Trying Out: BOAT&CO & Vessel Kitchen & Bar in Amsterdam
Hotel restaurants, once the neglected child of the hospitality industry, have suddenly become the only places where we can still go out to eat. And completely safely, too! The only downside is an advantage: you have to stay overnight. So in the coming weeks, we’ll be trying out hotels. In search of the best restaurant hotel, but also to give the hospitality industry a helping hand. Today: BOAT&CO & Vessel Kitchen & Bar in Amsterdam.
Welcome aboard
Construction is still in full swing in the new Amsterdam district of Houthaven. Kitchen suppliers and plasterers drive back and forth along the temporary roads, while proud long-time residents walk their dogs along the IJ. The imposing hotel on the water looks as if it has been here for centuries, but it is only a year old. It is named after the timber company Boot & Co, which was once located here.
I enter the imposing atrium with its reception, restaurant and bar. It feels like a passenger terminal, where people are boarding for their journey. WELCOME ABOARD reads the key card handed to me by the receptionist. ‘You have a DINE&SLEEP package,’ she says, beaming.
A cruise-ship view
When I open the door to my room on the second floor, my attention is drawn to the spectacular view of the harbour, cloaked in pastel shades. A cruise-ship view, high above the water. Close to the city, yet it feels like another world. The room is modern and tastefully furnished, with a bedroom separated from a living room by a wall of cupboards with a swivelling television. In the fully equipped kitchen, with contemporary crockery, an oven and dishwasher, there is a high table with two chairs.
I don’t even have an oven at home. For a moment I consider going to a local butcher and buying a chicken, but then I realise it will never compare with the restaurant’s food. Besides, we have already set sail.
Renovating the kitchen
We go to the restaurant. Behind us sits a group of eight people, divided across four separate tables. They are celebrating a birthday, at an appropriate distance from one another. The boy at the first table waves cheerfully to his little sister on the other side. ‘We’re getting many different types of guests now,’ says the young man serving us. ‘Lots of local residents who are renovating their kitchens or want to escape for a while.’
Chef Ricardo van Ede
In the food, I taste the hand of chef Ricardo van Ede, with subtle flavours and beautifully presented plates. To start: burrata with figs, walnuts and orange. A plate full of perfection in flavour and balance. For the main course, venison cheek with red cabbage, cress and a pumpkin crème. Full of flavour, yet refined. We finish with a generously sized piece of marinated pineapple with a scoop of ice cream, and finally drink a cup of tea by the fireplace. When the fire dies down, we go to sleep.
A refreshing morning dip
Top deal!
BOAT&CO is a brand-new and highly sustainable apartment hotel on the water in Amsterdam’s Houthaven, with luxurious and tastefully furnished apartments featuring a comfortable bed, a good shower, a fully equipped kitchen and a dining/work area. For €149.50, you can book the DINE&SLEEP package: a studio apartment for two people, including a three-course dinner for two and use of the gym and sauna. The food alone, prepared with great attention to products from ‘farmers and neighbours’, is absolutely worth it, but spending the night in such a lovely room completes the experience. And one night is actually far too short…
BOAT&CO & Vessel Kitchen & Bar, Revaleiland 500, Amsterdam
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