San Sebastian here we come! Since Lavinia and I had a taste of the Basque cuisine at BasQ Kitchen we’re convinced we have to take a little road trip to the Basque country.
Flanked between the North of Spain and the Southwest of France, Basque country has a rich culinary heritage. Not in the least promoted by the celebrated chef Ferran Adriá.
The Basque cuisine is one of unique flavours, with salt cod and peppers as prominent ingredients.
BasQ Kitchen opened a first eatery in the Markthal in Rotterdam last year but we didn’t have the chance to try as it was fully booked during our Rotterdam exploration trip, so we we’re excited with the news that BasQ opened shop in Amsterdam recently.
The restaurant is located in De Pijp, has a large bar and seats alongside the brick walls, which makes for a relaxed and cosmopolitan vibe. Ideal to grab a bite and catch up with a friend, but also nice if you feel like having date night with your love, or just have drinks (G&T’s!) with the gals at the bar (accompanied by some bites for sure).
With a menu consisting of pintxos and tapas, planchas, season specialties and salads imagined by executive chef Alvaro Martinez (also owner of Sukam in the Basque province of Biskaia), you are bound to have a relaxed but an absolutely savoury experience. To make it even easier you can opt for the BasQ Experiencia: a selection of signature dishes.
This is what we got served:
Lata de Anchoas del cantabrico
Cantabrian anchovies on top of red peppers and smoked Idiazabal creamcheese
Ensalada de bonito con tomate cherry, cebolla morada, pimientos verdes, piparrak, pimientos asados y salsa gilda
Salad of tuna chunks, cherry tomatoes, red onion, green peppers, piparrak, roasted peppers, and gilda sauce
Laminas de bacalao
Sheets of bacalao (salted codfish) candied with potatoes and pil-pil of leeks
Champiñones Jamon Iberico
Mushrooms sautee with Iberician ham
Pimiento del Piquillo asdado a la leña relleno de rabo de buey
Roasted Piquillo red pepper stuffed with stewed Oxtail with Rioja Alavesa
Langostinos y alita de pollo picanto con esparagos verdes
Prawns and spicy chicken wings with green asparragus
Pulpo con pimentos verdes
Sautee octopus with green peppers, roasted potatoes and smoked paprika powder
To conclude we got to share two bombastic desserts:
Cheesecake (the BasQ way)
Almond cream, cream of Idiazabal, Parmesan cheese and goat cheese, cookies ice cream and raspberry foam
Crema cujada de chocolate con mouse de canela y helado de avellanas
Chocolate curd cream with cinnamon mousse and hazelnut ice cream
The latter alone would be reason enough to run an after-dinner marathon…But that doesn’t stop us for wanting to take a run for Basque country ASAP!
On Egin! (Enjoy your meal!)
BasQ Kitchen
Eerste van der Helststraat 72
1072 NZ Amsterdam
Open daily from 6 pm til midnight