Metro UK

Medi aCover age2018 Met r oUK

28 METRO Monday, April 16, 2018

Escape

Travel | Culture | Adventure ossip Van DuiVenBoDe

The new Eurostar route stops first at Rotterdam. Here richard Mellor finds speedboat taxis, ace bars and ingenious pizzas...

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oKos are small Dutch shops that sell exotic ingredients from former colonies like indonesia, Cape Verde or surinam, many of whose natives have moved to the netherlands. toko trash, a new rotterdam joint raid these general stores to make street-food plates of jerk-sauce hot dogs (£11) and bacalhau croquettes (£5) in order to represent this port city’s multi-ethnic population (eurotrash-united.nl). toko trash also epitomises rotterdam’s penchant for innovation. the restaurant is located within a small brewery, which itself occupies one arch of an abandoned railway.

From it, crowdfunded and yellowpainted elevated walkways lead to the once-abandoned schieblock building, complete with a rooftop farm-cafe.

Below that is a bar called Bar, where anyone with the stamina – but no smug shoreditchians – jives to eBm or synthwave until 5am, and sometimes all weekend (barbar.nu). and still further along this yellow-lick road is white-walled gallery mono (zohorotterdam.nl/mono), which at night morphs into remarkable buildings here. Having a smoke-machined club with an suffered bombing in world war ii, equally progressive music policy. the port has taken advantage of its none of which is remotely obvious unfortunate clean slate to become an when i first sight the plain-looking Hofbogen district. But that’s precisely architectural a-lister. i marvel at both conjoined skyscrapers and 1970s cube what makes rotterdam great: unlike houses, some peculiarly tilted the cobbled, canal-tastic forward at 54 degrees. quaintness of amsterdam, opposite them, its glass Holland’s second glistening, is the huge, city proves more horseshoe-shaped complicated, markthal (markthal. more beguiling. it’s also more klepierre.nl). stalls inside sell rambutans, Kinder reachable. as of this Bueno ice cream, coconut month, eurostar trains cakes and garlicky cheeses. now run direct from st boss baby: mueck’s there’s a Jamie’s italian pancras to rotterdam Centraal (and then on to huge tot at Kunsthal and, more temptingly, an elevated pintxos bar. amsterdam) in just three i’ve stuffed myself full, though – hours – although, until security ten minutes ago, back across measures are agreed, one must pannekoekstraat’s indie fashion faffingly change in Brussels on the way home. stores, at old scuola, which made the finals of a unesco-run pizzeria Hovering below huge steel slabs, contest last year. its fluffy ‘padron’ rotterdam Centraal is one of many

bustling: the huge. markthal, rotterdam. centraal station (below). and a thrilling water taxi.

a great time to go dutch

(mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, pimientos and pecorino, oldscuola.nl) makes me want to return on may 3031, when chefs from all the remaining nine entrants will come and cook.

Feasts are permanently available at the magnificent Kunsthal (£12, kunsthal.nl) – feasts for the eyes and

t h r e e m o r e a m sT e r d a m a LT e r naT i V e s

Utrecht This pretty medieval city, 40 minutes from rotterdam, is characterised by its wharves – canal-level cellars filled with restaurants and small hotels.

Trudge up the 465-step dom Tower for a real workout.

The Hague yes it’s home to the un’s International court of Justice, but palatial den haag also promises sandy beaches and the rembrandt-filled Mauritshuis gallery and is just 30 minutes from rotterdam.

Leeuwarden up in the remote north west, this year’s co-European capital of culture is surrealist artist Mc Escher’s birthplace.

Exhibitions of his work run all year, while there’s also a leaning tower, The oldehove.

mind, that is – where i now explore.

Designed by rotterdam’s ‘starchitect’ rem Koolhaas, this five-space museum shows all disciplines of art.

Hyperrealist sculpture – including uncomfortably erotic nudes and ron mueck’s grotesque 16ft baby (a Girl) – is on display until July 1. that titanic tot leaves me badly needing a drink. Deciding against the central ‘Cool District’ (no, really), and narrow, bar-lined witte de withstraat, i head south and order a water taxi (from £4, watertaxirotterdam.nl). these are the best way to travel: phone the switchboard, state your location, and in minutes a speedboat will be bouncing you across the maas river at thrilling velocity. my watertaxi docks by Katendrecht – a peninsula previously habituated by seedy sailors. at first glance it seems unpromising: peeling warehouses and little else. But i’m wise to rotterdam’s tricks by now. one of those warehouses, an ex-grain silo, turns out to host the Fenix Food

Factory (fenixfoodfactory.nl): more gastro kicks, plus a breezeblock-seat riverside terrace where hipsters clink beers. Just as pleasant is the artisan Kopi soesoe coffee shop nearby (from £2.50, kopisoesoe.com).

Best of all is De matroos en Het meisje (three courses £32, dematroosenhetmeisje.nl). Despite a homely vibe, exacerbated by redcheckered napkins and clustered tables, this small restaurant’s cooking is daring: i devour a ceviche of mackerel, pumpkin and guanabara, then pork fillets under black mole sauce and, oh yes, chunks of popcorn. once again, first impressions prove wonderfully useless. remember that catchy Beautiful south song? ‘this could be rotterdam, or anywhere…’ wrong: when it comes to confounding places like De matroos, this could only ever be rotterdam.

Rtn from London to Rotterdam from £86.50, eurostar.com. We stayed at The CitizenM, from £70, citizenm.com