Another food discovery: Siesoton
Despite having lived in this city for about 10 years now it's good to see that every now and then there are still some new discoveries to be made. Maybe there's no rush to leave this place after all.
The latest restaurant discovery was thanks to some friends of mine who had recently come across a new Thai restaurant:
Siesoton in the Doezastraat.
It's tiny, maybe five tables all together, and the staff is admittedly not so fantastic but the food was very good - definitely one of the better Thai places in town.
Labels: restaurant
Scheltema
A few weeks ago I was looking for a good place for dinner. I found
Scheltema by accident but I really liked it.
Like de Zijlstroom (see a few posts below) it's inside a factory building and completely renovated. Scheltema has a much more industrial look to it though. Lots of greys in the interior, high ceilings etc. Besides the restaurant, it also has a cafe and a theater complex which can be used for different things.
And the food. Pretty good too, it's been a while so can't quite list anymore what we had but it was a lot! Pretty adventurous in a way, there were quite a few surprising combinations on the menu but a very good choice in the end.
Labels: restaurant
Lunch: Zijlstroom
Part of the aim of this blog is to use it as a way of discovering new things in the city. So, a review of a new restaurant.
Officially not in Leiden but in Leiderdorp, we had lunch this afternoon at the
Zijlstroom. The restaurant opened this summer and is inside a completely renovated old flour factory. The setting and interior are great, with outside a greenhouse, vegetable garden and orchard for the ingredients that they use. As far as possible, all food is biological. And the food is pretty good too!
We only had a simple lunch (with dishes such as smoked salmon on toast, tomato soup with creme fraiche and so on) but definitely worthwhile to go to. The service was not quite so good - but when we asked where our mint teas were, the reason (she had to go outside to get the mintleafs) partly made up for that!
Labels: lunch, restaurant, Zijlstroom
Lunch favorite
After yet another fab lunch there, I thought I'd mention
Stadslokaal Burgerzaken. Right across from city hall (hence the name) on the Breestraat and always a good place to have great food.
They have a lunch menu with a couple of fantastic sandwiches. At the moment there are varieties such as Old Amsterdam cheese * Mackerel * Vitello Tonato * Seranno ham * Lambs ham and a vegetarian one.
But they also have day specials for soups, sandwiches and salads.
Haven't had a chance to go there for dinner, but I hear great things about their tapas dishes. So yeah, definitely worth checking out if you are in Leiden!
Labels: restaurant
Where to spend the summer (1)
Recently discovered, but quickly developing into one of my favourite outdoor places in Leiden is de
Zijlpoort. Although I've never really been inside, the outdoor part is great for the kind of summery weather that we're having at the moment.
It's a little bit out of the city, on the water, and part of an old entrance gate to the city (which is what the name also means). Perfect to be chilling in the sun - either for their nice lunch dishes, or with a glass of wine later in the afternoon.
On the other side of the gate is another recommendation:
Restaurant Wessels. Good food, in a nice but not too formal setting, with good staff.
We were there during Easter, for a surprise menu including oysters (and salmon/asparagus salad for the other half of the table) as starters, lamb as a main course, and eggnog parfait with raspberries (and a selection of cheese) as desert. Of course, with coffees and chocolates to finish the night. Yumm.
Labels: outdoor, restaurant
