Canadutch
That’s a lot of meat for only four people but in our defense, we did have veggies too!
Last night Xander and I went down to Roosendaal to visit with our friends Penny & Yuri. A few weeks ago when I went to visit Penny for the day we walked by a restaurant that sparked my interest. Amigos is a BBQ restaurant where, for 20 euro per person, you can pretty much have an all you can eat BBQ buffet. You get garlic bread, unlimited fries, and a buffet full of meats, fish, veggies and salads. You pick up your own meat and bring it to your table to sizzle on the grill while you sit and chat.
It was so much fun. We all had such a good time!
The food was delicious, I even tried new things like Kangaroo and Ostrich! They had a variety of meats and fish which covered pretty much everything people would be looking for. I definitely didn’t feel like there was a lack of choice and there were too many for me to try one of everything.
Xander and I before we stuffed ourselves silly, our cheeks already getting red from the heat.
Another thing I really liked was that they had unlimited sauces. Not something you see very often here in The Netherlands. In a country where you are made to pay for each packet of Ketchup at McDonald’s and are given miniscule bowls of condiments in other restaurants, I was shocked to see a side buffet of ‘pump your own’ mayo, saté, pepper, garlic, mushroom and other sauces.
I don’t think vegetarians would feel completely at a loss if invited to join friends at Amigos. There were a lot of veggies available for grilling, for example potatoes, paprika, mushrooms and courgette as well as boiled eggs and a variety of salads. Nor would people with children feel out of place, as we had a child under two with us and they had a high chair waiting when we arrived with his own special place setting.
It was a very gezellig (cozy) atmosphere, with oil candles burning on the table, warm color tones and big wooden tables and chairs. We didn’t feel like we were sitting right on top of other people and were able to chat freely without worrying about interrupting or annoying anyone.
The service was great as well, very upbeat, attentive and friendly. In a way they manage to get you even more excited about your upcoming BBQ experience than you already were when you arrived. It wasn’t just a case of walking in and feeling like the person waiting on you was just doing their job, he seemed almost as happy to be there as we did. From the minute we walked in we were greeted with a big smile which was still there as he wished us a good night and waved as we walked out the door.
Another good point is the parking. They are lucky enough to be located right next to a parking lot which is free after 6pm on weekdays (not sure about weekends), which is a MAJOR plus point here in Holland where not only is parking space scarce but it can also be very expensive.
There are a few negatives about the restaurant though.
It could get pretty warm on your face as you sat there, so I can’t imagine visiting this restaurant in the summer months, but on a cold winter evening, it was perfect! It wasn’t roasting hot in the restaurant, I don’t think I even broke a sweat. It was more like that nice heat you get on your face when you are sitting around a campfire at night. Nice on a cold evening, not something you’d want to do when it’s 30 degrees outside.
Also, and this is more of a general annoyance with restaurants all over this country rather than just Amigos. I absolutely HATE that you can’t get tap water. I drink 99.5% water, all day, every day. I drink a lot of it and can often be quite thirsty when I eat. At home I have a 750ml bottle next to me at all times that I fill regularly throughout the day. When I go to a restaurant, I don’t want to spend 2-3 euro on a bottle of water that will be gone in one gulp. I am there to eat, I will spend money on food but nothing makes me more irritated than being made to pay over and over for seriously overpriced, tiny bottles of water. I will usually buy one bottle but then ask for tap water. Buying the one bottle is my sort of peace offering, that is me sucking it up and saying ok I will pay something for your water – ONCE.
When I asked last night at Amigos, after buying my one bottle of water, if I could have a big glass of tap water, I was told it wasn’t possible. In a very friendly manner, mind you, but still a no. I looked behind him, large glasses, a tap. It IS possible. You just would prefer to have me pay 12 euro for glass bottles that contain something that I can go in the bathroom and get for free. I’m sorry, no… this is not on.
