High Tea in Amsterdam
Friday 20 June 2008 by nalika
I spent a half day in Amsterdam to catch up with my elementary school classmate and his wife. Since I don't know Amsterdam other than the cat boat on the canal and Van Gogh museum that I visited almost ten years ago, I let my friend pick a place for lunch.
.. and he took me to Intercontinental Hotel for its high tea.
Why???
He said, it's close to the canal and has a very "Amsterdam" view,,, and it's one of the few places in Holland that serves something somewhat refined. Hmm. He and his wife have been in Amsterdam for a little over a year now, and they have noticed that the majority of the Dutch didn't care if food was good or not.
So
, here we are, on a cushy couch on a cushy carpet. Many of the tea servers were 20-something good looking young men, and I wonder if it's one of the attractions of this place. For some reason, they started us off with chocolate, which made me quickly full, then several different cakes, sandwiches, scones followed, while we had five or so refills of different kinds of tea.
While we just had tea, some tables were indulging in champagnes and strawberries. That was quite decadent.
Here's a plate that broke the feeling of decadence.
...did we forget to pack those in Japanese mom's obento's?
I guess it's the Dutch people's love of deep fried snacks, that they have vending machines selling deep fried foods... but I did not expect these fried foods to show up on the table at a high tea at Intercontinental Hotel.
The tea was finished off with a chocolate fountain, which you can dip
your cream puffs. I was so full of sweets that I couldn't indulge in it, but my friend, who works for his family business of confectionery company, has the amazing capacity to eat all the sweet stuff.
After all, I am not sure if it was worth a huge bill of 133 euros for three people... but at least I can blog it.
.. and he took me to Intercontinental Hotel for its high tea.Why???
He said, it's close to the canal and has a very "Amsterdam" view,,, and it's one of the few places in Holland that serves something somewhat refined. Hmm. He and his wife have been in Amsterdam for a little over a year now, and they have noticed that the majority of the Dutch didn't care if food was good or not.
So
, here we are, on a cushy couch on a cushy carpet. Many of the tea servers were 20-something good looking young men, and I wonder if it's one of the attractions of this place. For some reason, they started us off with chocolate, which made me quickly full, then several different cakes, sandwiches, scones followed, while we had five or so refills of different kinds of tea.While we just had tea, some tables were indulging in champagnes and strawberries. That was quite decadent.
Here's a plate that broke the feeling of decadence.
...did we forget to pack those in Japanese mom's obento's?I guess it's the Dutch people's love of deep fried snacks, that they have vending machines selling deep fried foods... but I did not expect these fried foods to show up on the table at a high tea at Intercontinental Hotel.
The tea was finished off with a chocolate fountain, which you can dip
your cream puffs. I was so full of sweets that I couldn't indulge in it, but my friend, who works for his family business of confectionery company, has the amazing capacity to eat all the sweet stuff.After all, I am not sure if it was worth a huge bill of 133 euros for three people... but at least I can blog it.
creme puff in a choco fountain, wow!
fun post. very funny about the mini croquettes and 'obento' comment..... very true.
the dutch sure are good at junk food!!
(did you try 'poffertjes' cute small yeasty pancakes with powdered sugar & butter?)
lekker lekkerrrrr!
I haven't had a chance to try poffertjes... they look nice on google images, plus I would have loved to pronounce the funky Dutch name!