Food

Bagels & Beans (Or: More cheesecake and coffee)

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Niki

A few weekends ago we took a trip to Bagels & Beans, primarily known for their coffee and bagels (as if you couldn’t guess from the name!) They do have really nice bagels – examples include plain, cinnamon raisin, and everything. If you want cream cheese, you’ll get a generous portion as well. Always way more than I need, though I don’t like as much as most people do.

But we were there long enough that we decided to order round two… this time I went for an iced coffee and we shared a cheesecake.

It wasn’t as good as the Cheesecake Company, but cheesecake isn’t Bagels & Beans speciality, either. Don’t get me wrong – it was perfectly decent cheesecake. 🙂 The iced coffee was pretty nice though. It’s funny, I never really drank coffee when I lived in America (until the last year I was there), but now I am quite used to the nightly ritual of coffee after dinner, or coffee after I get back from my Dutch lesson at 10PM. It doesn’t really ever keep me awake, so I don’t have to worry about that!

Categories: Food | Tags: Bagels & Beans, Cafes | 5 Comments

Sour lemon cake (Or: Surprises at Marks & Spencer)

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Niki

So as I mentioned in previous blog posts, Marks & Spencer has been open since February 20th in The Hague. I’ve been there three times now and still haven’t stopped to look at the clothes… I guess it really revolves around the British food offerings.

Marco and I decided to head over there at lunchtime for some coffee. I staked out a table (a requirement usually, as it’s still pretty busy) while he went to get coffee for me and a cappuccino for him. He also came back with lemon cake. (Side note: they had a lot of different cakes and more hearty foods like the British fish & chips and the Dutch toasties, but less things in the middle like croissants).

coffee and cappuccino (the lemon cake is hiding in the shadows to the right)

The lemon cake was definitely a surprise in terms of sourness. I love sour candy, so for me that is a pleasant surprise. The top was covered in icing which was definitely the highlight for sourness, but even the cake itself was still pretty sour. I still pucker my lips just thinking about it!

The cafe itself is on the top floor. All of the tables are by the window, although it might have been better to make the seating area a bit bigger to get more tables in there as it is usually pretty busy. Due to the way the building is constructed you don’t have the best of views outside (Hema is still the best for people watching) so here it is mostly to sit and bask in the sun while the time of day is right.

Categories: Food | Tags: Cafes, Marks and Spencer | Leave a comment

Marks & Spencer is back (Or: Time for cake)

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Niki

Last Thursday, Marks & Spencer opened its doors in the heart of The Hague. It is a British retail chain that used to have a few stores in the Netherlands (including in The Hague and Amsterdam) though it closed its doors years ago. Unfortunately (or fortunately, due to the crowds) I was at work so I did not check it out until this past weekend. Marco and I went on Sunday, right when they opened at 12PM. The crowds, geez! We checked out the food section, but it was pretty hard to move around. We did spy this crazy cake, however:

The box reads “extremely chocolatey loaded party cake”

Looks pretty delicious, but I suspect anyone who eats it would be instantly diagnosed with diabetes afterwards. We didn’t have much time to take any other photos – it really was quite crowded and we did not stay that long. Perhaps next time. I am interested in going there to have a cup of coffee – though it might be a few months before the place calms down a bit. The chain does seem to have a bit of a cult following…

Categories: Food | Tags: Cafes, Marks and Spencer | 1 Comment

Dutch gourmetten (Or: Eten eten eten!)

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Niki

It’s New Year’s Eve which for most Dutchies can mean only one thing – gourmetten! It’s a social activity – get together with friends and family and eat, eat, eat. You grill meat and other things, a few pieces at a time. Very gezellig (a happy, warm feeling when you do things with others – no direct translation).

the start of gourmetten – lots and lots to eat!

We had lots to eat – lots of different types of meats, as well as paprika, onions, mushrooms, bacon, pineapple (yum – you haven’t lived until you’ve had grilled pineapple), bread, and other things.

gourmetten in action!

There was also a lot of sauces – peanut sauce (pindasaus), garlic sauce, chili lime hot sauce, barbecue sauce (thanks Mom & Dad!), buffalo wings sauce, and more.

after dinner snacks

And then you have the snacks afterwards – krentenbollen (of course – oliebollen with raisins), appelflappen (apple dessert), ananasflappen (pineapple), and more. Yum!

Eten eten eten… and later, fireworks!

Categories: Food, Holidays | Tags: Gourmetten, New Year's Eve | 4 Comments

Kokoskransen cookies (Or: I’m supposed to eat that?)

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Niki

Some weeks ago Marco brought home some kokoskransen cookies. This is a soft coconut cookie. It actually tastes pretty good!

