Het Jagershuys

My parents are visiting and it was a good excuse to go out to a pancake restaurant. As you may (or may not) know, pancake restaurants are a big thing in the Netherlands. BIG.

We went to Het Jagershuys pancake restaurant in Zeist and it was pretty good. They have all the standard pancakes but also a wide selection of special pancakes. My dad tried a Mexican pancake and my mom had one with chicken and bacon (like a caesar salad but not) and I had a salad. Because I'm not that crazy about pancakes but everyone else in my family love them.

We also had ice cream for dessert - definitely a great way to end lunch! I think we'll definitely be heading back to this restaurant :-)

Thinking about...

The best cheesecake EVER!
Which I ate a the Theehuis Dennenoord in Nutter a.k.a the middle of nowhere.
Past Enschede and close to Germany.

Well that is where we had a little birthday lunch for the husband yesterday.
I couldn't resist ordering the white chocolate cheesecake with a dark chocolate crust.
Let's just say it was like heaven on a plate.
Good thing we live about 2 hours away so I can't go back to have more.
Because this cheesecake is so worth it.

Dinner at Niven

It's been a few weeks but I finally put together some photos of the dinner I enjoyed at restaurant Niven. Looking at them makes me hungry... tonight we're celebrating Sinterklaas with our neighbours so there will be lots of food but it won't be this pretty!

A Day at Restaurant Niven

By now you know that I have bought my fair share of Groupon vouchers... it is usually a game of hit and miss with Groupon but spending a day in a Michelin star kitchen seemed like a great idea to me! My husband thought I should definitely do it although he thought it was quite funny that I'll be paying for the pleasure of 'working' in a kitchen.

Restaurant Niven is located in Rijswijk which is about an hour away from Utrecht and on a rainy Saturday morning I met my friend Lisl there. We were completely clueless as to what would happen that day but we walked in the door and was met by a friendly waiter offering us a delicious cappuccino. Then the fun started.

We were handed kitchen outfits and aprons and were literally ushered into the kitchen. All day long we helped the staff prep food. They were very friendly and worked together like a well oiled machine. They patiently answered our questions, and kept us busy. Slicing cucumbers and then putting a blow torch to them was definitely a new thing for me to do!

Chef Niven spent a lot of time in the kitchen, making sure everything is perfect. He is very young and it is quite an achievement to be so successful at the age of 32!! His team in the kitchen is also young and energetic. It was a little strange to be the oldest person there...

After a busy lunch time service we started prepping for the dinner service and let me tell you, working in a kitchen is not an easy job. You stand all day long and there is also a lot of cleaning to be done. You always have something else to prepare, from slow cooked beef cheeks and finely slicing tiny radishes to making dough for the cookies which customers get when leaving the restaurant.

We were surprised by a 10 course dinner after our 'hard' work and it was delicious! It is pretty amazing to know exactly where the produce came from and what it looked like before becoming a piece of art on a plate.

Thank you Chef Niven and team for a lovely experience!

Here are a few photos I took during the day... as you can image it was pretty hard to select only a few! I'll post the photos of our dinner next week :-)

The Niven kitchen

Chef Niven in action!

Michelin style 'pizza' - amazing, right?

Team work! Chef Niven and his sous chef Bas

Beautiful!

Yoghurt Barn

I can think of few things as good as yoghurt and cruesli with berries for breakfast. So I was pretty happy to meet some friends at the Yoghurt Barn in Utrecht on Tuesday. Not only because it was great to see my friends but also because I do love their yoghurt. Since I'm trying to be thrifty it helps that they have a breakfast special before 10 am: free coffee with a medium yoghurt! Happiness!!

This time I managed to take a photo of the yoghurt before devouring it.

Yoghurt Barn Illustration

I had a glorious breakfast on Tuesday morning at the Yoghurt Barn in Utrecht. They really do make the best yoghurt in town. Not that I'm an expert but that merry berry special yoghurt that I ordered was excellent. You know it, I'll be back!

Here is a little illustration of my breakfast:

Oh, and I hope you all have a happy halloween! I was going to try and bake something fun for the kids but I must admit I just don't have the energy for baking today. And you know that I'm a firm believer that your mood influences the results of your cooking / baking. There is a big chance that I might risk making pancakes tonight though... or rather, I'll ask my husband to make them!

Theehuis Dennenoord

We stopped at a lovely little restaurant while we were in Twente. It is called the Theehuis Dennenoord and their speciality is serving an English high tea.

What a lovely place! We enjoyed an extensive high tea and they even had a kids high tea. Little tea pots for the girls with juice (of course). Delicious scones, clotted cream, quiche... and of course lots of tea.

