Cafe Kaliber, Amsterdam

Update (5/6/2014): Kaliber has now closed and been replaced by cafe/bar Dikke Graaf

There is a small restaurant in our neighbourhood that Scott and I have probably walked past several hundred times. Every evening when we walk the dog, we practically put our noses up against the glass like little kids and gaze at the menu and the people eating inside. 

On our previous two visits to Amsterdam and ever since we actually moved here back in April, we’ve walked past this restaurant and said “We really need to try that place.” But, being our usual selves, we never did.

Then suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, after I got offered a new job, we decided that it was time to go, as a little celebration meal.

The restaurant is called Cafe Kaliber and they sell only organic or locally-sourced food and drink. This even includes the wine, which contains no sulphates so “no hangovers in the morning” as the waiter said when he filled up my glass with a bubbly rose.

The menu is only small – 3 starters, 3 mains courses and 3 desserts – but it changes regularly and in keeping with the seasons. As we still eat fish and seafood, we had no problem finding things on the menu for us, but we actually started with a Dutch cheese platter and the starter of scallops, which came presented in a shell on top of a bed of rock salt and served with a vanilla butter.

There were only two scallops, but they were perfectly cooked and the vanilla flavour was so light that it didn’t overpower the scallops themselves. There wasn’t a cheese on the platter that I didn’t enjoy (even the blue cheese, which I’m not usually a fan of) and they came served with some crackers, bread, pickles and a little salad.

Luckily we weren’t too full after all that cheese to enjoy our main course, which we both ordered and, in my opinion, was the piece de resistance: a chestnut and lentil pie with roasted pumpkin and mustard.

Once I saw there was no real sauce inside the pie, I was worried the combination of chestnut and lentil would be too dry with the puff pastry, but it was perfect and buttery. When eaten with the sharp and hot mustard, it was like a match made in heaven. The roasted pumpkin didn’t really need to be there but was delicious and a nice mellow break from the heat of the mustard.

If someone would have told me that I would enjoy a pie with chestnuts in it as much as I did, I may not have believed them. Honestly, I’m still dreaming about this plate of food now.

We were hoping to try the “tart of the day” for dessert, but unfortunately the supplier hadn’t delivered any cake that morning and we weren’t in the mood for ice cream or sorbet, so we passed. But that just gives me an excuse to go again and hopefully replicate the fantastic meal we had this time.

• Wilhelminastraat 153
• Open Wed – Sun 4pm – 1am