Friday night being the traditional night out in the real world, J, M and I went to Echos All Seasons Restaurant a couple of days ago. It’s run by the Dutch and located just north of the Boardwalk. This was about my fourth visit there since coming to KAF and it was one of the most successful.
The Procedure:
I have to admit, that on my latest visit, everything went very smoothly. The process I’m about to outline, however, pretty accurately reflects what happened to both J and I on earlier visits.
You line up to order at the counter. Unfortunately, the only complete menus are sitting on the counter at the front of the line so nobody knows what they want until they get up there. This slows down the process remarkably and I assume it is because the Dutch, being sociable people, like to stand there uncomfortably as you peruse the menu with a growing line of impatient diners behind you. No pressure there.
Once you’ve seen the menu, you get to play that old Dutch guessing game of Dontenfuckengotit. Sure, sometimes there’s a notice up on the chalkboard that they are out of steak, say, but often you just order something, find out you’ve guessed wrong then order something else. You’re given a receipt with a number. You are then dismissed to go find a table.
Last Friday
On to our latest Dutch adventure…Every Friday night the special is pork ribs with fries and salad for $10. M and I went for that while J had the schnitzel.
The ribs were pretty good. They were cooked properly and quite tender. The sauce was meh and there wasn’t enough of it but they were still way better than most ribs you get in the DFACS.
The fries tasted a little like crow because I put some lots of the curry mayonnaise from their giant jug on them and they were really good. I stand by my comments re: regular mayonnaise on fries, because.
If you’re serving pasta salad, shouldn’t you have to say that on the menu? Who the hell expects a pasta salad when you’re told you’re getting a salad? I expected something with at least a hint of green rather than an anemic white pile of starchy sludge. With a heaping dollop of curry mayonnaise, however, it was awesome. I couldn’t even taste the pasta.
J reported that his schnitzel was very good. He also got a giant breaded hotdog thing on the side which had some fancy Dutch name but they weren’t fooling anyone. It was a Pogo with a lighter breading. They are awesomely good…just like Pogos.
Desert Dessert
It’s Ramadan right now so we’ve been asked not to eat outside during daylight hours in deference to the local population’s myths. Luckily, the sun was going down just as we left All Seasons so we wandered across the dusty alley to the Boardwalk for an ice cream at Cold Mountain Ice Cream. Unlike the DFACS, Cold Mountain has soft serve ice cream (or is it ice milk?) just like Dairy Queen. Unlike Dairy Queen, the quality control is a little lacking…but that’s a good thing. For example, the sign has always said a regular dipped cone is $3. When they first opened they were charging $2.50. On Friday, they charged me $2. They also aren’t the most skilled cone dippers. You often get very uneven chocolate coverage but it is so thick in some places that its like an ice cream bar.
Here’s a hint: always ask for an extra napkin. Unless you’re the fastest ice cream eater in the world and are ok with risking an ice cream headache (or 3) and all the ridicule that accompanies that, in 50C heat you will have ice cream dripping all over.
Bottom Line
The Dutch place is an affordable and pretty tasty place to eat. Just make sure you learn the counting system… I haven’t.
For ice cream, it’s best at the Boardwalk.
I think iced tea slushies sound vile. THREE of them is unthinkable.
I only had one slushie but three headaches. I’ve edited the post to be more clear. But the ice tea slushie was excellent.
One other tng I don’t quite understand….. The fries tasted like…crow?
Did you click the link to my comments about fries with mayo?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_crow
gotcha, sorry I missed that. Now *I’m* eating crow.
Er, ^ that’s “thing”.
When I questioned the order at which food leaves the kitchen I was told that their countrymen have priority and thus move to the front of the food line. Wouldn’t it be great if it worked that way at Tim’s.
I like the seasons you’ve stated however I wouldn’t want to experience them. Maybe you can start your own curry mayo business once home but I understand you’ll have to find an outlet that sells cumin ( if that is one of your secret ingredients).
I always wondered what happened to Yack Levack when you disappeared from the DWAN. I was turned on to (not by) your blog by a fellow Aurora aviator today. Your lack of success with Dutch babes in today’s entry reminded me of that night we went out in Leiden and you got shot down in flames over and over again to my geometrically increasing amusement and your ever-lasting chagrin. What’s with the pixelation (in M’s case laughingly ineffective)? Guess you don’t know that surfing gay midget porn is legal now!
If I don’t remember it, it didn’t happen.