Rotisserie – Amsterdam (May 2018)

Having successfully dodged the task of accompanying the kids to a Katy Perry concert a couple of weeks ago, Koen and I decided to grab some 🍔 and 🍺. A couple of days before our visit, Rotisserie was mentioned in the Parool newspaper as an aside in Hiske Versprille’s review of its sister restaurant, The Fat Pie. As she wrote that in her opinion, Rotisserie’s burgers are the best in town, Koen didn’t need much persuasion from my side to go and check them out.

Rotisserie has two outlets, one west of the city center (De Clercqstraat 81) aptly named Rotisserie West, but as it was easier for us to reach, we chose Rotisserie East (Beukenplein 17). Due to an injury, Koen was walking with crutches, and therefore taking public transport was not ideal, so we decided to catch an Uber. After we sat down on their terrace on the square, we glanced over the menu to order some drinks. Obviously, the El Diablo from Cocktail section immediately caught our eye due to the pricing, but the RYIL (recommended if you like) mentioning Katy Perry, a square in Amsterdam, and sharing Ubers was just uncanny. We were “summoned” to go there! 👹

The El Diablo cocktail itself wasn’t up our alley, so we ordered some G&T’s: one with Gin Mare (€9,50) and one with Hendrick’s Gin (€9,25) and pondered the possibilities of starters.

Obviously various chicken options (wings, fried, pulled), but also onion rings, pork ribs, house pickles, and nachos are available. We opted for The Clercq Fried Chicken (2 crispy fried chicken thighs with ranch sauce, €11,50) as well as the Pork Ribs with BBQ sauce (€10,50). Both generous portions; the fried chicken was super crispy, tender and tasted great. So did the pork ribs, although the meat was just a tad dry.

From the “Advanced & Less ordinary” cocktail list, we then opted for the White Negroni (€9,50). A nice twist on the classic aperitif by using Lillet Blanc and grapefruit bitters instead of Campari. An excellent and less tangy variation.

We also split the delicious Turbo Cheese Fries (fries, cheddar topped with ginger scallions, chili crunch, and peanuts, €8). With the layer of cheddar halfway through, you automatically get a fiery cheese sauce as the chili oil trickles down. We feel that it should be renamed to “El Scorcho” as the chili crunch is fiendishly hot and curiously addictive. 😳😅🤤. We immediately had to order some Lagunitas beers from the tap (IPA and Little Sumpin, €4,75/4,95) to cool things down. I was stuffed, but Koen even had a go at the severely spiked Pirate Rum Oreo Milkshake (€8.75), partly to quench the lingering after-burn…