Usually when in Amsterdam, the only meal I make a
special effort to eat is a Rice Table (
Rijtsttafel) in the Dutch Indonesian tradition. But what that means is that for all the times I have been in Amsterdam, I have a pretty one dimensional picture of the cuisine available in this international city.
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| StringGirl at Eastman Beer and Grill |
My colleagues were in the mood for Steak after we had packed up the GTC (Graphics Processing Conference) with NVIDIA held at the Passenger Terminal in Amsterdam. What fulfills a long week a at a trade show better than a good old fashioned steak.
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| You know you are in the right place when the waiter offers you a selection of knives |
The place that Yelp found for us was the
Eastwood Beer and Grill inside the Doubletree Inn and Suites near the Amsterdam Centraal station. There
menu was straightforward and exactly what is necessary at a proper steak house with no fluff or filler.
With a beer list filled with fine local bottles, this place was additionally happy find when walking back from the convention center at the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal. Started off with an IPA from local brewery Brouwerij ‘t IJ.  |
| The Tomahawk steak, at 800 grams (28 ounces) |
Usually eating in the Netherlands I find frustrating for the prices and relatively smallish portions. Dutch national cuisine I find personally lacking any depth or flavor, and I usually order ethnic foods from Asia like the earlier mentioned Indonesian food, Thai, Vietnamese, or Japanese. Failing those usually middle eastern street food. I had never thought of eating steak as part of my Amsterdam tradition.
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| StringGirl and her Santuko slay the monster Bone-in Ribeye (Tomahawk) |
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To mix things up a bit I ventured off the normal IPA branch to try a
Rye Pale Ale from Jopen Brewing, another Amsterdam local. A rye malt and use of American Hops were a welcome change from pale ales that taste only like freshly cut lawns. The dry roasted Rye malt gave the ale a nice caramel note. A winner!
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| This Rye PA brewed also in town are the middle beer\ |
The Bone-in Ribeye at the Eastwood would do any US steakhouse in Chitown or NY or St Louis or Nashville or Austin proud. It was perfectly tender and cooked to the Medium Rare as asked just fine. The waiter was unfamiliar with a charred rare or
Pittsburgh Rare or Black & Blue.
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| Despite our religious belief against the green stuff, this steak served just fine |
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| Tricky Tripel locally brewed was a fine beer to finish off the meal |
For desert I finished with the Tricky Tripel from
Gebrouwen Door Vrouwen. Sweet and strong it was a nice finish to a great meal.
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