Last week a girlfriend of mine from Amsterdam came to Utrecht for a drink, something to eat and a lot of catching up to do.
Than the big question popped in my head.... an important one! Where to go?
Utrecht is a city where the girls wear flat boots, jeans, a nice warm coat and wear their hair in a bun. A little make up and yes, we're ready to get our ass into the city centre. Same for the guys, why take the trouble of a little more hairstyling and a 15 min sunbed some times in wintertime?? Restaurants overall are down to earth, easy and mainly just if we don't feel like cooking and want to hang out with our friends with a good glass of wine.
than...
Amsterdam, the city where every girl tries to wear the latest fashion, wears the most gorgeous jewellery, leather pants, short jackets (brr!!) and looks like she just came from the hairdresser (maybe she did..). Also, there ain't a day without heals, not even when you have to walk the bumpy streets of the city centre. Also the guys... when there's one ray of sunlight somewhere in the day, or it might be predicted sometime next week, the sunglasses can be found in their shiny and super styled hair. No time for easy shoes, but only the best shoes from the best brands can be found on their feet. Eating out is daily business and it's the place where you can see and can be seen. (mainly also because their kitchens are the size of our Utrecht restrooms....). After the wines, the fancy cocktails are the first to be seen.
So.. there's my struggle, do I want to show a bit of my precious and down to earth Utrecht? Or do I want to go fancy and show off that Utrecht isn't all that simple??
I chose to go for a night in between, show a little bit of both. Where?
I took my friend to restaurant tot Straks (still confuses me whether it is with or without 'tot'). This restaurant is located between Central Station and the 'Oude gracht', in a street full of nice restaurants. The entrance looked welcoming and was quite fancy (Utrecht-speaking). We were welcomed by the friendly personnel, however also was pointed out that we had reservations at 18.30 and it was already 18.50. Well... if you make an appointment you better keep it, otherwise watch your back 'cause this guy will come n get you!
We had a charming high table besides the kitchen which gave us a good view over the restaurant and the kitchen.. That's how I like it!
Since during and after our first prosecco it turned out we really had some catching up to do and we couldn't stop talking the waiter already brought us some really tasty bread with olive oil and some sort of flavoured butter. After a while we could finally make our choice and were served with some good wines and a delicious starter. Also the main was really good and tasty and timing was perfect. The chef in the kitchen even took a moment (after seeing me staring into the kitchen all night... :) ) to ask us if we were happy.
For dessert they offer the guest to chose a selection of 3 out of 7 different offered desserts. I chose the chocolate brownie (never to be missed), cheesecake (another one to eat once in a while) and breadpudding. I started with the breadpudding which was nice, soft and tasty, exactly as it should be! However... the brownie and cheesecake, two of my favorites, were filled with too much butter, creamcheese and because of that were stone-hard and not half as tasty as all the other dishes that night. Definitely a shame...
But... when we take the whole evening into consideration I can't complain. The service was good, the food was even better and the ambiance in the restaurant was very pleasant.
Was it Amsterdam? no. Was it Utrecht? Maybe it was, but definitely one to visit again! Even with friends from Amsterdam ;-)
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