103 2nd Avenue (@ 6th Street)
212-253-0470
A few weeks ago some friends and I checked out Vandaag, the East Village’s newest Dutch café located in the space formerly home to Bounce on 2nd Avenue. The atmosphere at Vandaag is open and clean lined with comfortable booth seating in a friendly environment. Chef Phillip Kirschen-Clark presents traditional Dutch flare with menu items such as “pickle-pots,” “bitterballen,” and quail.
The drink menu was cool, full of Akvavits, a traditional Scandinavian beverage. (All of you reading The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo may recognize this one.)
As for the food, now this may just be an issue of personal taste or our uncultured palates, but my friends and I were not impressed. One appetizer we ordered, smoked pickled sausage (sounds great right?) was literally just a couple of cold hotdogs cut in half served in a shot glass. The artichoke was served cold too, fine, just not what we were expecting. The entrées were nothing but mediocre as well. I ordered the pork chops and of the three pieces there were about 2 ½ bites that were not just all fat, it was pretty gross.
The manager was very nice, I think because I told him I was a blogger, we were treated to several amuse bouches from the chef. These were the best part of the meal and part of the reason I feel bad about not recommending this place to anyone I care about. For $80 each, the food was disappointing and I left wanting a slice of pizza.
BY: LAUREN BROWN
