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.