Please note that since writing this article, Van de Markt has closed down

I was spoilt last weekend: I went to not one, not two, but three rather fabulous restaurants. If you’ve ever tried to write about food, you’ll know that it’s a lot easier to describe when it’s bad than when it’s good. Not only are there more descriptors for flavours that don’t taste of the thing they’re supposed to taste of, but a bad meal also delivers more in the way of metaphors and angles.

No such luck at Van de Markt, near the Amstel. The service was impeccable, and there was barely a bum note throughout the meal. We even got a tour of the restaurant’s wine cellar (apparently the largest in Amsterdam), which smelt of damp oak and was lit like something from a steamy French novel.

I can only resort to showing you what I ate, with a lonely caption devoid of pithiness beneath each photo.

Amuse 1: Trio of potato (mash, crisp, and purée with truffle)

Amuse 2: Cappuccino of cheese and ham

Starter: Tuna Niçoise tartar

Main: Veal fillet with sweetbread, black pudding, chanterelle, cous cous and aniseed gravy

Dessert: Strawberries with sponge, berry mousse, and jelly and ice cream

It was food to be enjoyed, not written about.