An all-time Dutch favorite: a cup of coffee with a cookie

But there is one unexpected thing about it…

There’s a small paper on the underside. It makes sense – the cookie is ever so slightly sticky, so individual cookies need to be separated somehow. I remember the first time I had these at Marco’s dad’s – I was quite confused when I saw the underside and tried to pull off the paper before Marco gently told me it was edible. Indeed! I had no idea…

It as weird to eat the paper as well, let me tell you. My brain told me I mustn’t. But I did anyway.

Categories: Food | Tags: Desserts | Leave a comment

Turkey AND chicken (Or: Thanksgiving in the Netherlands)

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Niki

Here is a glimpse of the somewhat simpler Thanksgiving dinner Marco and I had in the Netherlands:

Since a real turkey is a bit harder to find (and cooking one is more annoying!) we got a half chicken from Albert Heijn as well as some turkey breast in the back of the photo. We also had green beans, applesauce, sweet rolls, as well as mashed potatoes and gravy. Let it be known Marco bought potatoes and mashed them himself like a true Dutchie. 😛

So yay – Thanksgiving in the Netherlands!

Categories: Food, Holidays | Tags: Expat, Thanksgiving | 2 Comments

Time for Dessert (Or: Athene Palace in The Hague)

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Niki

And now for something not Disney related….

Last Sunday Marco and I went to Athene Palace, a Greek restaurant in The Hague. You are served a shot of ouzo shortly after arriving. It’s a Greek, anise-flavored alcohol. I usually order a variety dish that contains a bit of french fries and rice, along with various meats like suflaki, suzuki, gyros, and chicken. Good stuff!

Another person in the party ordered this dessert:

I forget the exact flavor, but if you like whipped cream this is definitely the dessert for you. I’m more of the dame blanche type. My favorite way to eat that ice cream dessert is to ration out the fudge sauce so there is still some sauce left even near the end of the dessert.

The only drawback to this restaurant is that it can be hard to signal a waiter to bring the check. However that is true of lot of restaurants in this country it seems. Others might say they are just giving you enough time to converse afterwards without being bothered, so it really depends on your viewpoint.

Categories: Food | Tags: Desserts, Restaurants | Leave a comment

Colorful chalkboards (Or: At the Cheesecake Company)

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Niki

On Sunday Marco and I visited the Cheesecake Company in The Hague, over on Torenstraat. This is also what we had at our wedding – two strawberry cheesecakes, one chocolate cheesecake, and a smaller white chocolate cappuccino cake for Marco and I (the one that we symbolically cut together).

This time we had their stroopwafel cheesecake. It was delicious.

cheesecake at the Cheesecake Company in The Hague

stroopwafel cheesecake

Near where we were sitting is also a board you can write on with chalk:

And another picture:

Of course, once we were done we asked for some razma-limey (raspberry and lime) cheesecake to go, for later. That is definitely one of my favorites.

Categories: Food | Tags: Cheesecake company, Desserts | 2 Comments

Kruidnoten (Or: Christmas comes earlier every year)

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Niki

Just like many cultures, the Netherlands has this crazy thing where the Christmas displays and food related items appear earlier and earlier every few years. This year it seems the agreed-upon date for all of the supermarkets was September 1 for Sinterklaas sweets, especially kruidnoten (yum) and gevulde speculaas (double yum – thanks Roger for showing me that one). I made sure my parents went home with a package of that, as it’s a seasonal treat.

At least Albert Heijn realizes that the treats are ending up on the shelves earlier and earlier. Above the seasonal area they had this message:

Voor iedereen die kan niet wachten op al het snoopgoed.

For everyone who cannot wait for all of the treats/candy. 🙂

Categories: Culture, Food, Holidays | Tags: Albert Heijn, Christmas, Sinterklaas | Leave a comment

Expensive imports (Or: Twinkies for 15 euros)

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Niki

When Marco and I dropped my family off at Schiphol airport, we stopped at a shop next to the Starbucks. This shop is known for having a small selection of imported American items, including candy, barbecue sauce, and other less than healthy snacks. Imagine my surprise when I found a 15 euro box of twinkies:

Granted, it is a box of 10 twinkies but that still works out to €1.50 per twinkie, or $2. I have also found similar price increases for pop-tarts (English | Dutch) which I have fond memories of being able to get 2 for $5 in America. Here it is €5.50 for one box, although we recently found a €4.50 deal at an Asian supermarket of all places.

The only import place I have visited in The Hague is Kelly’s expat shop which had some interesting stuff with about the prices you expect. Unfortunately sometimes it is easier and cheaper to shop on Amazon UK and have it delivered to the Netherlands. But it’s more fun to go to the stores directly.

Categories: Food | Tags: Desserts, Expat | 8 Comments