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THE last time I had breakfast in Amsterdam I was stuck at Schiphol Airport at some ungodly hour waiting with the family for the flight to Humberside for our annual pilgrimage to spend the festive season with granddad, writes Stan Szecowka.
Now Granddad Brian is a former seafarer who used to navigate barges up and down the estuary in his youth before becoming a fish ’n’ chip shop baron and he knows a thing or two about good hearty British food.
In fact, every morning during our stay he insists we sit down to enjoy a full English breakfast which he swears at being the best way to start the day and it doesn’t appear to have done him any harm as he fast approaches his 80th birthday.
So, as experienced connoisseurs of such fare, it was with some trepidation that I took the good lady wife, Kathryn, and our 12-year-old son, little Stan, to sample English Breakfast at Café Amsterdam Bahrain last Friday morning.
Bright and spacious, Café Amsterdam is an all-day dining, modern European-inspired restaurant developed in conjunction with Heineken and aims to offer multiple dining, lounging and nightlife experiences all under one roof.
The restaurant’s brightly-coloured main dining area is styled with iconic Amsterdam imagery, replete with brick decorated walls, tulips and bicycles.
The menu includes contemporary preparations as well as classic dishes. The food reflects the continuing evolution of modern European recipes, with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences.
Breakfast is served from 8am until midday … but how could a Dutch-themed operation in the Middle East with a Tunisian head chef possibly compete with granddad’s offering?
Fearless Head Chef Mohamed Bouzaiene was up for the challenge and already the impressive Adliya venue and the bright sunshine which greeted us as we were shown to our outside table certainly removed any thoughts of a chilly December morning in Hull. It’s just a shame granddad wasn’t here to join us.
In fact Café Amsterdam has five different seating areas. The conservatory is ideal for a sunny breakfast or lunch and for high tea, the main dining area boasts European décor and is good for lunch or dinner, a sophisticated lounge area and comfortable sports bar attracts the night crowd but the garden is a beautiful spot for al fresco dinning.
“Our hearty and nourishing English breakfasts are the perfect meals to kick-start your day, leaving you satisfyingly full and brimming with energy,” promised the chef who could have been singing from the same hymn-sheet as Brian.
We ordered refreshments first, the boys went for the Smoothies (BD3.800), with an Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie for me, containing banana, ground cinnamon with the oats mixed up in vanilla milk, and a Berry Smoothie for Stan with all the traditional ingredients that normally go into making jam such as blueberries, strawberries and raspberries (wait for it … there’s a point to this observation).
Kathryn ordered Silver Needle (BD2.200) off the Tea Menu, a refreshing white China variety and the most prized and expensive as only the top buds are used to produce every delicious drop.
There was a choice of free-range fried, scrambled or poached eggs with baked beans, fried black pudding, crispy bacon and homemade sausages, with either white or brown toast at BD4.500++.
With my new fitness regime in full flow I chose the poached as the others went for the fried eggs.
For me the most important element of a good English breakfast is that it comes to the table piping hot. It takes a lot of skill as there are so many pans on the stove and too often restaurants and cafes outside of Blighty let themselves down by delivering one or two of the essential ingredients to the plate cold.
The team in Chef Mohamed’s kitchen has the method of delivery mastered to perfection – well done. That’s the first hurdle over, now for the presentation. Five stars, not a bit of grease spoiling the look. In fact, one of my posh friends in Tuscany commented following my Facebook entry of the image on how good it looked.
Second jump, the taste. Terrific. Little Stan said his eggs were cooked to perfection. My sausages were sensational although if I was to be picky I could have done with more sauce in the beans. Kathryn was totally satisfied and smiled throughout which is always a result in my book.
For those wanting to keep off the meat, the eggs are available solo at BD4++ or half portions at half price, including a tempting omelet with sautéed leeks and feta cheese, ripe avocado, diced onion and fresh tomato.
Little Stan somehow made room for an American-style pancake (BD2++) too, served with homemade vanilla ice cream as Kathryn and me tucked into the chef’s surprise of homemade jams with fresh, warm-out-of-the-oven bread.
And, when I say surprise, I mean surprise, because one of the jams was green tomato!
It was surprisingly very tasty, and up there with the best wild fruit conserves I’ve ever tasted. But why green tomato? I asked the chef. He swiftly replied: “We are trying to be innovative as much as possible. Plus, everybody uses red tomatoes.”
No, chef, everybody uses strawberries, or apricot, or damson … but I like your style as he suggested he wanted Café Amsterdam’s breakfast menu to be enjoyed by diners ‘having the innovative bizarre experience’.
Right, OK, so what’s with the traditional English breakfast offering then? Easy, he replied. “I like the sausage as it’s homemade with all the ingredients together has a quality that thrusts itself into attention.”
I couldn’t argue with that. I wonder if he’s ever met granddad. To book a table, call 17007404.
