One of the enjoyable things about traveling for work is we usually get to go out to at least one really nice lunch or dinner. Last night it was Restaurant Anna, a place chosen by my friend and colleague, Jan.
He chose a place I could walk to from my hotel, and it was the only really good restaurant in the area. It was on the edge of the gay section of the red light district, with leather shops, bars and cinemas. Kind of reminded me of home, on Christopher Street.
I remembered to bring my camera, but once we started talking business, I forgot to take photos of the food until dessert. Luckily they had a photo of my appetizer of their website, because it was awesome!
With much of Holland existing below sea level, they really like their seafood. Great, because I do too.
They made a thin, crispy cylinder out of black and white sesame seeds, then stuffed it with tuna tartare. Wow! That was one funky cannoli. It was served with wasabi cream cheese and a soy sauce dressing, to add a little salty and spicy flavors to the dish.
Dinner was baked scallops and grilled tofu on a “relish” of daikon, radish and red pepper. In addition to the scallops, there were two delicious Thai shrimp wontons with paper-thin wrappers in the bowl. At the table, they ladled in a mild seaweed broth as well.
Dinner was excellent, but we must say, the appetizer really blew us away.
There were several nice desserts offered, but we’ve always been a chocolate freak, so it was no contest.
I don’t know if it was because we were in Amsterdam, or because it was such a nice restaurant, but unlike New York, nobody took photos of the food at their table. For that reason, I made sure to keep the flash off, and the photo below is not one of our better pictures. You can get the idea though.
Moving left to right, first was an orange & clove sorbet with star anise sauce. The cylinder next to it was a mousse of bitter chocolate. Not sure what the small disc was, but it was definitely dark chocolate.
The large disc on the right was pure chocolate ganache, topped with spicy caramel popcorn. Don’t forget about the white chocolate cream on the top and bottom of the plate.
Now that was a world-class meal!
If you ever go to Amsterdam and are on an expense account, or someone else is paying, we highly recommend Restaurant Anna. Otherwise, it’s a bit out of our price range.
For some fun reading, you can see their full menu here.
