Greetje - Amsterdam

We decided to go to Amsterdam for Thanksgiving, since it's an American-only holiday and we wanted to celebrate it somewhere special. Our friends, Jeff and Kyaw decided to meet up with us and they made dinner reservations at Greetje. This is a beautiful restaurant away from all the touristy areas, so there was a little bit of a walk involved, but it was such a beautiful evening that it did not matter. We were greeted at the door by our 2 servers, one took our coats while the other led to our table.

 

Dan and I ordered Brand Dubbel Bock's (3.50 euros) and Jeff and Kyaw ordered 2 each Van Wees Oude Jenever (3.50 euros), a very proper Dutch liquor. Those are poured at the table to the glass' rim and you then proceed to sip your first taste, so that you don't spill. It's a little strong for my taste, but it is where gin got it's start.

We were served bread that came with a beetroot butter and schmaltz with apples and onion. Can I just say, who knew!? Beetroot butter is not only pretty but the flavor is so nice and schmaltz, well it was awesome too! They also brought a little amuse bouche that was a potato, cod mixture topped with tomato. It was also very good, I could have eaten a whole plate of it.

 We all ordered a prix fixe (39 euros), but Jeff and Kyaw's was the deluxe version (49.00 euros each). That meant they got a triple plate of starters and a triple plate of desserts! There were quite a few good things on those plates. I started with sautéed beetroot cookies with Frisian chive cheese, potato salad Nicola and chestnut crème fraiche. Dan had the wild duck broth with chopped herbs and smoked croutons. They were both very good and something that we would not have tried elsewhere. Jeff and Kyaw's starters were all amazing and there was not a crumb left.

My dinner was deep fried round croquettes stuffed with pearl barley, seasonal veggies and truffle cheese served with roasted veggies and a mousseline of parsnips and carrot cream. It was a wonderful meal and just what I expected it to be. Dan ordered the roast pork with forest mushrooms and Frieslanders 'en croute' served with raspberry sauce. When the plate arrived it looked like a pot pie with pork on the side. Our server used a couple of knives and removed the phyllo top from the bowl to reveal a thick mushroom stew. Everything was so good. I don't remember what Jeff an Kyaw ordered but I know they liked theirs as well. Kyaw had a fish dish and Jeff had game, maybe quail. I do remember that she told him to beware of buck shot and sure enough there was some in his. We also shared a nice bottle of Pinot Blanco (25 euros).

 

 

For my desert , I chose the  crème brulee with extract of natural sweet wood and licorice ice cream and Dan had the quinces ice with brittle of dark chocolate, herbs and cream of quince. Again all was very good. You can't go wrong with this place. We ended our meals with liquors (5.50 euros). Mine was pineapple, Jeff had cinnamon, Kyaw had Guldenwater with flecks of gold and Dan had... oh well by this time I can't remember!! The service was excellent, probably the best we've had since being in Europe!

 

 

They are located at Peperstraat 23, 1011 TJ Amsterdam  31 20 77 97 450

 

www.restaurantgreetje.nl