Posts Tagged With: FOAM restaurant

Vegan time (Or: Who knew cactus could be delicious?)

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Niki

This Friday Marco, Roger and I had dinner at FOAM in The Hague. This was one of the “first Friday of the month” special dinners. The theme was Mexican, with shared plates.

Unfortunately I am not the person to ask what all of this was. The images are in order that they were served. Some notes:

  • The third image with the cups was my favorite. It is actually a warm, spicy cactus soup. Delicious. I either want the recipe or I want it added to the lunch menu.
  • The fourth image is of mole tacos. It was interesting. I am not sure I have had mole sauce before. The only good way to eat it was with a knife and fork. It was still a bit messy, but doable.
  • The fifth (and largest) image is part of our main course. Not everything was pictured as some things arrived a bit later.
  • The last image is of the dessert. I have decided my palate is not refined enough. I keep hoping it is ice cream or cake or chocolate, but usually we get stuff like figs. It’s fine though, as it keeps it light.

Some other news:

Dutch coronavirus avg. nears 10,000; Covid hospital total close to 1,500 from nltimes.nl. This is not that great; we’re not that far from our record set last December and we’ve only just started November.

Thousands of people demonstrate against coronavirus policy in The Hague from nltimes.nl. This was this afternoon (from about lunchtime to 16:00). The estimated crowd was 20,000 to 25,000 demonstrators. While I was somewhat in the area today I didn’t need to be anywhere near the demonstration route. You can also see dozens of photos over at the local news site regio15.nl (in Dutch). Most of their anger is at the stricter rules – you now need to wear a face mask or show a QR code (vaccinated, recently tested or recently recovered) in public places.

Otherwise things are going well for Marco and I except that the weekend unfortunately flew by. However there is always next weekend forward to!

Advertisement
Categories: Food | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Dining in (Or: Corona measure relaxations)

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Niki

Okay, technically this rule was relaxed last Saturday, but we did not take “advantage” of it until now. We are now allowed to dine in at a restaurant with mixed households (still a maximum of 4 not including kids). On today’s list was visiting FOAM with Roger for a late breakfast. Part of me was selfishly glad that the weather wasn’t spectacular, because I went with “inside” when booking the reservation, just to be safe. (Side note: did you know there are a few days of 31C/88F coming next week? The Netherlands is going to bake! ☀️)

Here was Marco’s pancakes. You have to love the color.

And my grilled sandwich (commonly referred to as a “toasty” over here). It is with harissa hummus, grilled bell peppers, eggplant, parsley, dukkah and an Israeli salad on the side.

And my chai latte. What can I say? I had to take a photo – I loved the stencil on top.

Marco and I have a few restaurants we are eyeing for later this month or next month. Back to Himalayan restaurant for Indian/Nepalese food at some point soon, and also SET restaurant (Japanese) for a romantic dinner. SET has been completely closed for half a year, not even doing takeout, so I am looking forward to it.

Categories: Food, Friends&Family | Tags: , | Leave a comment

A hidden piece of nature (Or: FOAM back terrace)

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Niki

Recently I took a few photos of the back terrace of the FOAM restaurant in The Hague. It’s a tiny splash of nature, only 5 tables or so. On the other side of the foliage is a playground, so you constantly hear the murmur of kids playing.

And a look at the upper level (on the other side is the playground):

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the flowers, either. These were s a vibrant shade of purple.

For this visit Marco and I just had a hot drink (cappuccino for me, matcha latte for Marco) before we took home our “Foam@home” meal. This time it was a very delicious Sri Lankan coconut curry.

And if you have stuck around this long, I will treat you to a photo of a very, very plump (and slow) pigeon that was waddling around in the garden.

It is perhaps a bit hard to tell how plump it was, but it was probably about 50% larger than it needed to be. In the photo its chest extends just past the chair leg. I was surprised it was able to fly away in the end… but it did.

Categories: Food | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Chai latte (Or: With an extra espresso please)

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Niki

Last weekend Marco and I stopped by FOAM restaurant here in The Hague to have a coffee. I would say we were also trying to grab a few moments of sunshine, but to be honest it was pretty cloudy and quite windy the whole time we were there. Hopefully next time will be better?

I ordered a chai latte (plus extra espresso!) and Marco ordered a matcha latte. I really liked my chai latte – it was sweet but still had a nice kick of coffee behind it.

Tomorrow Marco and I both have the day off. I have an appointment at the hair dresser for a touch up. Someone please remind me why I scheduled it so early? There is no opportunity to sleep in at all. But that also means I have more of the day to enjoy after my hair is done… so that is good, right?

I am looking forward to the change in weather, as it should start warming up a bit tomorrow. Perhaps it won’t be full sunshine yet, but at least it won’t be cold like it was this morning. How could it almost be June but still be so windy and cold?

In other (slightly crazy news): the police in Zwolle arrested a driver who was in possession of 550kg (1,200 pounds) of laughing gas (!). The article is from nos.nl in Dutch. If you want to transport more than 2 kilos of laughing gas you need to have a special permit. It is considered a party drug in the Netherlands; every few weeks there is a car crash reported in the news where the driver had laughing gas in the car.

Usually it is not 550kg of laughing gas, though…

Categories: Everyday purchases | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Fridays and lattes (Or: Turmeric in your coffee?)

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Niki

Today’s photo is of a turmeric latte that Marco ordered last week at FOAM restaurant in The Hague. Check out the vibrant colors:

And of course I had to be boring and order a sparkling water. Next time I will look at the menu faster, but I was busy taking a photo of the “this table is reserved” spoon!

