Last weekend my husband and I went on a Blind Date:

Okay, so it was really a play entitled Blind Date. I don’t want to spoil what it’s like, but I’m sure you can figure out what it’s about! It’s playing through April 1st at the Ordway in St. Paul and tickets are still available. So go check it out! They serve some fun, fancy cocktails {for purchase} pre-show, so be sure to get there early. The Sofia Sparkling wine was featured in a few and sold out before the show even started. The cocktails featured Kinky Liqueur which is a mango, blood orange, and passion fruit infused vodka. I ordered the Kinky Bubbles. Impression: Yum! I love a bubbly cocktail and could really taste the blood orange.

But on to the Restaurant Impression. The play was a lot shorter than we anticipated {no intermission}, so our originally planned dinner destination was not yet open. We were hungry due to a rather light lunch earlier. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to walk over to the Amsterdam Bar and Hall just a few blocks away.

I’m sure we didn’t get a true impression of the place during the daytime, because this place is meant to be a nighttime music venue. In fact, there’s live music, if not other activities, every night!

The interior was dark, yet spacious. I loved the high-top booths lined with art posters and tall candles on the tables:

There was a wide beer selection, with an emphasis on Belgians as well as various gins I’ve never heard of before. {Many were labeled genever, which our server told us was gin.} I didn’t even look at the wine list. Instead, I ordered a cocktail:

Then, our food:

Yes, I ate burgers and fries. These sandwiches were smaller than they look though. In fact, the Amsterdam Menu recommends ordering two or three of them for your meal. {Pictured here is the meal for the two of us.} The sandwiches we ordered were:

• housemade sausage (added cheese, recommended by our server)
• kroket (pot roast, deep fried)
• prosciutto
• xxx cheeseburger

Our favorite? The sausage! In fact, they are listed in order from most to least liked. I had a bite of every one and finished the kroket. The fries? Disappointing. I’ve had them in both Belgium and Amsterdam and recall them tasting better. However, the array of sauces is quite the novelty! Our server surprised us with a garlic mayo, curry ketchup, curry mayo and peanut sauce.

I thought back to when I was in Amsterdam 12 years ago. What did we eat there? But I couldn’t remember. I asked my friend Jen, with whom I traveled on that ten-week backpacking tour of Europe after college. She didn’t recall either. I think we were there for three or four days, too. All I remember were the fries in paper cones with mayo {like in Belgium} and the breakfasts of deli meat, cheeses and bread.

This place has only been open for about six months.

Our impression? Pretty damn cool.

I would love to come back and see a band, nosh on some Dutch pub grub, and toss back a couple of beers. But they also are one of the hosts a book club called “Books and Bars”. Have you heard of this? What do you think? It sparks my curiosity…

Cheers~
Carrie