Please note that since writing this blog post, Bar Brouw has closed down
First impressions of Brouw looked promising: a neon-pink retro-lit sign proclaiming “MEAT” (smoked, barbecued, porky meat, at that); an extensive menu of American craft beers hand written on a blackboard above the bar; and a packed reservations list just a week after opening. Only something was missing.
I’d stopped by Bar Brouw a few days before I had dinner there – they were holding a launch party on the Saturday afternoon, and I’d RSVP-ed to their invitation to tell them I’d be coming. I arrived to find a hoard of hipsters – none ticking off names on a clipboard, no one serving drinks nor handing out meaty samples. In fact, no one doing much of anything you’d expect at a launch party. Since I couldn’t identify the clientele from the staff, I left shyly, resolving to go back with a reservation the following week and hope I had better luck.
I arrived early. The bar was quiet – at least, quieter than it had been the time before, thankfully. I spent five long minutes looking at the beer menu above the bar, struggling with the unfamiliar American brews, but curious to try one. Eventually, I caught the waitress’s attention, telling her that I didn’t know which beer I wanted but that I generally liked bok beer – could she suggest anything in that style? She told me to sit down and she’d bring my beer over. What came was an IJbok from the brewery down the road. I’ve got nothing against IJbok, but I can order it in my local Dutch café – I’d wanted to try something new. It didn’t even appear on the menu above the bar – wouldn’t this have been an opportunity to teach me something about American craft beers? Apparently not.
One of my friends arrived. After performing the famous Dance of the Flailing Customer for a few minutes, he too caught the waitress’s attention for long enough to ask if he could order a beer. She’d disappeared so quickly, returning with a regular pilsner, that he’d not even had a chance to tell her which of the artisanal beers he’d like to try.
Fortunately, soon after, my American (aka the Honey Badger) arrived and ordered us a round of Anchor Steam Beers – a malty amber brew from San Francisco. It was a hit with all of us, and we stuck with it for the rest of the evening (because who knew how we were going to get to try anything else around here?). I don’t say this often, but Americans: they have their uses from time to time…
So far I’ve spent four paragraphs whingeing about the service, which might seem disproportionate given that we were there, after all, for the meat. And, to be fair, the food was pretty darn good. I tried the pork belly (succulent and superbly flavoured), pulled pork (the grains of meat melting away from each other), ribs (too dry and smoky for my taste, but not half bad) and brisket (not a patch on Smitty’s Market in Texas, but still filling in niche in Amsterdam). The sides of baked beans and coleslaw were fabulously fresh and made me think of cowboys and campfires… and for around €20 a head including our beers, the prices were reasonable by Amsterdam standards, too.
But it’s been said by wiser foodies than me and I’ll say it again here: find a restaurant with great food and abysmal service and you’ll never go back; find a restaurant with average food and fantastic service and it’ll fast become your regular hangout. Bar Brouw specialises in American craft beer and southern-style smoked, barbecued meat. Those two things it may do pretty well – especially well for this side of the Atlantic – but until the service catches up with its Stateside aspirations, I’ll be holding out till I get to Texas for my next fix of brisket…
