I was somewhat against believing all those tourist guides I’d read prior to traveling, that had said to book tables in advance wherever possible. I’m pretty happy I went along with my gut instinct, as my mother and I had no problems at all in getting a table anywhere in the city for the entire 4 days. However, I should have followed The Lonely Planet Guide’s advice in which it states that not many restaurants open past 9 or 10 at night. Of course, I’d spent far too much time with the Futurist paintings and now we were utterly famished, and restaurants were few and far between at this time.

Well, there’s this place a little further South West than Museumplein called ‘La Falote’, and it was pretty much down to the pun in the name alone that we ended up dining there...and partly because I'd spotted a few Thonet chairs at one of the back tables. Leaning towards mainly Dutch cuisine, La Falote was somewhat of a haven amongst the usual touristy streets of Amsterdam-Zuid. A cosy and intimate space, the walls are adorned with various Amsterdam ephemera and letters to Peter van der Linden , the restaurant’s owner and chef.

I was nearly swayed by vegetarian salad, but I gave into the enormous plate of potatoes that came alongside the daily special of ‘Grandma’s Fried Chicken’. Whilst I’m aware of how unappetising the name of that dish sounds, I physically can’t describe how utterly delicious it was. Based on a unique recipe concocted by dear old Peter the most incredible piece of carcass arrived drenched in a sea of rich sauces and herbs. I have never tasted roast potatoes that were this damn tasty. I’m afraid I’m not cool enough to instagram everything I eat, so you’ll just have to take my word for it!

The restaurant was pretty quiet on this Thursday evening, which meant that the waitress gave me and my mother her undivided attention (and endless baskets of garlic bread- hurrah!), but the best part was getting to know Peter van der Linden’s other craft: music. In between visits to the kitchen to check on how the chicken was cooking, Peter would come out and start playing his accordion! I thought I was fairly skilled at multitasking, but I am now sold to the next man who can cook me dinner and serenade me at the same time. Although the selection of desserts sounded pretty tempting, all those potatoes had given me a food baby so I passed on the pudding. If you’re planning a visit, I should warn you that it’s a little pricey (Grandma’s Fried Chicken cost a whopping €17, 50 each!), but totally worth it. Words cannot describe what it’s like watching your mother get serenaded by an accordionist as she tries to delicately nibble on a chicken leg.

Ps: If you remember my earlier posts at the beginning of March and the end of February about how much I was aching to try Cocomaya’s Liqorice and Hemp Dark Chocolate… Well, I persisted for 4 days straight  trying to finish this bar and I couldn’t even eat more than a few lines of it. It tasted absolutely vile, and after a brief spell trying to not regurgitate it, I can safely say I’ve been put off liquorice altogether. That said, Cocomaya do a Paris Tarte Tatin Chocolate too, so there’s always room for further chocolate based experimentation.

*okay, so they weren’t entirely homemade. I’d discovered Jus-Roll’s ready-to-roll croissant dough in Sainsbury’s a few weeks ago and I do genuinely believe this has changed my life for the better.