In other news: Naturalis (a museum in Leiden) was named as the European museum of the year for 2021 (naturalis.nl, in English). I have never been there, but considering Leiden is only 15-20 minutes away by train, perhaps I should consider it. Once things calm down a bit, of course… One of their most prized assets is the T-Rex skeleton named Trix.

Netherlands in 9th for EU Covid vaccines; 6.1 million shots estimated from notices.nl. But keep in mind the Dutch minister of health wants to be administering 2.5 million vaccinations per week by the end of this month (!). Hospitals will be responsible for up to 500,000 shots per week (article from nos.nl in Dutch). This was always part of the plan but it will be interesting to see if they get enough workers to be able to pull this off.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Categories: Culture, Everyday purchases | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Fun in the sun (Or: Eating on the terrace)

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Niki

On Sunday Marco and I spontaneously booked a reservation for FOAM restaurant here in The Hague. That’s the same restaurant where we get FOAM at home meals on Fridays. I had resisted making an appointment earlier in the week as it was forecasted to rain, but the sun was out in full force Sunday morning so I said we should give it a try. We got a seat on the terrace outside at the front of the restaurant. (Here in the Netherlands you are currently only allowed to eat outside on a restaurant terrace, not inside the restaurant.)

Of course even with beautiful blue skies we managed to get a short burst of rain twice. We looked up and realized there was a tiny grey cloud amidst a sea of blue and white. It was pretty strange. Luckily everything was dry again after a few minutes.

I just loved the ‘this table is reserved’ spoon so I had to take a picture of that:

I decided to have a flatbread with white bean hummus, parsley pesto, red cabbage, eggplant and more. Here is a look before I snapped up the last bite:

And Marco had a ‘no queso quesadilla’ with black beans, sweet potato and a spicy tomato jam:

I do think that might be the next thing I try on the lunch menu. The next time the sun decides to show itself!

Categories: Food | Tags: , | Leave a comment

FOAM Easter brunch (Or: A mix of savory and sweet)

Posted on April 7, 2021 by Niki

This year’s Easter brunch by FOAM was delicious, not that we expect anything different by now. Both photos were taken by Marco, who has a better eye for food photos it seems.

Let’s see. Some of the savory items include: a scone with salted butter and chia jam, an avocado sandwich, a mini spinach quiche and a scrambled tofu sandwich. (Note: that seems to be the only way I like tofu. So tiny it tastes and looks like scrambled eggs. Although oddly I also only eat eggs every 2-3 years, so who knows.)

Some of the sweet items included a coffee hazelnut milkshake, a huge chocolate chip cookie, banana bread, and a fresh fruit salad. My favorite was the chocolate chip cookie (of course) but the banana bread was a close second.

See also the 2020 edition for FOAM’s Easter brunch. That was one of the first FOAM meals we had in corona – pre-FOAM@home on Fridays. I can’t believe it’s been a year already!

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

Comfort food (Or: Spanish stew from FOAM)

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Niki

Here is a look at a recent meal from FOAM here in The Hague (via the FOAM@home service on Fridays). Spanish stew with butter beans, tomatoes, olive, parsley and lemon, with bread on the side.

The taste was subtle, in a home comfort kind of way where no one thing dominated at the expense of other ingredients. The butter beans (large enough that you can easily see them in the photo above!) provided a great texture to the dish. It definitely reminded me of the chili that we ordered from FOAM earlier in the year; that was also comfort food. I really liked the bread too – I could taste a hint of salt in the background. Good stuff.

Eurovision to be event experiment; Half of audience welcome from nltimes.nl. Back in 2019 the Netherlands won the Eurovision Song Contest with Duncan Lawrence’s “Arcade” (YouTube link), which gave the Netherlands the right to host the competition in 2020. After a long search the Rotterdam Ahoy was chosen as the venue. …and then corona happened and the event was delayed a year. Opps. So here we are, in 2021, hoping to finally hold the event. Should be interesting.

Categories: Food | Tags: | Leave a comment

Time for some healthiness (Or: Broccoli salad with spectacular cashew dressing)

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Niki

Tonight’s meal was a broccoli salad with smoked almonds, grapes, dates, baby tomatoes and peanuts (to name a few ingredients). The star of the dish was hands down the smoked cashew dressing. Of course it came from FOAM in The Hague. It tasted quite healthy but so delicious at the same time.

It was interesting to have sweet elements like dates and green grapes in a dinner, but everything meshed well together.

I will admit I peeked ahead at the options for this coming Friday – the first option is a sushi bowl and the second option is Spanish stew. Definitely leaning towards the Spanish stew myself… However the sushi bowl sounds intriguing because it includes “watermelon tuna”, aka watermelon that is prepared with Japanese ingredients to make it look and taste like tuna. Here is a recipe for watermelon tuna from bhg.com, Better Homes & Gardens. Quite interesting!

Categories: Food | Tags: | Leave a comment

The weekend has arrived! (Or: Are you ready to party?)

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Niki

Happy Friday, everyone! We made it. Pat yourself on the back, even if you have to work tomorrow. It is still one day closer to your personal weekend, whenever that is.

Here is a look at Marco and I’s meal from last Friday:

That is Sayur lodeh (English Wikipedia), an Indonesian vegetable soup. In this case vegan, since we ordered it from FOAM Catering here in The Hague. Even my auto spellcheck is having trouble with typing out Sayur lodeh! The homemade sambal (pictured above the dish) was very interesting – it had a slightly sour, pleasant taste. I did find the overall dish a bit “earthy” tasting, although I would not be able to tell you which vegetable caused that. It was pretty good, though.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that I would eat stuff like this? I can say that because I didn’t move to the Netherlands until the end of 2012. It has been one wild culinary ride since then…

Categories: Food | Tags: | Leave a comment

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.