Restaurant Bla Bla

Every time I visit Rotterdam in the Netherlands, I try to stop by Restaurant Bla Bla for dinner. Bla Bla is located in the Delfshaven neighborhood, where I lived for a month last year when work sent me on special assignment. It is a strictly vegetarian restaurant that maintains a small menu focused on what is available fresh depending on the season.

When you enter the restaurant, the first thought is just how small it is. The restaurant is located in a tiny, narrow canal house. There are about eight tables on the ground floor and two more upstairs on a balcony, sharing the upstairs with the kitchen. It is cozy and intimate and very comfortable. The menu is written on a chalk board behind the small bar specializing in organic Dutch beers. Beware, there is no english menu, but the staff are more than happy to help explain what is on offer.

The menu generally consists of three main meals, each consisting of around eight courses. Each meal has a theme. When I was there last time, the themes were Indian, Mexican, and Dutch. All the food shows up at once, piled high on a plate. It is fun to eat around the plate, sampling each item and pondering what makes it so good. I would not hesitate to bring my meat eating friends to this vegetarian restaurant as the food is interesting, filling, and so very good.

I selected the Indian meal and it was a treat. The meal included samosa, tabouli salad, cauliflower with cashews, dal, salad, curried eggplant, basmati lemon rice, and poppadoms. It was excellent and filling. I have eaten in vegetarian restaurants all over the place but few are as inspired as Restaurant Bla Bla.

Blaak Market

Every Tuesday and Saturday there is a large market in central Rotterdam. It is in a section called Blaak (pronounced Block). Blaak is an interesting part of the City, home to the famous cube houses, the pencil building, and a tram stop that looks like it would be a part of the Jetsons.

There are over 400 vendors selling everything you could want at very good prices. Those loyal readers who followed my blog two years ago will remember some posts about the markets I enjoyed in Uruguay.There is something special about open air markets. There is the thrill of discovery and the satisfaction of getting a good deal. The edibles tend to be extremely fresh and generally anything on offer is in season. Some highlights of the market include:

Cheese of course. Many varieties, great prices, and delicious

Fresh fish, cleaned at your request. Prices were very good and the fish was about as fresh as is possible without catching it yourself. There was a huge variety on offer, easily over 100 varients of fresh seafood.

The famous Stroopwafels, available only in the Netherlands. These "Syrup Waffels" are consumed by the millions by the Dutch and I can understand why. Stroopwafels are two paper thin wafels (cookies) that are pasted together with a very thin layer of carmel. You have not lived until you have had a fresh warm Stroopwafel straight off the grill. The carmel forms long strings that are a bit messy but cause extreme happiness.

Hats, clothes and fabric. Where else can you find a shirt for one euro?

The little pancakes called "Poffertjeskraams". These are similar to pancakes but cooked in a big pan with deep circular grooves. Each Poffer comes out egg shaped, with a chewy center. They are delicious right off the grill.

Fresh fruit and vegetables of every variety. The prices were about half what they charge in the supermarket.

And of course it would not be Dutch if there was not a wide selection of beautiful flowers.

A Feast for One

The Dutch are serious about fish, wanting it fresh and as close to whole as possible. In America we are so used to all of our food being sliced, diced, and pre-packaged, it is sometimes easy to forget where that food comes from. It is also easy to forget the impossibly large amount of work that goes into delivering food to the plate.

While walking throught the Saturday outdoor market (see separate post), I decided to do as the Dutch do, and push my comfort boundaries a bit. Before I put much thought into it, I stepped up to a fish seller and purchased a large tilapia. He cleaned the fish a bit, descaled it, and wrapped it neatly into white paper. Cost for the fish = 3.30 euro. I found a lemon and took my prize home.

Cooking a whole fish is surprisingly easy. Deciding when it is done is surprisingly difficult. To prepare, you start by rinsing the fish inside and out, then sprinkle with salt and pepper, again inside and out. Then, for some seasoning, smear some melted better, chopped garlic, lemon, and parsley inside the fish. The directions called for wrapping in foil, but I didn't have any here so two bowls nested over each other had to do.

