abqtoadam: Gollem

I had another couchsurfing experience that was only possible because of my feelings of guilt and/or obligation. I’d again decided to take a break from hosting, but I received a couch request that I didn’t feel I could decline. Ted, a bicycle educator/advocate from Eugene, Oregon, said that he and his girlfriend (who works as a nutrition advocate in Eugene) were taking a bike tour through the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, and were hoping to stay with me for a few days before they flew back to Oregon from Amsterdam. Ted recognized my profile picture on couchsurfing (me standing over the Columbia river when I visited Oregon in June, 2010), talked about his love for beer, and generally seemed like a nice enough guy that I couldn’t turn he and Katy down in good conscience.

After greeting them on Saturday afternoon, ditching them to play in a poker tournament on Saturday evening (finished 17^th out of 71 players, so did just well enough to invest three hours without getting any money), and waiting for them back at my apartment until 1am on Sunday morning (they got severely lost on their bikes), I told them I’d go to the Van Gogh museum and grab lunch with them during the day on Sunday.

The Van Gogh was as packed as one might imagine a famous, centrally located museum in a European capital to be on a summer Sunday. After a couple hours of snaking around the paintings in long, compressed lines, only a few feet from the walls, we decided to leave and grab lunch. I gave them the option of going toward the center of town, where there would be lots of options, but lots of tourists (and options that specifically cater to tourists) versus checking out a street that would have more placed frequented by locals. They decided to take the more local option.

We rode down Overtoom (the street), and I pointed out Café Gollem, one of my favorite bars in town. Funny enough, Gollem was the only bar that I visited when I traveled to Amsterdam in February for my job interview. It was immediately across the street from my hotel, and it had a large sign that said “Belgian Beer.” As we passed it, we saw that it had a lunch menu. Given Ted and Katy were Oregon beer aficionados, they said that they were up for trying some Belgian beers and having lunch there.

This may have been the best decision of their trip. Gollem was empty except for us, and the bartender was more than happy to devote all of his time to letting us try different beers, talking to use about beer, and letting us try more beers while talking to us more about beer. I sampled five beers before settling on a Troubadour Magma. The bartender had a difficult time expressing just how much he liked the magma – there were many gestures involving kissing his own fingers, like an Italian chef communicating how good his cooking is.

As is often the case in Amsterdam (and perhaps Europe more generally), the menu only had three options, and the Belgian Burger was the only one under ten euro (7.50). So we each ordered one. This was my second beef hamburger since I was about 16 (my first also being in an Amsterdam restaurant, in June). It turned out to be by far the best burger of any meat (or non-meat) I’ve ever had. By a mile. I am guessing that the meat quality was high. It was topped with very thinly sliced “Belgian ham,” which was a bit like bacon. It had lettuce, tomatoes, sweet grilled onions, and an interesting aioli. The bun was made of the best hard, flaky Belgian bread I’ve ever had. And, somehow, the Troubadour beer paired with it in a way that I’ve never experienced a beer (or wine) pairing with a meal.

So, big success on lunch. And now, instead of being one of my favorite bars in Amsterdam, I’m going to officially place Gollem at the top of the pile. Congrats Gollem. If anyone is so kind as to visit me, expect to get a visit there.