Amstelzijde 53, 1184 TZ, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, +31 (0)20 – 472 1090, web
After having heard some friends about ‘Eetcafe Loetje aan de Amstel’ I decided I had to go there for a juicy steak and some fries. Ouderkerk is a small picturesque village along the Amstel river, which has some great restaurants. Although not downtown Amsterdam, the law enforcement on parking is very strict so if you decide to pay a visit, park in one of the two paid parked spots or outside the village. You don’t want to be towed, right? After arrival I got my name on the list and waited for around 25 minutes. We got some ‘bittergarnituur’ made by Holtkamp (€ 4,25) which tasted good, but were a little to delicate in my opinion. The waiter escorted us to our table in a decent but down to earth manner and we ordered a ‘biefstuk ossehaas met champignons’ (€ 16,25) and a ‘biefstuk ossehaas ‘De Roode Waard’’ (€ 18,75). As the place is famous for their steaks don’t expect any vegetables or so along the side. We ordered some extra fries (€ 5) and a salad (€ 3,75). We got the fries and the salad before the steaks, but the real disappointment were the fries. Not greasy or something like that, but I expected a better taste, these didn’t had the crisp taste you want your fries to have. The salad was extremely simple, some lettuce, a half tomato, a boiled egg covered with sauce, but was tasteful and accompanied the steak in a perfect manner.
If you are looking for a restaurant for a romantic dinner, Loetje is not the place to go. It is not romantic and it is way to noisy for two lovers to enjoy each other. I have two mention this because next to us a Chinese – Dutch couple were sitting and I could clearly see that the (Chinese) girl wasn’t satisfied by the choice of restaurant of her date/bf. Although not satisfied, she did take a picture of her steak, and boy I wish I asked her to get a copy because I forgot my camera. My gf didn’t allow me to, as she didn’t want to break in into their ‘romantic’ dinner. Talking to your neighbors is common in Loutje and if you are need for some chitchat with locals you will have no problem in doing so (we made friends with an older couple and their daughter). The steak with mushroom was served in a pond of gravy, juicy on the inside and crisp on the outside. My ‘Roode Waard’ consisted of calf liver, bacon, unions and a steak about half the size my gf got. In generally I eat anything, but the amount of liver was a little to much for me. Although this, the combination was great. I finished with a good strong coffee and my gf asked for one scoop of ice cream with whip cream. The waiter didn’t make any fuss about it all.
To summarize Loutje is a great brasserie with very decent prices. You wouldn’t go there for a romantic dinner, but if you are into tasty juicy steaks you will see your needs fulfilled in a timely manner.
