A few weeks ago, I got in touch with the brains behind Amsterdam Spoke: an online magazine for Amsterdam’s would-be writers to profile their work – and to provide insider info on the city to boot. For the last few months, Spoke’s writing community has been congregating for meet-up drinks, dinners and creative events, so I went along to yesterday’s meeting to get to know some fellow writers (and – of course – to try out a new restaurant).
The venue was Humphrey’s: a super-central, multi-roomed eatery with an international menu. Given its location, you’d expect a lot of tourists, but you’d also expect prices to match. Humphrey’s offers three courses for €22.50, which is probably what attracted a group consisting of three writers and two amateur photographers, none of whom (I imagine) are exactly on JK Rowling’s salary.
After considerable mixing up of drinks orders, we tucked into the entire loaf of bread speared to its board with a knife. To start, I had salmon that had been wrapped in seaweed sheets, breaded and deep fried, served with more seaweed (this time of the salad variety). The salmon was fresh and raw in the centre; its oiliness was given a welcome zing by the wasabi mayonnaise with which it was served. All in all, a good beginning.