If you happen to find yourself near Nutter in Twente then stop by this lovely tea house!

Burgers at Steiger1

On a sunny Saturday evening before the summer vacation we headed towards Amsterdam.
In a moment of weakness I bought a Groupon for burgers at a restaurant called Steiger1. I really wanted a burger and it was a good deal so you can't really blame me for buying it!

The staff were very friendly and very accommodating towards the kids, who, let's face it, were not on their best behaviour that day. We sat outside on the terrace with a view of the water and the sun shining on our backs. Perfect.

We ordered our food and enjoyed the sun.
Then we couldn't resist some key lime pie as dessert.
Good times indeed.

Afterwards we let the kids play in a little neighbourhood playground.

All in all the food was good although it took a little long to get to us. If I find myself in the area I will definitely drop by this restaurant again!

De Karpendonkse Hoeve

Eight courses.
I know I mentioned this before but can you imagine it?
We went to the Karpendonkse Hoeve in Eindhoven on a sunny Thursday evening.
From the outside it is very unassuming and you wouldn't guess that a very classy michelin star restaurant can be found once you pass through the door.

Since I am a very fussy eater I went for the vegetarian option.
My husband and our friends had the full option which included a mix of fish, chicken and lamb dishes.
The food just kept on coming!

I think my favourite part of the restaurant is the setting. Our table looked out on a beautiful park with a lake. The service is also impecable. And the food is very good. Art on a plate.
Of course it helps to have a glass of wine and be in the company of good friends.

Frame template by Maybemej.

Lunch at Umami

I had some free time the other day and walked into town to browse the shops.
Not that I had any plan whatsoever.
On my way home I realized that I was hungry and lunch time was almost over.
There are quite a few restaurants on the Oudegraght and I've never tried Umami.
I often walk past it on my home after my wednesday evening class at the UCK held at the ganzenmarkt, and it is always packed. It must be popular for a reason.

Lunch time is the perfect time to go there. It was relatively quiet and they have a really good lunch menu for only € 7,95 p.p! (this is a real bargain)

I enjoyed chicken salad and tja sieuw with white rice. As you can see from my instagram photos, the portion was generous and beautifully presented. Yummy.

Plus it felt kind of liberating having lunch all by myself :-)

DWZI - Smoked Buffalo Mozzarella

It feels like this week raced by.
Even though I really miss cooking, I must admit that I did enjoy a meal out this week with a good friend.
We went to Amsterdam where I bought a lovely carpet for the kitchen and afterwards we had dinner at a little Italian restaurant called A Tavola. We just ended up there by chance.

The food was lovely, really authentic.
The chef and his team were very funny and very Italian.

The star dish of the evening was smoked buffalo mozzarella... wow. It was served warm with bread.
Definitely worth recommending!

Everything else we ate this week paled by comparison. But hey, it's only food right?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

You can find all the DWZI participants here.

Pancakes and Salads at Rhijnauwen

There is a lovely pancake restaurant on the way to Bunnik.
It's called Theehuis Rhijnauwen.
We go there often because it is very child friendly and it is surrounded by beautiful greenery. A little bit of nature near Utrecht perfect for taking a stroll with the kids.

I usually have a goats cheese salad and the kids enjoy the pancakes.
It does get busy though, so I suggest you go early!

Sushi Qube

All you can eat Japanese food.
That is exactly what you will find at Sushi Qube.
We stopped at their restaurant on the Oudegracht for an early dinner with the kids.
It was great!

The service was good and the food was delicious.
They have a very big choice on the menu and as always I ended up eating more than I should.
I especially loved the vegetable tempura and the chicken yakitori.
Heidi liked the chicken so much she even asked if we could eat it every day.
(clearly that is not going to happen!)

I definitely recommend going there and I plan on returning soon :-)

Lunch at La Winery

Driving around the French region of Bordeaux is lovely.
Vineyards everywhere.
We stopped at Winery, which is a big wine shop with an excellent restaurant. They have a great selection of wines from the Bordeaux regions as well as some international wines.
The sommelier was very patient with me, explaining all about the wines and the regions and the differences.

I left there with a nice selection of white and reds which he called a 'discovery' of Bordeaux.
Most of them are ready to drink now, since there is no way that I will be able to wait a few years!

The lunch at Le WY was really good.
Too good.
We even had dessert.
At lunch time.

Brasserie Domplein

We walked into town on a busy Saturday morning and soon enough the kids were hungry.
Since we found ourselves near the Dom we secured a table at the Brasserie Domplein.
I had an excellent decaf latte and we enjoyed some sandwiches.

There is a big mural on the ceiling of the restaurant which I found fascinating.
The service was good and it is pretty much a typical Dutch restaurant.

