Hotel de Goudfazant

Relatively few people – including centre-centric Amsterdammers – visit Amsterdam North, and until restaurant Hotel de Goudfazant opened deep in an industrial estate there was little reason for them to. In the intervening five years, Amsterdam North has become hip, hosting restaurants, theatre festivals and artists’ ateliers. Effortlessly leading the way among the northern cool kids, Hotel de Goudfazant combines compellingly low-key surroundings with superb food.

Contrary to what the name suggests Hotel de Goudfazant doesn’t offer rooms, although the hangar-like building could sleep dozens in an accommodation emergency. Originally a garage, little has been done to spruce up the interior, with the exception of a striking chandelier made from empty bottles that dominates the room.

Amsterdam Restaurant Hotel de Goudfazant Hotel de Goudfazant's menu is French inspired but incorporates locally sourced ingredients where possible and portion sizes are decidedly Dutch.

I’ve developed an odd penchant for 'exotic' root vegetables since moving to the Netherlands. This is perhaps due to the fact that Dutch food is traditionally dominated by potatoes, and parsnips, for example, are considered pig fodder and so almost impossible to come by.

As a result, I was immediately drawn to the cream of celeriac soup with smoked sprat and chervil. The soup had the earthy tang I associate with winter dishes like Dutch pea soup, of which celeriac is a tiny component, but without the winter heaviness. It was good even without the smoked sprat and chervil, which added additional layers of flavour.

Amsterdam Restaurant Hotel de Goudfazant Roast Poussin From the open kitchen’s sizzling rotisserie came a whole poussin (young chicken), which sat brooding on a ‘nest’ of roasted potatoes and asparagus as if it was trying to hatch them. This was served with a bowl of homemade apple and rhubarb compote.

There was something of a fancy English Sunday roast about the dish. The chicken was golden and crispy all over - the benefit of a rotating spit over an oven - and the just-sweet compote perfectly complemented the savoury meat.

Image of Amsterdam Restaurant Hotel de Goudfazant Pecan Pie The main course was followed by a sliver of not-very-French but very rich pecan pie with homemade ice cream. I have always had a special place in my heart (stomach?) for pecan pie and used to bake trayloads of the stuff as a sugar-obsessed adolescent. In my view, the pie’s genius lies in the combination of gooey, comforting filling and crunchy nuts that temper the sweetness.

Having grown up in Gloucestershire and worked in Manchester, I’ve experienced the UK's annoyingly persistent north-south divide at first hand. As I cycled back from Hotel de Goudfazent to the ferry to Central Station, I vowed not to be such a Centrum snob and to come back to Amsterdam North again soon – if only for the food.