What: Recycling Restaurant – Where: Czaar Peterstraat 21, Amsterdam – How much: Menu about 25€
A really special restaurant I was allowed to visit in the Christmas time in Amsterdam was Instock. The Instock in Amsterdam relies on the concept of food recycling. This means that every day local grocers and traders provide Instock with their left over food. This creates an always unique menu.
However, the modern restaurant can not only convince with an extraordinary concept, but also the decor is stylish and modern.
In this restaurant there are numerous expects worthy of mention. For example, the first fair trade sparkling wine from South Africa is served which is unique worldwide. 80% of the food comes from the supermarket chain Albert Heijn, which is well known in the Netherlands. The restaurant started as a pop-up store and now has branches in Amsterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht. Every evening there is a fixed menu, which can never the less be adjusted, for example for vegetarians. Instock offers beers from local breweries, including their home made beer, which is made from potatoes. The restaurant also takes care of the reintegration of disabled people into the workplace by cooperating with companies who provide jobs to disabled people. As if that were not enough, the food tastes really good and is very interesting!
Our menu started with a broth served with various vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts and pumpkin.
As an appetizer in advance, there was bread and cucumber, which was recently „saved“ in a supermarket.
The menu consisting of four courses can be ordered accompanied with a matching wine menu.
The second course, Mac N Cheese, a classic but incredibly delicious one. The special note comes from a variation of cucumbers.
The main course was certainly the most interesting of all dishes. There was a traditional Dutch dish of potatoes, vegetables and meatballs called „Bitterballen“. These had a consistency somewhere between solid and liquid. At first bite rather unfamiliar, but then the explosion of notes had started.
At the end of the menu, there was a mix of iced fruits topped with a sauce of vanilla and brittle.
In conclusion one can say, the concept of the Instock in this way is unique and exemplary. You can almost taste the effort and work behind it. Just the surprising not to know what is going to be on my plate, is very special to me. Therefore, I say here very explicitly:
matthiisst 