De Spiegel (Amsterdam)
Here's a tip: if you arrive at a widely known, well-respected museum on the other side of the world, make sure you start on a FULL stomach. My husband and I were so famished by the end of our time at the Rijksmuseusm that we settled on pretty much the first restaurant we saw. That doesn't happen often, but thankfully, the restaurant ended up being De Spiegel.
Salami, Cheese, Tomato, Onion & Pesto Panini
While the meat-to-bread ratio wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, I was very satisfied with this panini. As someone who usually pulls the raw tomatoes out of my sandwiches & burgers, I happily left them in as they were a surprisingly necessary part of each bite. The panini was warmed through so the cheese was gooey; overall, a delicious meal and well balanced flavours.
Bacon Cheeseburger with French Fries
My husband went with the familiar bacon cheeseburger, and while it was somewhat decent and did the trick, the beef patty didn't taste overly fresh. Perhaps from frozen? The fries though were amazing. I don't think we had a single bad fry during our entire Eurotrip... and we had our fair share of fries! I wish we could see that same kind of consistency over here, and have them served with a delicious mayo.
Tapas Mix
We also shared the "Tapas Mix" which turned out to be a total guilty pleasure. The plate consisted of deep fried spicy spring rolls, cheesefingers, and bitterballen. Normally it comes with olives as well, but we aren't fans so they substituted with extra cheesefingers, free of charge! There was absolutely nothing fancy about this stuff, but it was SO good. The "spring rolls" were more like spicy little beef & cheese burritos, whereas the cheesefingers (my favourite) were as though someone rolled up a Kraft single (or Velveeta, for those of you in the US) and deep fried it. The bitterballen (which was a deep fried mixture of beef, spices, and a roux) was my husband's favourite.
As most people do, we sat outside for our meal, shielded from the light drizzle by the restaurant's amply large umbrellas. It was incredibly comfortable, aside from the pesky pigeons. One even flew up onto my husband's arm and tried to grab his burger! So, the restaurant released their hound to chase the pigeons off.
Not the Hero we deserved, but the Hero we needed