I cooked the fish for about 50 minutes, longer than expected but it seemed about right. I am clearly not good at filleting, as I got surprisingly little meat for such a large fish. There was no way two people would have been satisfied. Paired with a fresh red pepper, some whole grain bread, and brussel sprouts, I had quite a feast though. In all honesty it was not worth all the work and cost, I would have been happier with my traditional cookery at half the price and lots of leftovers. An interesting experiment though.

Pilgrim Fathers Church

Just across the canal from my apartment is a rather plain looking church. The church drew my attention with the chimes the regularly can be heard. The sound of the bells makes me feel like I am in old Europe, it is very pleasant.
The church has a long history, particularly relevant for American visitors. It was the launching point for the Speedwell, the ship that took the Pilgrims to America. The church is a stark white color inside, but there are a variety of interesting stained glass windows. The church was fortunate to escape the bombing during World War 2 that leveled much of the rest of the city. Currently there is a brewery next to the church called "The Pilgrim".

From the website of the church:
"On July, 21st of 1620 a group of English religious dissenters first living eleven years in Leiden decided to become Pilgrims and cross the wide waters to America, where they might worship God in their own way and still be Englishmen. Their journey started in Delfshaven, in that period leading a prosperous existence as the main harbour of the city of Delft. In that harbour a ship awaited them, the Speedwell, that was bound for America.

According to the chronicles the Pilgrim Fathers knelt down in prayer on the quay near the church, that was later to be named after them, the Pilgrimfathers' Church.

Historical research shows that US President Barack Obama is descended from the Pilgrim Fathers who left the Dutch town of Leiden in 1620 to found the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. Mr. Obama is the seventh American president directly descended from the Pilgrim Fathers.

The history of the Pilgrimfathers' Church goes back as far as 1417, when the Roman-Catholic church of St. Anthony was consecrated on this site.

The oldest known depiction of the church dates from 1512. During the Reformation the church came into Protestant hands and was altered to suit its new function.

The most radical rebuilding took place in 1761. At this time the church was heightened considerably and was given its present facade with the bell-shaped gable. Much later, American visitors gave it its third name: Pilgrimfathers’ Church."

I find it interesting that there are no longer active services in the church. The only hours posted are for visitors. It looks like the Pilgrims were right to flee, religion has died in much of Europe.

My Home Among the Windmills

I am again stationed in Rotterdam for the month of March. This time I did a little more research into living accommodations, hoping to do a little better than the Hilton. The Hilton is the most luxurious place to stay, but it is hard to be happy in a little hotel room for an entire month. While searching on the internet machine, I located a small hotel, completely unique to this part of the world.

The B&B is the little house in the middle with "eyelashes" above the windows on the second floor.

Bed and Breakfast Delfshaven is located in the historic area of Rotterdam, one of the few areas of the city that escaped the Germany bombing and subsequent firestorm during WW2. It is a residential community of narrow canal houses, apartments, canals, windmills, and boats. The boats are all occupied as residences, which is very interesting. I can not imagine there are many other cities where a large number of residents can respond to global warming by pulling up anchor and sailing to somewhere warmer and less flooded.

The Bed and Breakfast is not quite a B&B as it does not serve breakfast and it is not located in an old victorian house like you would expect to see in the US. It is instead on the first floor of a very narrow canal house, the owner lives on the second and third floors. I love the fact that there is a full kitchen and space for up to five to sleep. I have already had one dinner party, though I managed to give myself food poisoning. The view from the front window is fantastic and could be from another century. It is also very convenient to the metro line that brings me to work. There is even a little back patio with some bikes for use.

Delfshaven is full of good restaurants and many ethnic grocery stores. I feel a bit more connected with the community here and certainly more happy and relaxed.