Man, Aussies really do get around (as I mentioned in my last post!). We found another very Aussie cafe in Amsterdam. You know when it’s called LITTLE COLLINS that it’s definitely got to do with Melbourne. It’s just such an iconic location / name! So we weren’t at all surprised when we rocked up and our waitress was from Melbourne. She picked up straight away that we were from Australia too, that accent is not easy to disguise!
LITTLE COLLINS has a huge menu, but we decided to choose from some of the brunch specials. I had the Burrata & salmorejo – boiled eggs, serrano jamon, tomato, bread & olive oil puree, cornichon, red onion and herbs (€12). As you can see, it was an extremely colourful dish which I enjoyed! I was a bit sad though that the burrata was already torn into shreds. Part of the fun is tearing it apart yourself and eating huge chunks each mouthful! I also didn’t realise how overwhelming the tomato, bread and olive oil puree would be. It was kind of like a soup that all the other ingredients sat on. One slice of bread definitely wasn’t enough to dip into this sauce / soup!
To be honest, I don’t think this dish worked texturally because I don’t really want my jamon sitting in soup. Also the herbs were a bit much too. They weren’t really chopped up and so it was hard not to get a big mouthful of dill or parsley! I am a believer that herbs should be a garnish, not a main flavour. You might disagree, and I’m sorry I’m so negative about this dish but I think it was just really different to what I expected! Beautiful colours and great potential, just not up my alley.
DS had the Turkish eggs – poached eggs, chilli butter, yoghurt, lentil & green beans, dukkah, Turkish bread (€12). This is a very DS kind of dish – he loves poached eggs, he loves poached eggs with chilli butter! Again, I’ll make a comment about the texture of the dish. There’s a lot of yoghurt and burnt butter – again, it is a bit soupy! Also, bread that thick is difficult to eat, don’t you think? DS was definitely much more satisfied with his dish than I was.
I feel like LITTLE COLLINS had a lot of potential and they definitely had someone creative in the kitchen, but for me it missed the mark. Maybe they were trying a little too hard? Aiming too high? Who knows, sometimes it’s good to just keep things simple!
LITTLE COLLINS
EERST SWEELINCKSTRAAT 19F
1073 CL, AMSTERDAM
THE NETHERLANDS
www.littlecollins.nl
