Vancouver 2010 Olympics - Holland House: Dutch food

Restaurant: Holland House – Dutch food

Cuisine: European/Dutch

Last visited: February 27, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC (Minoru Park)

7191 Granville Avenue
Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

I really wish I could have put this post up earlier, but I didn’t make my visit to the Holland House until the last Saturday of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics! GO CANADA GO!

I heard lots about the Holland House and the exclusiveness of it. Every time The Netherlands won a gold medal they would only let in people with Dutch passports. Throughout the day anyone with a Dutch passport could get in automatically with no line-up, but for everyone else it was 30min on a good day and sometimes up to a 3 hour wait! The exclusiveness made it extra alluring and I also heard they were serving traditional Dutch food so I was determined to check it out. Authentic Dutch foods…actually Dutch food in general…and even Dutch people are hard to find!

So what’s up with my Dutch obsession? Well I was lucky to live in The Netherlands for a while so it has a place close to my heart…and stomach for that matter. So what was my game plan to get in? Well I grabbed my Utrecht Universiteit hoodie and my expired Dutch student ID that clearly states: 2007-2008. And with that I was able to get in! WOOT WOOT! The loser is the one who doesn’t try right?! Seriously…lucky me!

Needless to say I am familiar with traditional Dutch food – well as familiar as I could get. Living there I would ask people all the time what traditional Dutch food was? And more often then not my Dutch friends were lost for words. However after a while I was able to get an idea of Dutch food and the menu offered at Holland House was in pretty close to the real deal! It definitely brought back memories!

Added note: Almost all Dutch food tastes better than it sounds and looks. The stuff at the Holland House was no exception…it was cafeteria style Dutch food, but it was good! It's partly rated so high just becuase I miss it. :(

On the table:

Stamppot Boerenkool met Worse en Spek

• Potato-kale hotchpotch with sausage $7.50
• The one served at the Holland House is pretty much the “fast food version”…which is interesting because the original is already quite “fast food-like” as is.
• Now I didn’t order this one because I tried a home made version in the The Netherlands already. Also the guy working there said his favourite was the Hutspot met Worst en Spek (the one I actually ordered).
• Below is the Stamppot Boerenkool I made with my Dutch friend in The Netherlands. It’s traditionally served with pickled pearl onions and pickles.

• Stamppot Boerekool is the most traditional and popular ‘stamppot’ or hotchpotch. It’s not necessarily the favourite, but there’s many ways to make it and many combinations, however this potato-kale one is most common.
• Stamppot is a traditional dish that people make at home, but it’s not really served at restaurants. It’s pretty much traditional Dutch comfort food that mom’s make.

Hutspot met Worst en Spek 4.5/6

• Potato carrot hotchpotch with sausage $7.50
• Okay so this isn’t how it’s supposed to be served, but under the circumstances of a standing room only/drinking tent atmosphere it was the most practical method serving it in a cone.
• It’s basically mashed potatoes with milk and butter, mixed with coarsely mashed up carrots and onions and topped with a sausage and bacon bits.
  

• The sausage was a crappy sausage – it was those cheap hot dog wieners…usually it’s a thicker sausage, like those ‘U’ shaped ones (like the image in my home made verison)
• Other than that the mashed potato carrot part was delicious even though it was sitting under heat lamps for the whole day. It was really creamy and really soft and fluffy. I loved it!
• The bacon was new. I’ve never seen it served with bacon, but I liked it. It was almost like a baked potato and I think that’s what they’re going for. They were pretty fresh bacon bits too – not those hard crunchy dried ones.

Broodje Kipkerriesalade 4/6

• Sandwich chicken curry salad $5.00
• I was pleasantly surprised to see this on the menu. It flew under my radar and I almost forgot how popular of a sandwich it is there.
• There’s a heavy Indonesian influence in The Netherlands so it’s very common to see “satay” or “curry” on their menus.
• This sandwich is very close to what they would serve at quick eateries or small cafes in The Netherlands.
• 
• It’s pretty much diced chicken mixed with a curried mayo. They also include some diced apple and maybe some diced onions in it.
• The bread was crappy and tough and it was overpriced, but whatever…that was expected.
• The chicken curry salad was really good though. It’s creamy and sweet from the apples. Usually they would serve it with some lettuce and maybe some tomatoes. At really good places I could get them with bean sprouts! I love it with bean sprouts.
• The curry is not spicy at all, but just really creamy and rich.