The restaurant, called the Pantry, served typical and authentic Dutch comfort food. Hilbren explained that there are few Dutch restaurants in the Netherlands because Dutch food is uncomplicated and homey. So most people eat at home. The majority of restaurants in the city serve food from other places: Indonesian (especially popular), Asian, and Italian, to name a few.
As you can see, we were pretty packed in here. Plus, it was a Friday night so the place was crowded. For our group dinners, we had pre-ordered our meals a day or two in advance from choices posted by Hilbren (however, we could never remember our selections!). This, as I may have mentioned before, makes it much easier for the restaurant staff to prepare and serve our rowdy group.
Tonight, the starter choices were goat cheese croquets, shrimp croquets, or Dutch pea soup. The main course choices were a salmon filet with mashed potatoes; ground beef with sautéed onions, mashed potatoes and beets; or a ground beef casserole with cauliflower and "Old Amsterdam Cheese."
And, the dessert choices--the only ones I care about--were chocolate brownies; Vlaaflip (a mixture of yogurt, cottage cheese, and custard--seriously!?); or Poffertjes (little pancake fritters). By now, we had had enough Dutch pancakes and you can guess what most of us chose.
On the way back, we wandered through Vondelpark, a huge, lively city park popular with the Dutch. Families with little kids, romantic couples, strolling seniors, and even hippies sharing blankets and beers hang out here. It is also a popular and favored venue for free summer concerts and Friday night inline skating during the summer and early fall.
Although some of our buddies continued the party, Sam and I quietly slipped away to return to the hotel. We had an taxi reserved for 6:00 AM the next day so the alarm would ring early. We were headed back to Houston after another fun sisters' trip to Europe.
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