Please note that since writing this blog post, Donny's has closed down
All I seem to write about these days is dating. But there’s one type of date I haven’t been on for a while: the blind date with a girl. I did a lot of this when I first moved to Amsterdam, either because I’d met some chick on myspace or because I was being ‘introduced’ to a friend of a friend. Recently they’ve tended to be the latter, and it’s the date rather than me who’s recently moved to Amsterdam. They’re a unique brand of date because, while you might not be worrying about whether you’ve waxed your legs lately, you still want to impress. You want the girl to want to be your friend, you want her to think you’re cool enough to introduce her to other people and, often more importantly, you want her to love Amsterdam as much as you do.
The other night I picked up my girl-date from the Marriott Hotel and took her to my local. It’s failsafe: I know all the barmen and half the clientele. I look instantly popular and Amsterdam looks welcoming and friendly (and, for once, there’s not that fear that the service is going to be appalling). But after that I took a bit of a risk: I’d read about Donny’s in NL20. It sounded too good to be true. It promised experimental fusion food, good service and a contemporary vibe. And all this in the heart of Amsterdam’s answer to Leicester Square: the Leidseplein. Unbelievably, it delivered.
Not only does it do ‘trendy’ and ‘fusion’ (two words that strike fear into the heart of many a foodie), it also does ‘concept’. Oh god. It’s one of those we-don’t-do-three-course-menus, we-just-do-unisize-dishes-of-which-you-
have-no-idea-how-many-to-order places. Luckily (unlike Envy) the waiter actually deigned to explain this to us at the beginning, and advised us on how much to order when we did. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how many restaurants get it wrong. My girl-date had the ‘sushi of the day’, which was tuna Maki, while I had the ‘fish of the day’, which was a duo of salmon and cod served with mash, white asparagus, samphire and (get this) ‘foam’. Yes, even the Londoner was impressed. (Ok, so it’s the foodie equivalent of skinny jeans – apparently falling fast off the fashionable food table, but still – this is Amsterdam, they need time to catch up.)