My First Head Shop in 50 Years


Today we tried once again to get to the Albert Cuyp market but failed again. We were in the right area, but managed to turn the wrong way off the tram and walk way out of our way. But I am ahead of myself.
When we got back yesterday, I realized I had overdone my walking--4 hour food tour followed by all the walking and getting on and off the tram before heading back to the apartment. A blister has started on the bottom of my big toe. Not good. This happened before and it was not only painful, but pretty much stopped me from walking much on it.
 So today I said I cannot walk far because tomorrow is the big day at the tulip gardens--miles and miles of them--and I want to be able to enjoy the day.
You're getting the point, right? After all my comments on how great a navigator my husband is, he screws up today and leads me astray. 
I had made an online reservation for lunch at a recommended place called Senses. They have no tables available for dinner all week, but lunch sounded good. We headed there after realizing we'd only get to stay at the market a short time if we kept trying to find it. The restaurant had no other customers the whole time we were there, so we had great service (though I'm sure it's always great) and an absolutely fabulous lunch. Oh, it's a 3-course fixed price meal and we had to pay online when we made the res. 
 I highly recommend eating lunch there. It's quieter, less expensive (dinner would have cost us up to 81EU for 7 courses without wine), and the perfect amount of food.
On our walk there, we encountered a head shop, so I wandered in. It's been many years since I have been in one--the Cosmic Egg on Burlingame Ave. in the 70's. They only sold paraphernalia--this one sells it all.  


The next pictures are from Senses. Beautiful decor, stunning plates, excellent food and service. I won't be able to describe each dish--they're unique with many tiny bites of flavor.

Amuse bouche first with trout eggs and ?. We had our choice of 2 wine pairings--appetizer and main or main and dessert. I took the latter, but we each were given a sampling of every wine. Yes, I drank at lunch and stayed awake through the day.
Sea bream with cucumber cut paper thin and other delicacies.
Homemade brioche with two kinds of homemade butter. Just enough.
Main course was coming with red wine and sharp knives...
Lamb saddle with teeny potatoes, herring cannelloni and I can't do this justice. Each bite was so flavorful and unique and hard to remember what each entailed.


Oh my dessert wine. Not real sweet, but paired beautifully with the blood orange dessert. check out the puzzle pieces! They were like panna cotta--very flavorful. Little baby meringues atop something cold and delicious. Every bite--great!



 
 I rarely drink coffee during the day, but had a cappuccino with a sugar stick in the most beautiful cup. Honestly, everything here was perfection.
Even their several choices of business cards.


Worth every penny.
 And we finally made it to the Albert Cuyp Market, which was a good experience for local culture blended with tourist fare.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Not Just the Food...how about butterflies?

Image
We are actually now in Kota Bharu after a harrowing long day at the airport...a much longer day there than planned.  Before I tell the day's long story, I want to finish Penang since we had some really great experiences there.  We've been in search of hawker food like we found the last night in KL, so the Aussie couple we met told us about the area near the mall, of course, but outside it.  The four of us shared a taxi there, then went our separate ways since they had last night shopping to do before going home the next day.  Matthew and I tried foods from about 4-5 stalls, and I didn't take many pictures, though did get a couple of the guy who danced to the great old American music and pounded his knife to the music, then swung around while pouring sauce on the plate still in beat.  The next day we decided to find where the free city shuttle was and use it to find out way around.  Matthew had a different map, but used it to figure out where we wanted to get off
Read more

Small Steps and New Aches

Image
 So here it is:  my new computer...got the IMac last week.  Never one to do anything the easy way, I bought the trackpad instead of the mouse.  Now I have to learn how that works and since I never liked using the pad on laptops, this is a new challenge.  The computer is beautiful, the graphics awesome--I'm transfixed when the screensaver comes on. First, they're always different, so I never know what to expect, and second, it's like watching a colorful slide show.    Many things are different on the Mac--like finding commands I often use.  I did sign up for a class, and my first one is this week.  I'll see how helpful this is before signing up for another one.    I bought the one-to-one, so I don't have to sit with 15 other people and have someone ask, "How do you turn it on?"  I've been in that class before and it wasn't fun.  Nor did I learn anything especially when they partnered us up and I landed with the one who didn't know how to turn i
Read more

Bound and Determined in Hawaii

Image
    We finally made it to Kona--were given a big red SUV for the 2 of us as a rental, which came in handy Sat. night.  I heard from Jeff, oldest nephew who left pregnant wife Emily and 2-year old daughter Maddie home (color me so sad about that) that we were invited to a barbecue at the house  rented for himself and 2 sons plus 2 girlfriends. The younger men were playing golf in a wedding tournament all day and Brock and the 2 women were off hiking then shopping for food before moving into the house,   Matthew was hesitant to go at the time Jeff gave us in case no one was actually there at 5, so we waited and called. Sure enough Brock had just arrived, though maybe Jeff and Garret were there earlier. Their house was beautiful with a sunset view and nice pool, so it was fun to hang out there that evening.  We brought enough wine and  beer for a large party, not knowing how many and being told to prepare for anywhere from 9-15 (there were 8 of us). Being with the family does
Read more