Review: Bram's Gourmet Frites - Captain's Beef and Pumpkin Veal
On my first visit to the Bram's Gourmet Frites shop in Rotterdam-South, I ordered the Pulled Pork (review). I also wrote a review of that on their Facebook page and I won a discount card with which I can get the second stew for half the price. I had been too busy and I caught a very bad flu, so I hadn't had a chance to visit the shop again for a long time. But recently, I happened to be in the area and I ordered the Captain's Beef and Pumpkin Veal with a nice discount.
The Pumpkin Veal is currently replaced by the Mexican Salsa (potato fries with guacamole, sour cream, tomato salsa, jalapenos, nacho chips bits, and cheddar crumble), but it might come back on the menu or it will still be on the menu in the Bram's Gourmet Frites store in Essen, Germany, which will open in August 2016. So, this review might still be relevant.
I was the most curious about this one and it was as great as I expected it to be. The Captain's Beef has pieces of slow cooked beef, some kidney beans, gravy, piccalilli mustard sauce on the side, a little bit of grated old Rotterdam cheese, and fresh spring onions. It is optional, but I also decided to get the extra bacon pieces sprinkled on top.
The beef isn't as soft and tender as the beef in the Pumpkin Veal, as it is on the dry side, but the stronger beef flavor makes up for it. The kidney beans were soft and full of flavor. Not too overcooked or too hard. I thought I would not like them, but I had no trouble eating them. There wasn't a lot of gravy, but luckily, there was plenty of picalilli mustard sauce so that it wouldn't be too dry. The sour mustard sauce was very tasty and it matched quite well with the fries and the beef. It made them taste less oily. The added bacon pieces added a lot of flavor to the whole thing, so I think it wouldn't taste as good without them.
This time, the fries weren't as great as the first time, since they were a bit too burned.
Bram's Gourmet Frites - Pumpkin Veal
The Pumpkin Veal has large cubes of veal cheeks, with tiny bits of pumpkin, sweet dried dates, coriander, mint, shallot, and a drop of Tabasco. I really like how soft and tender the meat is, as it really melts in your mouth. It has a sweet and creamy sauce with pumpkin and dates, but the herbs are quite overpowering, so it might not suit everybody's taste.The Pumpkin Veal is currently replaced by the Mexican Salsa (potato fries with guacamole, sour cream, tomato salsa, jalapenos, nacho chips bits, and cheddar crumble), but it might come back on the menu or it will still be on the menu in the Bram's Gourmet Frites store in Essen, Germany, which will open in August 2016. So, this review might still be relevant.
Bram's Gourmet Frites - Captain's Beef
I was the most curious about this one and it was as great as I expected it to be. The Captain's Beef has pieces of slow cooked beef, some kidney beans, gravy, piccalilli mustard sauce on the side, a little bit of grated old Rotterdam cheese, and fresh spring onions. It is optional, but I also decided to get the extra bacon pieces sprinkled on top.
The beef isn't as soft and tender as the beef in the Pumpkin Veal, as it is on the dry side, but the stronger beef flavor makes up for it. The kidney beans were soft and full of flavor. Not too overcooked or too hard. I thought I would not like them, but I had no trouble eating them. There wasn't a lot of gravy, but luckily, there was plenty of picalilli mustard sauce so that it wouldn't be too dry. The sour mustard sauce was very tasty and it matched quite well with the fries and the beef. It made them taste less oily. The added bacon pieces added a lot of flavor to the whole thing, so I think it wouldn't taste as good without them.
This time, the fries weren't as great as the first time, since they were a bit too burned.