I enjoyed a 'broodje gezond' and the kids had toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.
It's not really a very child friendly place, but at the same time they were very easy going and not at all fussed by our kids.

Definitely a nice spot to have a quick coffee on a Saturday morning.

On Top Pancakes at Rosada Factory Outlet

We recently went to a factory outlet mall called Rosada near Roosendaal and we were pleasantly surprised. It has a good selection of brands and some really good prices too!
I had to resist going on a spending spree since we had very clear objectives that day:
1. Buy the husband a new suit.
2. Buy Heidi a new pair of jeans.

You probably won't be surprised to know that we did not stick to the plan. We bought a few more things... but I am such a sucker for a bargain!

There are a few restaurants to choose from but we ended up at On Top where they have a great selection of pancakes. The kids were in heaven... lovely toppings, toys and juice.
All in all a great success.

Eetcafe de Eend in Loosdrecht

One of our favourite places to go on a weekend for a lazy lunch is Loosdrecht.
It is especially nice in the spring and summer when the sun is out and you can sit outside on a terrace right by the water. But we inevitably find ourselves heading towards Loosdrecht whenever we can't decide where to go. It just never disappoints.

We had a lovely lunch at Eetcafe de Eend.
I had a goats cheese salad, the husband enjoyed a burger, the kids ate nuggets.
They had a baby chair for Stella and a colouring kit for Heidi so everyone was happy.
The service was good, we had a view of the water.
Definitely my kind of restaurant.

Surprise Party at the Mary K Hotel

A good friend of mine gave her husband a surprise party at the Mary K Hotel in Utrecht. It is a really lovely hotel, filled with quirky design details.

The party was in the basement which leads out to the Oudegracht. It's the perfect venue for a small gathering of friends, or even a business meeting.

The catering was done by Anne Marije Eko Kitchen. Delicious sandwiches, a big salad, cheesecake... it was yummy!

Namaskar Indian Restaurant

On a whim I bought a voucher from Groupon for a dinner for two at Namaskar. We have ordered take out from them quite a few times, but we rarely go there for a sit down dinner. Groupon has some really good deals and I couldn't resist.

The voucher was about to expire and we decided to finally make use of it, kids and all.

We arrived at the restaurant and was greeted by a less than enthusiastic waiter. In fact it looked like they really did not want us there. But still, they were obliged to serve us. I cannot fault the food, it was good. Although the waiter wasn't actually able to tell us what we will be getting. They served chicken tikka, some lamb dish, a lentil dish, a vegetarian dish, yellow rice, a garlic naan bread and a side salad. It was a lot of food and the kids were able to eat along with us.

It is just such a pity that the waiter couldn't even crack one smile. All the staff were sullen and completely preoccupied with their take out section.

Will I go here again for a sit down meal? Probably not.
Will I order take out from Namaskar? Definitely.

Night Spa

Who ever heard of going to a night spa?
Certainly not me.

Well not until I started looking at options during our holiday and found out that in South Africa there are lots of places offering night spa treatments.

The two Spa's I looked at was Mangwanani and Bayete Estate.
We ended up booking a night spa at Bayete and it was lovely.
The price was very reasonable and included 3 treatments and a 3 course dinner.

The estate is located quite remotely just off a little road somewhere near Centurion. I must admit we were a little nervous driving around there at night but in the end it all worked out fine. Once you park your car you become aware of the beautiful lush green gardens. It is very well maintained and also serves as a wedding venue. It has a bit of an old worldly feeling. Quiet and rustic. The reception area is right next to an outdoor bar, heated pool and jacuzzi.

Here are some photos taken of the grounds in the early evening just as we arrived and before the sun set.

We received a little dressing room where we had to change into our bathing suits. They provided dressing gowns and slippers. Two friendly massage therapists welcomed us and guided us through a maze of little pathways to the stone treatment huts.

My husband and I had all our treatments together which I thought was quite romantic. Indian neck and shoulder massages, a full body hot stone massage as well as hand and feet exfoliation and massage. Candle lights and the sounds of the night insects calling each other added to a very peaceful ambiance.

After about three hours of treatments with breaks in between where we could help ourselves to something to drink, we were ready for dinner. But first we jumped into the jacuzzi!! It really was a beautiful warm summers night and we felt very pampered.

We did have a little excitement in our dressing room when a scorpion fell out of my clothes as I picked it up! As I jumped on a chair my husband, the hero, opened the door and let the little unwanted visitor out.

Dinner was excellent. I had haloumi cheese and my husband had garlic snails as a started. Then I had fillet of beef and my husband had the fish, all served with a side of fries and a greek salad. And lastly we had malva pudding with custard for dessert.

I definitely recommend having a night spa treatment!