Where all the (star) chefs eat after their shift
Are you blessed with colleagues who are so much fun that you even want to grab a bite with them after work? If you work in an office, you have plenty of choice, but work in hospitality? Then it’s a lot less easy. Where are you supposed to eat in the middle of the night? Well, right here:
When you go out for dinner, you might leave the restaurant at 11:00 p.m.; the staff finish even later. They still have to clean up, count the till, arrange orders for the next day and before you know it, it’s 1:00 a.m. Since you ate staff meal about eight hours ago by then, you can bet your stomach is rumbling like crazy. ‘Shall we go to Taste for a bit?’
Good enough for Joris
In and around Leidseplein, you have plenty of choice when it comes to greasy late-night food. At Taste of Culture, that greasy food doesn’t come in a hamburger bun or with extra fries sauce, but with chopsticks and sambal. The Chinese restaurant is right in the middle of Korte Leidsedwarsstraat and is open until 1:00 a.m. on weekdays and until 3:00 a.m. on weekends. If you didn’t know they served fantastic food here, you could easily write it off as a tourist trap. Nothing could be further from the truth, because even Joris Bijdendijk is a regular here. And if it’s good enough for Joris, it’s good enough for us.
Peking duck
As with most Chinese restaurants, you can’t exactly call the decor cosy. They haven’t even made an effort with gold and red ornaments, as is sometimes still the case. No, you sit at a wooden table under fluorescent lighting. A round table, if you’re lucky and come with enough people.
The menu features all the classics you know from the standard Chinese takeaway, all executed damn well. The babi pangang here is out of this world, and another favourite is the Peking duck. Naturally, it comes with pancakes and hoisin sauce, and alongside the standard spring onion and cucumber, you also get a kind of pickled vegetable here. So good!
Mapo tofu
One of my favourite Chinese dishes is Sichuanese mapo tofu. I hardly ever order it, because I always like my own best. One of the few places where I do order it is, you guessed it, Taste. It depends a little on the chef’s mood how spicy it is, but if you ask for extra spicy, steam will be coming out of your ears in no time.
A more reasonable time
The best thing if you don’t work in hospitality? You can also eat there at a more reasonable time. They’re open every day except Monday from 5:00 p.m. Do yourself a favour and come with a big group, take a seat at a round table and have it filled with all the good things Chinese cuisine has to offer.
Read also:
- We love ready-to-eat Peking duck
- 4x Chinese food in The Hague
- Hotter than hot at China Sichuan Restaurant
Taste of Culture
Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 139-141
Amsterdam
