The day before yesterday, it was my little brother’s birthday; he became 15 years old! Unfortunaltely, all the things he wanted were very expensive, and I haven’t really tried to find anything better (also because the celebration dinner is still coming), so I haven’t bought him a present yet. I should try to do it soon though.
Anyway, congratulations, Jan Willem!
Next Monday, the China Open world-ranking Snooker championship will commence, and much will be broadcast on Eurosport. Due to time differences, most of the coverage will be in the morning, from 8:30 onwards. An overview:
Really looking forward to it, seems I’m gonna have to get up early and skip some colleges…
I haven’t update the Guide in a while, but an update has become inevitable now that the Chef, previously number 2 on the list but closed since a few months already, has been replaced by a new snack bar: “Het Kwartier” (same place: Ruiterskwartier, Leeuwarden).
The strategy of Het Kwartier, as opposed to the Chef, is clearly to target a higher market segment, judging from the fact that there are now nice wooden tables in a special sitting room, separate from the get-your-snack-and-go-department. I didn’t go there myself, but it was looking pretty nice. This decision was probably made because of the Febo, which can hardly be competed with as price is concerned.
Unfortunately, this new strategy has resulted in a price increase: the hamburger sandwich now costs € 3,00, up 50 cents, making this the most expensive snackbar yet in the Guide.
Unfortunate too is the fact that this price increase is not matched by a quality increase; rather, the new Kwartier burger is not at all reminiscent of the old Chef hamburger (famous for its good sauce and rich decoration): it’s just a standard burger, with a standard piece of meat (and not a very good one, either…), and a bit of sauce.
In conclusion: the move to a higher market segment might be wise for Het Kwartier, but it’s a shame the increase in price is not matched by an increase in quality. The closing down of the Chef has made it much more difficult to get a nice burger in Leeuwarden.
Ratings:
Price: 4/10
Service: 6.5/10
Taste: 5/10
Ambiance: 6/10
Overall: 5/10
No updates to the Guide in a while, but then nothing much has happened in the snack scene of Leeuwarden. One notable event is that from this year on, the open-air swimming pool in Giekerk now sells snacks. Being run by the same people that run “Het Kruispunt” (situated at, you guessed it, the main crossroad of Giekerk), one instantly recognizes the typical (quite good) taste (which is mainly due to their extensive use of paprika spice), the very decent mayonnaise and good curry. Unfortunately, at normal snack prizes, one gets only a very small portion of chips. I haven’t been to Het Kruispunt for a while, but I recon one still gets the same good fries for a much better prize there. (Now that I think of it, I have never actually discussed Het Kruispunt — would be a good idea.)
Now that I think of it, there has been an update: the snack bar formerly called Chef, famous for its excellent hamburger sandwiches, has re-opened as a shoarma shop annex snack bar. I went there for a coffee (which was nice, though overpriced at € 1,80 for a cappuchino), but a friend of mine bought a menu, consisting of a shoarma burger and a drink, for € 3,00. I had a bit and it seemed to taste well. More to follow (possibly).
But the most significant contribution to the Guide today is that I finally paid a visit to Snackbuffet Het Vliet, somewhere along Het Vliet in Leeuwarden. There are actually two snack bars on Het Vliet, one on the corner of the Oostergrachtswal, which is conveniently close to Wolweze, and one which, being a bit farther down the road, I hadn’t tried yet. Which is what we’ll be talking about today.
Unfortunately, there was no need to be sorry for not visiting Het Vliet before. I ordered a chips with speciaal sauce (which is mayonnaise, curry and union pieces), but the result was disappointing. The chips were reasonably priced at € 1,51 (for some reason, this snack bar doesn’t round of amounts until at the counter), but the portion was pretty small, and had the sauce on top of it, which doesn’t add to the snacking experience either (at double the prize, larger portions are available). But worst of all, rather than having the mayonnaise and curry apart, they were mixed together into the yellow-organge-ish blubber known in snack land as Joppie Sauce, the most distasteful invention in snacks since low calory food. This combination of a small portion of chips with Joppie Sauce all over it made me feel like a small boy who just bought his first chips. Needless to say, this is not good.
The kroket sandwhich ordered as well was reported to be “just a kroket sandwhich”. Adding to that the slightly cheesy atmosphere, it will be clear that Het Vliet is not a place to visit if one isn’t hungry and in the neighborhood.
Ratings:
Price: 5/10
Service: 6/10
Taste: 5/10
Ambiance: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
The local elections for the city of Groningen were earlier this month, and as traditional, I present my Stemwijzer voting advise here. A bit late, but here it is:
Quite honestly, at the first glance, I was scared stiff by seeing the wrong green logo on the right top of the screen, but since the party with the right green logo was just as favorite for me, I decided to vote for them. Quite a relief actually, since I have actually become a member of GroenLinks recently, so them not ending up first would be a bit disgraceful 