Adrie Reinders

Joyful Recognition

Straits Cafe Singapore Restaurant
www.straitsrestaurants.com
845 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103-1923, United States
(415) 668-1783

In Europe – especially in the Netherlands – you will find a lot of great “original” indonesian restaurants – however in the US they are few and far between. If you do find one, the dishes often have much more of a Chinese flavour to it – never reminding me of the real Indonesian food I use to get during the years I spent in Indonesia as a youth. From that time on, I have always been a great fan of the so called “rijsttafel” – a feast of small sampler dishes with exquisite and varied flavours.

Just recently, I walked into Straits, a restaurant located in the central shopping mall in the heart of San Francisco. It is an eastern style restaurant with dishes from Singapore, Malasya and Indonesia and I have to admit to being incredibly pleasantly surprised with the food served – authentic, well prepared and delicious! Straits has about 6 restaurants around the US and is definitely worth trying. The beef and chicken dishes as well as the papaya salad I had was nicely spicy, and very fresh. Personnel was well informed and they even had a menu especially for those people that follow a gluten free diet. Impressive!
Comfort was average.

Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 7.5
Price/Quality: 8

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A landmark amidst those that come and go

Dynasty, Regulierdwarsstraat 30, Phone: +31 20 626 84 00

When Dynasty opened its doors 28 years ago it was a true sensation. Even now though, it is still the place to go if you like asian food.

Every time I walk in, the gorgeous Walasse Tings on the wall take my breath away and the traditional umbrellas hanging from the ceiling contribute to the overall atmosphere. Dynasty has earned its fame due to its excellent Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese kitchen and you will always find a mixed clientele frequenting the restaurant, usually with a high percentage of VIPs in the mix.
Dynasty’s personnel usually have been there for quite some years, which shows in the professionality with which they advice on the dishes served. The owner also made me very happy yesterday by telling me that they prepare a lot of their food without butter or cream, which makes the food reasonably light

Not only is the decor stylish, it also suits and complements the food that is served. My starter yesterday were dim sum, and as a main I had a mixture of chicken, beef and fish – all prepared with the most delicate herbs, offering it a unique flavour.

Food: 9
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Price/quality: 8.5

It’s always a pleasure to have dinner at Dynasty.

Le Lan, 749 N Clark, Chicago, IL 60610

During a network event called “Big Idea Forum” which I visited, I received a recommendation to have dinner at Le Lan’s – originally a French/Vietnamese restaurant which was now more French Asian fusion. Intrigued, I walked over to the restaurant later on.

The peaceful interior decor and earthy colours are noticeable the moment you walk in. The seating is comfortable and  tables are far enough apart so that you do not feel all squashed together. A number of gorgeous wall paintings complete the picture.

To start with I had the “pork belly & pink shrimp spring roll” which turned out to be an excellent choice, delicate in flavour and perfectly balanced in textures. As a main dish I chose the dish of the week “Braised Beef Short Rib with Apple Chile Pure”. The taste of the dish was excellent, but the meat a little too firm for my liking. I like my short ribs almost done to the point of it falling apart when you merely look at it. I followed with a final course of “Molten Chocolate cake with Orange Zest ice cream” which was just as delicious as it sounds.
The waiter, Chester, was friendly, professional and very knowledgeable about each dish he served, something you unfortunately encounter less and less these days.

All in all a super experience and definitely a restaurant I will return to.

Food: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Service: 8.5
Price/Quality: 8.5

Kenichi – Dallas, Texas

Last night, I had dinner at Kenichi in Dallas. Kenichi is a contemporary Asian restaurant, part of a small chain of restaurants bearing the same name located in Austin, Aspen and Hawaii. It definitely is a great place to go if you like Asian food. The restaurant has been very tastefully designed, modern asian, comfortable in colours that are easy on the eyes and don’t distract.

The house offered us a little taster of their Kobe beef – served with a little applewood bacon. A surprising, yet very good combination.
For the remainder of the meal, I chose the Shrimp Tempura as an appetizer and had sushi as my main course – to be specific, I had the California roll, spicy tuna roll, a few pieces of tamago (egg) and the namesake of the restaurant – the Kenichi roll. All of it was very tasty, with the delicate flavours not overpowering each other. Particularly with raw fish or seafood – you soon taste it if it is not 100% fresh – in this case, it was delicious.

I couldn’t have asked for a better host that evening then Aron Arsen – who offered a taster of a fabulous Sake, very soft and smooth.

Kenichi can be found at 2400 Victory Park, Dallas, TX – www.kenichirestaurants.com

Comfort: 8
Food: 8.5
Service: 8.5
Price/Quality: 8