Nothing better than warming up with an autumn dish in one of your favourite Rotterdam restaurants. Although the temperatures outside are not quite there yet, I would like to remind you that we are already in the middle of autumn. You almost start to wonder why trees spontaneously lose their leaves.
Fortunately, there are always the seasonal vegetables that remind you which season we live in again. The abundance of pumpkins and mandarins says it all, but the best thing autumn brings is the many varieties of classic stews and heavy dark beers.
In this blog I give you some tips for fine stews in (brown) cafes in Rotterdam.
The first recommendation is the nicest café on the Nieuwemarkt: Bokaal Rotterdam. Here you will experience real Rotterdam cosiness. The perfect atmosphere for when it suddenly gets cold again, and if not, it is always nice to sit on the terrace.
Inside, the decor looks modern but certainly not cold. The many wooden elements still exude the atmosphere of a classic brown café. Of course, a hearty dish stewed in beer cannot be missing from the menu. Combine it with a heavy dark beer from the extensive beer menu and your autumn evening can not go wrong.
On the corner of the Meent and the Binnenrotte, you will find Humphrey's. An attractive restaurant with a Burgundian approach, with mainly seasonal dishes adorning the menu. The range of vegetarian or vegan dishes is a bit sparse, but they seem to be working on this.
Upon entering, the restaurant looks a bit fancier, but it is certainly not stiff, on the contrary! When I saw the menu, my eye immediately fell on the autumn stew of Twente beef in bock beer. Robust and strong in taste in combination with a delicious creamy potato celeriac puree, I am sure that Humphrey's can also put a smile on your face.
Café Boudewijn on the Nieuwe Binnenweg is not just any café. In the Dutch Rotterdam they are a real Belgian beer café. The reputation of our southern neighbours in the field of stew and beer can of course not be surpassed and that makes it all the more tempting to eat a Flemish beef stew here.
Yet this dish also contains a nice Dutch twist: the seasonal stew is currently known as hutspot. Doesn't that make your (Dutch) heart beat faster?
Here too you will find, how could it be otherwise, an exorbitant range of beers. My personal recommendation is the Noorderwind from the Texelse Bierbrouwerij. I really think everything that comes out of the brewery there is fantastic and this spicy winter beer proves that once again.
A downside to Boudewijn is that it quickly gets noisy later in the evening. Perhaps it is therefore less suitable for long dining. But if you go for an extra round of beer, this will only make a cozier impression.