Maybe it’s the Canadian still in me, because a big glass and a big pitcher of water is the first thing to hit the table when you sit down at a restaurant there, at least when I still lived there, maybe they’ve become as commercial too. I certainly hope not…
So yeah, the warmth of the grill is a pity as it makes it a rather seasonal restaurant to eat in… Perhaps these things can’t be avoided. There’s really no excuse for not giving someone a glass of tap water when they ask for it, especially if they are going to spend over 50 euro there on food.
You get a 9 out of 10 … if you would just have given a girl a glass of friggin’ water, you would have had a 10. I almost gave you an 8, as the water thing really does irritate me that much, but the unlimited sauces thing made me rethink it.
So, Amigos. Great food, great service (except for the water thing), fantastic concept and atmosphere. I will definitely be returning and recommending that friends visit as well.
I hated the water-thing in Europe. Always felt so cheap asking for plain water. In Spain they just pretended they didn’t understand the request.
That is a great photo of the two of you, by the way.
It is a right pain in the butt, and I wouldn’t mind if the water bottles weren’t so tiny. When he told me I couldn’t have tap water he did give me the option of buying a bigger, more expensive bottle of water which I did buy, but not happily.
I was watching one of those (boring) round table discussions on TV here.. I think on NCRV. Anyways, it was about what the Dutch are going to do to contribute to the ease of global warming. The number one thing they said they are going to do (as in are already implementing) is convincing restaurants to stop refusing tap water to people. The bottled water still available to those who want to buy it of course.
During the discussion the question was also raised about the quality of Dutch tap water. Like Penny said, it’s very clean and ranks up there amongst the cleanest in the world.
Thanks for the review.. it sounds great. It’s just around the corner from us (Roosendaal) so we’re definitely going to try it out soon!
Yeah, I’m tempted to send the link for this review to them and see if it even makes a difference. I mean they still got a 9, so I don’t know if giving up the money they make on bottled water is worth trying to satisfy the small percentage of people who would happily just drink tap water.
Sounds lovely. And I did see differences like you have from restaurants there and restaurants in Venezuela. In Venezuela our water is bad, though, so you usually get tap water when you sit but you can taste it, so I normally do order a bottle… In NL it never ocurred to me to ask for water, lol. I think Roosendaal is a bit far for me when I’m there, but if I am ever up that way, I will surely think of Amigos! What I did do in NL was wokking, that was good fun and also all you can eat.
The exact same thing you did at Amigos we have done at home with my soon to be in-laws, and that was good fun, as well. We would do it outside on sunny days. :)
Yeah the inside BBQ / gourmet thing can be really fun! We don’t have one but some friends of ours do and we really enjoyed it when we did it with them :) It just makes dinner a bit more fun, doesn’t it?
I was told they are by law not allowed to serve tap water. I think it’s silly as well. When I had Noah our kraamzorgster told me the tap water in NL was so clean I didn’t have to buy bottled water for his bottle, to just use the tap.
So they should make up their mind. Either it’s good enough for newborns to drink, and we can order if for free. Or it’s contaminated and we can’t.
P.S. I think it’s also awesome you buy one bottle first :)
I think they aren’t allowed to sell tap water as expensive water, like pass it off as bottled water. The water here is perfectly clean, it really is just about making money… which I totally understand, but it’s not like I went in there and said oh no thanks I’ll just have some of this garlic bread and a few glasses of tap water please.
I’m with you on the water. We went into an Indian restaurant near us where we had quite a nice meal before, and when I asked for a carafe of tap water (we had ordered booze too!) I was told it wasn’t possible. When I asked why they said ‘because the taps are unhygienic and we’re not allowed’ which was the biggest load of nonsense I ever heard.
I called them up on it and asked if the taps were so unhygienic what were they doing for cooking water etc? They were at a loss. Needless to say we’ve not been back!
Yeah that’s what ticks me off. If you are spending a fair bit of money in there as it is, why not just appease you and give you the water. People who drink coke will still drink coke, and the wine drinkers will still drink wine. It’s not going to start a whole beverage revolution if someone sees you getting a glass of tap water.