Delicious quality food for a fair price TEXT: KOEN GUIKING | PHOTOS: ROGH
When sightseeing in Amsterdam, it is important to start the day with a wholesome breakfast. A great place to begin is Rogh, on Vijzelgracht 35, near the Heineken Experience. All the food served at this restaurant is made from scratch, with high-quality ingredients. Rogh is open till 8pm and also serves delicious warm lunches and suppers. “Almost all the ingredients we use are organic or free range,” says Maria Rogh, who runs the restaurant with her husband Marcel. Why? “Because it tastes better,” she replies. “We haven’t eaten any supermarket meat for 20 years, so why serve it to our guests? I wouldn’t even know how to prepare it,” she says. Hence, Marcel and Maria Rogh’s freshly prepared, scrumptious chicken schnitzel does not contain “a tasteless, dry chicken
fillet”, but is made of free-range chicken thigh, “a much more succulent piece of meat, with a smoother and fuller taste”. This lovely little restaurant on the vivacious Vijzelgracht has a surprisingly varied menu and there are always some seasonal specials available. Everything tastes just as amazing. Choices range from a full English breakfast to soups and salads and from apple, bacon and maple syrup pancakes to sea bass with wild spinach, brown rice and crab sauce. Maria Rogh talks passionately about every dish on the menu. For instance, commenting on the pancakes, she says: “We make our batter with spelt flour and we bake the apple and bacon separately from the pancake, unlike other restaurants. That prevents it from becoming a really soggy, pizza-like substance.” And the pea soup? “That is
a traditional Dutch winter meal, but we serve it all year round. For our pea soup we only use organic ingredients and we don’t add any meat.” Be warned. Once you have discovered Rogh, it will be hard to stay away. Many people who work in the area have become regulars. Rogh is a great place for business lunches and visitors of the Dutch capital that have tasted its delicious food tend to return to this reasonably priced Vijzelgracht restaurant as well. “We are close to Mercure hotel. Lots of its guests become recurring Rogh customers throughout their stay,” Maria Rogh says. “I guess we must be doing something right.” For reservations call +31 20 623 4034 www.facebook.com/Rogh Issue 31 | July 2016 | 33