Review restaurant Speijkervet

speijkervet

Last weekend I had dinner with some friends in restaurant Speijkervet which is located at Admiraal de Ruijterweg 79 in Amsterdam West. Their menu is inspired by the Northern European kitchen. If you are a meat lover you are in the right place since they will use every part of the animals they use for their dishes. Nothing is thrown away. For example they use organ meat for their original English kidney pies. But don’t worry they also serve other dishes like scallops or even vegetarian dishes. They work with fresh ingredients that are acquired daily from local (biological) suppliers around the corner but also from other suppliers from across the country. When I arrived some of my friends were already waiting at the bar which is located on the side of the restaurant, while sipping their beers. The restaurant was crowded so we had to wait till our table was ready which wasn’t a problem since it gave us some time to catch up, whilst enjoying our beers. After some time one of the hostesses told us our table was ready and escorted us across the restaurant. On the way to our seats we saw someone preparing a whole suckling pig which is also part of the menu (suckling pigs have to be ordered 4 days up front and only for larger groups of people). We immediately knew we were at the right place for a good dinner with friends :). The interior was pretty simple but still created a cosy atmosphere. Although the restaurant seemed crowded, tables were not too close too each other so you still have some privacy. One thing: there was a couple sitting besides us together with their two dogs! Maybe not what you expect to see in a restaurant, but it wasn’t something that could ruin the good vibe we were in. Four of us started off with a glass of red wine (Chateau Ramafort, Merlot, 2005), the other two kept it with beer. The menu consists of 7 starters like buffalo mozzarella made in Groningen with porcini cream, kale and roasted shallot. Some other starters are salad of roasted pumpkin, chicory, cranberry and mandarin, a terrine of duck, quince and chestnut brioche and fish soup with rouille and croutons. They also have some special starters that are not on the main menu. For main course you can choose from 5 dishes (excluding specials) like cote de boeuf (2 persons), Cascogne steak with wild mushrooms or rabbit stewed in cider. as mentioned before a roasted suckling pig is also an option (ordered 4 days up front). of course they have several desserts and a whole list of white and red wines, beers, etc (check for more info on their website).
As a starter I choose a special which was a plank with five different kinds of meat. The first one was a part of a testicle of a sheep (!) which I heard from my friends after I tasted it, but it was very delicious. Furthermore there was corned beef, some sort of filet and two other delicious kinds of meat. All in all it was very good. One of my friends had an English kidney pie which I had to taste as well. It was really good and for a bit I kinda regretted I hadn’t chosen the kidney pie myself. My main course was cote de boeuf (together with a friend). The four others chose a special called “the Beast” which consisted of 3 kinds of meat, amongst them a sausage. They told me later that “the Beast” was good but above all very much…
The cote de boeuf was excellent. Medium rare as ordered, very tender and served with some steamed carrots, wild spinach and mashed potatoes. The Merlot tasted well with the cote de boeuf. Also it wasn’t too much which I have experienced often with similar dishes in other restaurants. It was just right.
For dessert we all had a scroppino (as if we hadn’t already enough to drink 😉 ).
In short: the food was great, the wine was flowing and so were the jokes and conversations, so the atmosphere was good. When we left we were satisfied and happy and ready to go to our next stop: cafe Barbaarsch (review coming soon).
If you like meat, you should definitely bring Speijkervet a visit.

Speijkervet, Admiraal de Ruijterweg 79, for bookings click here.

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