Please note that since writing this blog post, Buuf has closed down
Let’s be honest here: in general (and by definition this is therefore a generalization), Dutch customer service is pretty bad. Even my Dutch friends agree, so it can’t just be us fussy international types. In many a restaurant review, I’ve written about the “Dance of the Flailing Customer” – that arms-waving, half-getting-out-of-your-seat, definitely-not-concentrating-on-what-your-dining-partner-is-saying type of dance move that we all seem to make at least four times in any Amsterdam restaurant situation: once to get a drink, once to ask for a menu, once to order food, and once to get the bill. There are, of course, exceptions, and one of these days when I’m famous (i.e. probably never) I will create my very own Amsterdam Customer Service Awards to hand out to the few restaurants that buck the trend.
But until then, there’s Buuf.
The food, when it came (and by that I mean when my little red thingy started flashing and I went to collect it), wasn’t half bad either. I had a minced lamb skewer which was moist and lightly spicy. It came with a yoghurt dressing, roasted vegetables and a potato salad whose only fault was that it had been made with leftover roast potatoes (I think – which is why they were a little hard and stale on the outside).
My friend ordered the Thai fish curry (the forkful I tried was good), and the nachos that we had to start were a perfectly edible version of a simple snack. My only real complaint was the desserts: the apple crumble was exactly how your grandmother wouldn’t have made it (solid, doughy and lacking in apples), while the carrot cake looked (and tasted) like it had been sitting in the fridge for a week – both the sponge and the icing had solidified to the point of cracking. Just don’t order dessert.
Do, however, order a snack, a main course and a couple of glasses of wine – all for €19. Yep, you read that right. All that money they save on useless serving staff means you actually can go out for dinner in Amsterdam for less than €20 – that is, so long as you’re prepared to eat off a tray.
