. Supermac is, for all intents and purposes, Ireland's McDonald's (though real McD's do also exist over there). What makes Supermac's so strange though is their partnership to also offer pizza at their restaurants... a partnership with Papa John's.
Seriously! That entire first week wandering through Dublin, every time I'd see one of these Supermac places (and there are a bunch) I'd also be greeted by the Papa John's logo. This is not what I expected going into this! Of all the North American brands I would've guessed I'd see everywhere in Ireland, freaking Papa John's would not have made my top hundred!
Well, it was my last night in Europe and I was back in Dublin, walking (forever) from the ferry docks and picking up my luggage from a spot very close to the hostel I'd stayed in a week before... and there was the Supermac's at the end of the street, it's clean lights glowing under the shaded and looming Connolly train station. A rumble in my stomach, now was the time (my last chance too) to try one of these Supermac burgers and see for myself the appeal. I mean, I definitely wasn't going for the Papa John's. One underwhelming pizza was enough for one day.
It's an Irish Big Mac! No I'm sorry... a "Mighty" Mac... you can tell by its obvious might, of course.
This certainly isn't much of a burger to look at (I mean in the photo I think I'm holding it upside down and didn't care to notice) and while calling it 'good' would be an Inspector Gadget-esque stretch... I would take this over any McDonald's Big Mac I've had here in Canada. Which remember I'm not a McDonald's guy whatsoever, so this is not the compliment it might seem to others.
But I do like how the beef patties in here actually have some legit beef flavour, rather than something designed to mimic that sensation. There's a touch of grilled greasiness that adds to the authenticity. That said, it's overall pretty flavourless and unremarkable. The burger sauce has a strong ketchup hint to it... the lettuce is whole leaves rather than shredded (a point in its favour) and the cheese didn't melt... but there's nothing else to this thing.
It's a serviceable fast food burger that neither impresses nor disappoints. Maybe worth trying just to say you've tried it (being so prevalent throughout Ireland after all) but it's hardly anything close to an Irish cuisine attraction. There's lots of food in Dublin and beyond so much better than this.
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And that's it that's all. A probably longer than necessary three part summary of the many eats I sampled in my two weeks overseas. I do wish I'd tried more stuff, obviously. Checked out maybe a few more sit-down type restaurants (especially in Dublin) just to broaden the experience a bit. Regardless I did manage to try almost every place (damn it Dishoom!) I had planned out to try before heading over there... so a small mission accomplished there.
This was also a fascinating article to write, especially with the emotional and mental space of being back home for a few weeks before returning back and re-exploring these memories and moments. Definitely got to relive some of this unforgettable trip and I hope dear reader that you enjoyed sharing a bit of that through my words here. Maybe I'll do something like this again some day... but until then, slan go foill!
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