Borrel – 1333 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4J 1N1
Country: Netherlands
Seating: There’s indoor seating only. 
Must-try dish: Boerenkool 
Dinner guests: Pornstar Sam, Ry Hy & Suited Sebastien 
The high: The introduction to Genever, a Dutch spirit that you can make every cocktail with. 
The low: We tried the whole menu but were too full to order the special of the night. 

Interested in joining us for dinner? Details at the bottom of the Blog!!!

With the temperatures dropping, Borrel’s food is just what the doctor ordered. It’s wholesome, comforting, and it’s pretty much the same thing as getting a warm hug on a cold day, with a small exotic flair to spice things up. 

The base of Dutch cuisine is meat and potatoes among cabbage and other goodies, but there’s a strong influence of Asian flavours because of the large Indonesian population that immigrated to the Netherlands following the Indonesian War of Independence in the late 1940’s. As a result, the Dutch food scene has evolved to compliment flavours from its former colony in the East, and Borrel does an exceptional job of incorporating these two worlds of taste. 

Before doing a deep-dive with the menu, we opted for some of the Dutch beers and cocktails. Fortunately, there was no Heineken so some opted for Grolsch or for drinks with the local spirit called Genever that was versatile to mix into libations. Genever is often referred to as the Dutch Gin and at Borrel they also give you the option of old or young. Old vs young does not necessarily refer to the age of the Genever but more so on the style of the production. The old containing a stronger grain flavour and in comparison the young has a much more neutral flavour.

It was difficult to make decisions on the menu, so we opted to order everything. We started with the Small Bites section that included the Beef Bitterballen and the Kaassouffles. The Bitterballen are balls of breaded slow-cooked beef that are deep fried to be golden brown. It’s the classic snack in bars across the Netherlands. The Kaassouffles, on the other hand, are pieces of gouda cheese that are deep fried in puff pastry. For those of you who have graced the Netherlands with your presence, you know how prominent gouda is there. 

The majority of the following dishes were the favourites of the entire meal. Our must-try dish is the Boerenkool – a silky potato and kale mash topped with smoked sausage and dressed with gravy. It’s a simple concept, but the group could have each had their own plate of this dish. A close second is the Snert, a soup with a stew-like texture made with split peas and ham hock. It’s accompanied with pieces of dark rye that are perfect for dipping. 

There was a lot of love for the Hachee Shepherd’s Pie that is built with mashed potatoes, on top of stewed beef, with a base of braised red cabbage. The Beef Krokets were a heavier and meatier cousin of the Bitterballen, and came served with fries to make it more of a meal. They’re not as easy to share but they sure tasted good. 

A popular street food in the Netherlands are french fries that are hand cut and served on a plate with forks. Borrel offers a number of options to accompany the fries, and we opted for the War Fries (Patat Oorlog) that is served up with mayonnaise and peanut satay sauce. 

As for the Indonesian dishes, the Chicken Satay Skewers with peanut sauce was an immediate yes. The seasoned meat was tender and tasted great alone, but even better accompanied with the sauce. Next was the Nasi Goreng, which is the Indonesia’s version of fried rice that comes with a house made hot sauce called Sambal, toasted peanuts and coconut called Seroendeng, and pickled cucumbers. The last item to arrive was the Krupuk, these massive, crispy shrimp chips that you have to break into smaller pieces to be able to dip into the Sambal and peanut satay sauces. 

On the evening we had dinner, they weren’t serving the Sajoer Lodeh, which is a vegetable stir-fry that would likely suit the vegetarians at the table. We’ll have to go back to have it another time.  

You’ll find one option for dessert, and it would be a crying shame not to save room for it. The Poffertjes are miniature pancakes dressed with butter and icing sugar. They’re light, fluffy and irresistible. Try to snag the ones in the middle as they are dripping in melted butter. 

There’s a certain charm to the entire operation, from the cartoons of each meal item on the menu to the eclectic Dutch prints covering the wall, to the patriotic names of the cocktails. The staff has terrific knowledge of each dish and they’re able to describe it perfectly for the guests. The owner and chef hails from the Netherlands, and despite having spent most of his life in Canada, he did learn his homeland’s traditional recipes while visiting his grandparents. 

Borrel is the only Dutch restaurant in Toronto and it’s a staple on the city’s Danforth Avenue. If you’re feeling like delicious comfort food, you know where to go. And if you happen to be in the mood for vegan, many of the dishes have that option available. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)

🇨🇳Who’s Coming to Dinner?

As a part of our exploration of Chinese cuisine in Toronto, we want to taste Chinese dishes among friends for this month’s Eat the World group dinner. Join us! 
Place: Yummy Yummy Dumplings
Date: Thursday, November 25th, 2021
Time: 19:30 (7:30 p.m.) EST
 These spots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis to the first six people to lock in spots by emailing eattheworldto@gmail.com. 

As always, let us know any allergies ahead of time and no picky eaters please!