After ten days away I was happy to be home. My warm flat, my kitchen, my Amsterdam. I almost couldn’t bear to tear myself away last night. Strictly Come Dancing quarter final was on the BBC, Australian chocolates sat tantalisingly in their box, a bottle of red wine stood open on the kitchen counter… But no: Saturday night is Saturday night after all. But where to find a home from home?
Café Thuys (the old Dutch spelling of ‘thuis’ meaning ‘home’) is deep in the Oud-West, away from the tourists and the red lights. In summer, its terrace is perched precariously next to the canal, while in winter its warm dark wood draws you close.
I’ve eaten there a few times, and I’m always left with the feeling that the food never quite lives up to the expectation that the warm interior and warmer service imply. I had a terrine of ‘vogeltje’ (we didn’t ask what kinds of small birds were involved) which was terrine shaped but lacked seasoning and moist jelly. Maybe vogeltjes just don’t have big enough bones to make a decent stock. Next I had a lamb skewer with ratatouille and aioli. The lamb was cooked right but there wasn’t enough fat running through it to bring out the flavour. And the ratatouille, while served in a salt-of-the-earth eetcafe, was suddenly trying to be all small and cheffy. The vegetables were cut almost brunoise, and lightly fried, whereas to my mind they should have been robust and rustic and simmered for hours in a rich tomato sauce.