Please note that since writing this blog post, Eetbar Wilde Zwijnen has closed down
Last night I was at Tales & Spirits, which was just as good as I remembered it being when I reviewed it back in November 2012. Tales & Spirits, like many of its ilk, have eschewed the usual starter vs. main course split in favour of small “in-between” courses that encourage people to taste more dishes, share with friends, and generally relax their attitude towards traditional dining. And, in general, I love it.
The same concept applied when I went to Eetbar Wilde Zwijnen a couple of weeks ago. Taking a less formal approach than their sister restaurant (the regular Wilde Zwijnen, next door), they serve small tasting/sharing plates that just keep on coming for as long as you want them to. In both restaurants, the menus are mercifully short, with the focus instead on what’s in season locally. It’s not rocket science, and it’s not new (in essence, eating with the seasons is the “old” way). But these kinds of restaurants have paved the way for what’s become a very Dutch kind of dining: simple and unfussy, casual and contemporary, creative without being pretentious.
So here’s (some of) what I ate at Eetbar Wilde Zwijnen – no need for the flowery descriptions because everything tasted just as it should: of itself.
With the exception of some kind of issue with the wine glasses (there weren’t enough, so we had to have another prosecco instead – #luxuryproblems if ever there was one), the service was pretty decent too. And we even scored a free limoncello to make up for the wine situ. Dinner came to €50 each, including plenty of drinks (you know me by now) and enough food to fill even the hungriest of foodies. I thought I’d got off pretty lightly, all things being considered – until I went outside to find my bike had a flat tire. Cursing my decision to dine 6km east of my house, I buckled in for a €20 cab ride. Yep – typical Dutch dining!
