Algiers

This place was very Nice, however it is closed, unfortunately. Sad gems like this do not make it.

We ordered the paprika appetizer and two main courses of lamb with veggies and couscous and some merguez. The appetizer came with homemade bread and as a bonus, he brought out some cow brain. The cow brain was a bit spicy and the most flavorful dish we had!
It seemed to be a one man show and he was suuuper nice, always asking for freedback on how to make the food better :)
I would def go back!

«Wilt u wat hersenen proeven?», says the merry waiter/​chef/​owner of this small little 4-​table Algerian restaurant in De Pijp as our journey through Northern African cuisine began on a cold rainy February night…
If you are like me and have never had Algerian food before, think of Moroccan with a twist. And if you haven’t had good service in a while, you’re in for a treat here! So homeboy chef is the ONLY person here; I’m talking one-​man shop! With only four tables in the place, not only is this doable, homeboy does it with a smile and will make SURE that you are enjoying your food! Oh and don’t forget to call and make a reservation! Our conversations were in Dutch, English and Arabic, but no matter which language we conversed in, homeboy was willing to accommodate. Oh and once you order from homeboy, he walks back to the kitchen to prepare everything. This guy does it all!
Now, on to the food!!!
We had the following:
Bread — This is homemade by homeboy and was great with the meal
Brain — Kind of like brain tapenade that you smeer on bread. This was DELICIOUS!
Roasted Red Bell Pepper something — also like tapenade but it reminded me of yemenese stews with okra?
Lamb Tagine — Reeeeeeaaaaaally soft lamb, ground lamb balls, fennel and other veggies. The flavoring was great and one more time, the lamb was reaaaaaaaaaaaaally soft
Couscous — mixed veggies with couscous and a big chunk of some kind of meat that also melted at the sight of your fork
Algerian Dessert — Not sure how to describe this… if you took grains and processed them fine like cracked black pepper and put them in honey… that’s the dessert we had. It’s served with lemon ice cream which went perfect with it.
Of course the alcoholic in me needed some booze and homeboy is fully stocked with Algerian Red or Grey wine. My lush instincts prompted me to get red and I wasn’t dissappointed!
Since my reviews are notoriously long, I will sum it up like this. Five stars for service (you really can get whatever you want!) and three stars for food. The brain was definitely my favorite and the meat was nice and soft, but everything else was slightly bland for my taste pallete. Not an OMG-​I-​HAVE-​TO-​COME-​BACK-​NEXT-​WEEK place. So I would say four stars for being unique in Amsterdam, friendly service, some interesting food and I would recommend it for people looking for something different and not so much all about the food. Oh and of course if you are feeling a bit zombie-​ish and are looking to eat some braaaaaaains! Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa