Verzet Pop-up: more Instagram than eating

Please note that since writing this article, Verzet Pop-up has closed down

When a friend of mine invited me for dinner to say thank you for helping her out with her website, I was obviously delighted. I was even more delighted when she told me it was a pop-up cooked by Dutch MasterChef winner Bart Van Berkel coupled with a British chef called Justin Brown. That’s kind of where the delight ended, though, as we learned a couple of days beforehand that Bart was sick and wouldn’t be cooking. We were disappointed, but decided to give the pop-up the benefit of the doubt and ploughed on with choosing wines to pair with the 4-course BYOB dinner at Tunnel 37.

On arrival at Verzet (the name of Justin’s pop-up), we were given a short cookery demonstration of some of the things we’d later be eating. It all looked like worryingly few calories to me, and we’d practically finished our first bottle of wine without even a crust of bread to line our stomachs, but I hoped that the “real” portions would be bigger.

They weren’t. The first course was a tomato salad with a lemony-yoghurt dressing, chopped olives and a few leaves and flowers strewn over the top. This from a chef who has written a cookbook called Dining Through the Seasons… Tomatoes? In March? Are you kidding me? Needless to say, they didn’t taste of a whole lot, and nor did they do much to silence the wolf growling in my stomach. (Still no bread, btw. No napkins, either. Not that I would’ve eaten the napkins. Well, on second thoughts…)

Next was a piece of salmon that had apparently been sitting in olive oil at 46 degrees C or something – I am not good with numbers but you get the sous vide idea. It was devoid of seasoning or texture, and came with a so-called chive hollandaise that tasted like green whipped cream. There was baby white asparagus, too (perhaps an early breed), and strands of samphire scattered around my plate like washed-up driftwood. It was almost impressive how several presumably decent ingredients, when put on a plate together, managed to retain practically no flavour at all.

The meat course had more flavour – there just wasn’t much of it. Half a skinny duck breast each came with carrots in various guises: puréed with butter, lightly pickled, and simply roasted. By this point, I was so desperate for carbs that I considered raiding the fridge myself. But instead I just got steadily more drunk.

Dessert was a peanut butter mousse with bananas and a citrus granita. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but the Americans I was with seemed to like it – it reminded them of those Reese’s cups. But with a strongly tangy slush puppy on top. I was frankly grateful that “dinner” was over and we could all head off for a snack.

It was then that I discovered how much my friend had paid for the tickets to this pop-up. I’d ideally like you to guess, and then I’d go “Higher… higher!” until you shriek with horror. But since I’m not actually talking to you I guess that’s not going to work. So here goes…

€80. Yes, you read that right: eighty euros. For about 500 calories of set menu at a pop-up. Excluding wine. Or napkins. Or really anything other than a hard wooden bench and a knife and fork. I was gobsmacked.*

I was also starving. So I picked my jaw up off the floor and agreed to hot-foot it to TonTon Club for a bowl of breaded onion rings and some chicken wings. Needless to say, however, it was far too late to avoid the hangover.

*For the record, here are some of the top restaurants in Amsterdam at which you can eat four courses (with napkins and tablecloths and candles, to boot) for less than €80:

• Lastage: four courses for €53
• Blauw aan de Wal: four courses for € 67.50
• De Kas: three courses for €49.50 (but the starter comprises three small dishes)
• Vis aan de Schelde: four courses for €55
• Ron Gastrobar: €15 per dish (i.e. €60 for four dishes)