Ok, desserts, which were the highlight for me. These are all really small portions and included in the all-you-care-to-enjoy price so you could order as many rounds as you like.
First was Cheesecake and Creme Brulee
These were both really good, though I wouldn't have called that a cheesecake. It was more like a cream cheese mousse. There were a few crumbs on the bottom, but I don't even think it was a milimeter thick....it was just a sprinkling, really. The creme brulee was delicious...I LOVE creme brulee.
M got a creme brulee as well and a Bastogne Parfait with caramel sauce. I had never heard of bastogne until I came over here, so I don't think it's a thing in the US, but I could be wrong. It's kind of like a gingersnap. It's a cookie. The parfait is the flavor of the cookie and might have cookie bits in it? It has cookie crumbs sprinkled on top. I tried it once at a different restaurant and I don't like the texture. It's like biting into a stick of butter...really greasy feeling.
Next, I got an Italian Amaretto Sabayon and a warm brownie.
The Sabayon was good...there was basically just one spoonful, but it tasted good. I debated about the brownie, because I do make a really good brownie. I had to learn when I moved here because brownies didn't exist. Somewhere around 5 years ago, brownies started popping up in different places, but they are not good, rich, chocolatey brownies. They are dense, dry blocks of brown crumbly substance that somewhat resemble chocolate cake. I have yet to find a brownie in the Netherlands that comes close to my homemade ones, but I decided to try it, hoping it would surprise me. It did not. Fortunately it was only 2 bites, with about a teaspoon of vanilla ice cream. But the brownie was HARD, like they definitely overbaked it and there was no moisture left in it....that's a thing in the Netherlands. They seem to think that cookies and things need to be crunchy or they aren't done. They don't do soft, fudgy textures. The first time I made chocolate chip cookies for my in-laws, my MIL exclaimed that they weren't done because they were soft. I was like....they are SUPPOSED to be soft. That's just not how they do it here, so I think maybe they've never had real brownies, so they don't know what they SHOULD be like.
M got a lemon sorbet....twice, because he loves them. So he just got 2 of them for this round.
And then the final round, I got a Wochi Mochi of chocolate and salted caramel served with praline ice cream, and Pandan Spekkoek, which I have no idea how to translate. I don't know what spekkoek is....it's a cake with several really thin layers, but that's about all I know. Spek can either be marshmallow or bacon, and koek is cookie, but I don't think either bacon or marshmallow are ingredients in this. When I googled it to translate, it just said "Layered cake". This one was served with crunchy cinnamon ice cream.
E is into all things Japanese, including mochi. I kept thinking she would really like this. It was really good, though I'm not a fan of the texture of mochi and this had like a powdery covering all over it that I'm pretty sure was not sugar. I didn't like that...it was like eating something rolled in flour. It just made it kind of pasty. But the flavor of the mochi was really good. And the ice cream didn't complement well because it was a bit too sweet to balance everything out. I'm also not a huge ice cream person. My dad LOVED ice cream...he had to have ice cream every night, and if we went to a restaurant, if there was a huge dessert menu, he always went for something with ice cream. Several people had ice cream stories about him that they told at his funeral....that whenever he was invited for dinner somewhere, he always brought a carton of ice cream for dessert. He once brought ice cream to a 4th of July picnic and they had no way to keep it cold outside, so they ended up with ice cream soup. But of all the traits I got from my dad, ice cream-loving isn't one of them. In the Netherlands, ice cream is generally the only option on a dessert menu unless you are in an ethnic restaurant. Greek restaurants will have Baklava, Italian will have Tiramisu, American will probably have brownies and/or cheesecake, but the Dutch are known for not liking very sweet things. Mostly, the Dutch offerings will be fruit, yoghurt, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. If I'm going to indulge in dessert, I want it to be a REAL indulgence. Sinful. Decadent. A scoop of plain ice cream just doesn't do it for me. That being said, the cinnamon ice cream that came with the cake was AMAZING. THAT could be dessert in itself. The cake was really good....it was a cinnamony flavor, too, but that ice cream was SO good. I had almost ordered another creme brulee instead, because Spekkoek is one of those things you can get pretty easily here, where creme brulee is a lot more rare. But I'm so glad I got the cake, not for the cake, but for the ice cream. I wouldn't go back to the restaurant just for that, but if we ever went there again, I'd order several rounds of it.
M ordered more lemon sorbet and bastogne parfait.
And that was it. I'm amazed at myself for remembering to take pictures of everything, though to be honest, I probably wouldn't have if E hadn't been at home and I was taking the pictures to show her. She's usually the one who reminds me to take food pictures. The table was too full for me to get pics of M's food. I couldn't reach over without knocking things over, so there were some things that he forgot to take pictures of, and with such small portions, you can't really take a picture once you bite in. But we got most things. Next weekend is my friend's book launch in Dublin. If I come across any unique cuisine, I will try to remember to take pictures!
