De Hofnar

Overpriced drinks and flavorless food.
I ordered the Mixed Grill platter which included 6 different kinds of meats. Well, that’s exactly what I got, 6 different kinds of meat, completely unseasoned. Just plain chicken, steak, pork, ribs, and beef. It was not pleasant eating it. It tasted like it was prepared on an electric grill you can buy at a supermarket.
The staff was friendly, but not educated. They couldn’t even tell me what the taxes were at the bottom of the receipt, since there were about 6 of them. There was no «price» in their register for large beers, so they just doubled our order and the price was too high.
If you are looking for overpriced bland food with service that is sub standard, then this is the place for you.
PS. The sign on the door shows the mastercard symbol, but they don’t take it.

We left Amsterdam heading north to Rotterdam for a couple of days.
I eased back into my seat closed my eyes and took stock of our vacation to date. And found that as good a time, as we were having in The Netherlands, the one area that i personally was not overly impressed with was traditional Dutch cooking.
(Here’s where i start getting hate mail from The Netherlands Unilocalers).
In fairness I have to say Their baking is tip tip. Apple pie, baked breads and such are all bangin! But I’m a carnivore and need more then just sweets everyday. Normally when i travel I avoid eating food I can get back home. Preferring to immerse myself in the local cuisine, which I did, but found the local fare was too bland for my taste.
Mind you it’s not that I was starving, i just needed something with more flavor.
Whether in a restaurant or the few times we had a home cooked meal, I constantly found myself, politely asking, «Do y’all have any Franks Red Hot? To which they would reply, What???
«You know… hot sauce! How about some Louisiana? Which was met with blank stares.
A brutha was feenin for home cooking. And in OUR home, the meals are either Filipino dishes or a Soul Food dish. Two types of cooking both known for it’s flavor. Yes the Dutch are masters at building dikes and reclaiming land from the ocean. But, they really need to start growing some spices up in that mug.
Which brings me to Haarlem, a city in the north of Holland.
It’s where that famous (or infamous, depending on the year), area located north of Manhattan, got IT’S“S name from. Harlem is the English translation of Haarlem. As if you could not have figured that out on your own. I bet the Dutch that settled there back when Harlem er I mean Haarlem was a dutch village, would be really surprised if they could see all the non Dutch looking folks strolling along 125^th today.
Why is he telling us this?!? Cause every time I looked at a map and saw that name… Haarlem it made me hungry. Yes I know I’m stupid.
So I asked the kat seated across from us if he knew if Rotterdam had any Soul Food spots. «No he replied with a smile. But there is a really good place to eat Spare Ribs here in Rotterdam.
Ahhh Sookie-​Sookie!!! Now that’s what I’m talking about.
Both Dweena and I were hungry so we decided to push back our tour of the Rotterdam Seaport and check out De Hofnar!
The first thing I noticed about this place is that everything looked solid and substantial. There was no plastic in sight. The bar and all the tables are made of thick wood. The waitress that came to our table to take our order, was also thick and substantial.
I hoped this trend would carry over to our meal.
We sat there sipping our soda’s and checking out the meals on the tables near by. A few people had the chicken, but most everyone else was eating ribs.
Thick, meaty, tasty looking ribs. Dutch Soul Food Baby!
Our food took time to reach our table, but it was well worth the wait.
The thick, substantial waitress carried a large metal tray piled high with ribs and they were GOOD! There were also cups of sauce that you could brush on if you liked, but there was no need. The meat was tender and flavorful.
This was the meal I had hungered for. De Hofner is ALL That!
Done