friends I haven’t updated you lately on my fitness/health journey! All in all it’s going well, I’ve lost about 14kg and I’m another 6kg away from what I define as my original weight because it’s the weight I’ve always felt comfortable with! I’m calling this blog healthy lifestyle update because to be honest I never want to go through a weight loss diet ever again!! It’s tough work although the results are worth it, one thing I noticed last week was that my Zumba class was all of a sudden light compared to a few months ago. The movements and routines actually felt easy, but no wonder I’m over 15kg lighter!! Only give more to go so wish me luck??!
I was really good this weekend when it came to my diet, tried out both a nice healthy fried egg with garlic broccoli and pickled kohlrabi. Dinner was a quick homemade rye bread on a bed of arugula and pulled pork and a little grilled aubergine dip. Sort of baba ganoush but of course I didn’t add any oil?!
breakfast of egg, rye bread, broccoli and kohlrabi
pickled onions with pulled pork…yumminess
The past couple of weeks has truly shown the autumn rolling into Europe. That slight hint of cold breeze makes me want to take out my woolen sweaters and sit inside with a good book and a nice drink. Last weekend the place of choice for this relaxation was Andaz Amsterdam and the Bluespoon Bar. I’ve had the intention to go here many times during the weekend but if you want a long snooze in the morning with a good cup of java and maybe even a stop at the gym before heading to lunch Bluespoon has always been open a little too little to get the time in to go. For lunch now Bluespoon is open until 15.00.
autumn vibe
So what’s on the menu! It’s a healthy, slightly smaller dishes (however definitely not small) and delicious menu as always. I opted for the gazpacho with aged cheese, a lovely gazpacho however very rich. I often take a gazpacho because of it’s light start to any meal but this gazpacho could have sufficed as a main. Following this I had the endive salad with goat cheese. Both dishes were great and the mozzarella salad was also a great option as a starter. The only criticism was the salad nicoise…which didn’t contain any tuna!! Ok fair point it didn’t explicitly say tuna on the menu, but I think if a salad is to be called a salad nicoise tuna is a given. The ambiance at Bluespoon is lovely and I absolutely love the view of the inner garden. Surprisingly enough the place is also not too busy on a Saturday at 2 p.m. so I truly enjoyed a super relaxing lazy Saturday with a magazine or two! If you’re in town and you want a lighter and healthier lunch yet refined and relaxed Bluespoon is the choice!
rich gazpacho
yummy mozzarella
the goat cheese and endive favorite!
So I’m back and I had an absolutely magical food weekend in the sign of Japanese dining primarily!
Before heading straight into the weeds of my dining experiences I have just started Dutch lessons to finally tie together my German and Swedish command with the language I suspect I will spend most of my life speaking! It’s off to a good start and to be fair my command of Dutch is reasonably good which I think most Nordic people experience so I have opted for private lessons once a week. Due to my travel schedule lessons during the week and attending classes won’t really work for me. I’m studying at Dutch & Such…and although I loved the class going back to the school bench is rather traumatizing and as we speak I’m ploughing through my first week of homework?!
So heading into the dining experiences it started off by visiting the new restaurant EN Japanese Kitchen & Sake Bar in Amsterdam De Pijp. A chef from the famous Okura has decided to open his own restaurant and the result is fabulous. In true Japanese style everything you’re served is beautiful and like piece of art. I also warmed up with a glass of prosecco and cheery liquor, lovely start to the evening. One piece EN is famous for is its salt stone where they fry anything from tuna, wagu beef or vegetable. Naturally I had this and opted for the tuna. I also tried the crowd octopus, delicious but a little on the fatty side, suspect the fryer wasn’t quite heated up there. The sashimi was fresh and delicious. The quality vs price elasticity of EN truly makes it a place to visit!
I wasn’t done with the Japanese flow at EN though, but rather my love and I had already booked at table at the one star Michelin teppanyaki restaurant Sazanka at Hotel Okura. Pure heaven as always and I love sitting at the plate and watch your food being cooked. As luck had it we were seated together with only Norwegians so a truly Nordic table and I had the chance to speak some Swedish which doesn’t happen to often these days! So, how about the menu? We opted for the pre-selected Classic menu which includes tapanyaki starter of wagyu followed by the fish of the day which is a seaboard seabass. Already last time around this was by far my favorite! Naturally the menu also includes some classic Angus steak, which you can also upgrade if you wish.
All you can say is that the Okura restaurants are classics in amsterdam and they won’t disappoint you! And before sitting down to eat…don’t forget to head up to the 23rd floor for a drink and to enjoy the beautiful views of the city.
