Going out on a school night

Tuesday’s boy was nice enough to cook for me.

Wednesday’s boy lives near Café Nassau, and called me up for a last-minute supper at his local. I ate good rare steak with roasted carrots and parsnips and a red-wine jus, all of which were naturally sweet and full of flavour. Less decent were the ‘pommes dauphines’ they were served with, which had dried out due to re-heating and might have come from a freezer in the first place. We drank far too much merlot for a school night, while sharing stories from our embarrassing teenage years (or, in my case, from two years ago – equally embarrassing) while hoping the music and low lighting was such that our table neighbours wouldn’t be put off their dinner…

Thursday’s boy took me out for dinner at de Luwte, a deceptively large eatery on the quaint Leliegracht with walls painted like a Roman theatre. Bizarre décor aside, the service was the friendliest I’ve experienced in Amsterdam in jonks, and seemingly everyone knew Thursday by name (his real name, that is, not Thursday). I enjoyed an excellent slice of country pate with some kind of compote, which could’ve been cranberry given its hint of bitterness but I forgot to check. Thursday had a warm roasted aubergine and mozzarella salad, which he also reported to be excellent. For main, I ate a lamb shank with lentils, two types of potato and various vegetables. The dish could’ve done with less carbs, the veges with less cooking time and the sauce with more of a kick. Having said that, I all but finished my plate. Thursday ordered halibut with beurre blanc and a saffron risotto which, curiously, did not appear to be made with Arborio rice. So it was sticky rather than silky.

Several hangovers and an enormous council tax bill later (unrelated, I might add), I realise that last week’s decadence may not be repeated for some time…