Amsterdam Anniversary: cocktails and bar food at Snappers

Please note that since writing this blog post, Snappers has closed down

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post in celebration of my 10-year Amsterdam anniversary. But clearly writing blog posts wasn’t the only thing I got up to on such a momentous occasion! Come the evening, I got my hair cut, headed to the Leidsestraat for a spot of koopavond shopping, and met a few friends for dinner and cocktails. The incessant rain that day meant I was (uncharacteristically) without a bike, so dinner needed to be close to the shops.

Cue Snappers – a cosy-looking spot at the top end of the Reguliersdwarsstraat with a menu that promised cocktails aplenty and some American/Tex-Mex bar food to soak up the alcohol. I was quickly sucked in by the sound of La Ultima Palabra – a beguiling mix of mezcal, lime juice, jalapeno pepper and heaven knows what else. AKA exactly my kinda drink.

From there, we ordered nachos to share and a couple of chicken tacos to start us off. The nachos were tasty enough, while falling victim to the classic nacho mistake: all the toppings being stuck to the cheese on top, so that the nachos at the bottom are essentially just dry tortilla chips. The tacos were made with corn tortillas (plus point) but their filling was a little dry (minus point).

Main courses were mainly of the meaty burgers-and-ribs variety, so the Honey Badger and I got a portion of “Iron’s Famous Ribs” to share – which was lucky considering the mound of meat that appeared. The ribs had been pre-cut and glazed all over in a sauce that was far too sweet for so much of it. If you like sweet ribs, you’ll be happy; if you like ‘em hot and dry, don’t bother.

Meanwhile, the burger resembled a cross between ossenworst and steak tartar aller-retour – by which I mean that the beef was a) raw almost all the way through, except for the just-seared exterior; and b) slightly smoked. To my mind, a burger should be neither of these things – especially one that’s touted as being medium-rare.

We told the waiter, who apologised. He also apologised about the fact that two of our main courses arrived at the table 15 minutes later than the rest. But apologies only go so far. At some point, you expect at least a free drink or a dish to be taken off the bill. (This happened several times during my recent trip to Texas, with one entire check being wiped because of timing issues with the service.) Amsterdam, it may have been 10 years – and things have gotten a lot better during that time, I admit – but restaurant service still isn’t your strong point, my dear…