Pont 13, mad dogs and fishermen

Please note that since writing this article, Pont 13 has closed down

I keep getting letters through the mailbox from Stadsdeel Westerpark (or West, or whatever it’s called these days) telling me that they’re redeveloping the Houthavens area. It’s the bit round the back of the Spaarndammerbuurt where you can find Strand West, a circus tent, Gamma, and a whole load of white geometric boxes known as student housing. I don’t generally have much cause to venture that far out of town, but a friend and I had heard good things about Pont 13, so we consulted Google maps (all too briefly) and headed off into the industrial wasteland that is the Houthavens…

Half an hour later, we were still cycling around trying to find each other (having more or less given up trying to find the restaurant), all the while shouting dubious landmarks into our BlackBerrys, when out of the darkness two enormous rabid dogs set upon me and my trusty fiets like a comedy postman. Ok, so they were just a bit jumpy and barky, and they did in fact appear to have an owner (who did nothing to allay my evident fear, incidentally), and they probably weren’t actually rabid, but believe me: it was scary.

The adventure continued when we’d finally joined forces, and serendipitously happened upon some friendly fishermen. I asked them in my most netjes Dutch if they might possibly know where Pont 13 was. It quickly became clear they had no idea what I was talking about. When I told them it was a bar, however, they offered to accompany us whilst gesturing to the fact that they were wearing too many clothes (I think). We beat a hasty retreat.

Anyway, somehow or other, having cycled around in circles for another 15 minutes, we made it to the end of a finger of reclaimed land and found the boat that was our haven for the evening – cosy inside, with plenty of original detail from the converted ferry. We were in need of a drink, so we ordered a bottle of Portuguese red wine. And then another.

Grazing on some antipasti seemed like a good idea while we considered our main course options and waited for the third member of our little group to arrive. We’d given her directions, but we weren’t holding our collective breath. The antipasti comprised truffle cheese (always a winner), caponata, artichoke puree, and some rather less Italian bits and bobs, like humus, pickled veg and marinated peppers. Not life changing, but they hit the spot.

I was a big fan of my main course, however. You can’t go too far wrong with Baambrugse big (yummy black piggies from down the road near Abcoude) and I went for a dish that involved both the fillet and the ribs. Both porkily tasty, although the fillet could have been cooked for a couple of minutes less. They were served with a spiced apple compote that was so much more than your average apple sauce, alongside rosemary potatoes and sprouts that had a hint of horseradish going on. A perky little combination.

Dinner came to €50 each, which included significant amounts of wine. I was a little chilly by the end of the night (we were sitting by the edge of the boat, whose sides were metal and were bobbing around in the inky black, icy water), but we all agreed that this will be THE place to be after a lazy afternoon in the Westerpark in summer…

Plus, we’ll know where we’re going next time.