Hangover survival: Mexican brunch at Amsterdam’s Los Feliz

Please note that since writing this article, Los Feliz has closed down

Last Sunday, I woke up with the Brexit referendum of hangovers – you know, the kind that make you feel so sick you just want to sit on the sofa crying all day. It was thanks to an ill-judged Saturday night decision to “pay homage to the Spaarndammerstraat” – which is a euphemistic way of saying we did a bar crawl on our street. It started at Bar Bateau, a new wine and coffee bar in the spot where Bocconi used to be. We ordered two glasses of Spumante and some rather tasty pulpo salad to nibble on. Things went downhill from there. I blame the Spaarndammerbuurt for just having too many goddamn bars these days.

All of which is a rather tangential introduction to why it was that on Sunday at 1 pm, I arrived at Mexican brunch spot Los Feliz feeling several shades of ropey. I’d tried coffee and ibuprofen; I’d tried taking a shower and a cocktail of vitamins; there was only one option left: going hair of the dog on this thing. It was well past time for a restorative Bloody Mary.

Said Mary was well-made and spicy enough, but I’ve yet to find anywhere in Amsterdam (with the possible exception of Little Collins) that adds enough horseradish for me. Still, I won’t mark anyone down for that because clearly not everyone likes their drinks tasting like wasabi peas.

Something with eggs and starch seemed like a good choice for Ms Hungover, so I went with the Huevos Rancheros for (late) brunch to accompany my hair-of-the-dog Bloody Mary. I added chorizo for €3, so was a little disappointed to discover that my extra euros covered a scant four slices of the stuff. Still, the dish as a whole looked big enough: a large, crispy-fried tortilla on the bottom, topped with cheesy black beans and two fried eggs. The other ingredients: pico de gallo, avocado, jalapenos and the chorizo all came in separate groupings on the top, which probably made the photo look prettier but I’d have preferred a bit of everything all mixed together. With a splodge of sour cream and a few shakes of Louisiana hot sauce, however, it all tasted the business and my complaints were only minor.

My friend ordered the Chilaquiles and wasn’t so satisfied. Interestingly, all her topping ingredients (scrambled eggs, veggies, avocado, tomato, etc.) were mixed together, but the upshot was that the tortilla chips underneath ended up in soggy clumps. Perhaps the dish just required a different method of assembly.

She tried to ask for a “chilli mocha” afterwards, but the order went wrong and somehow we ended up with two chilli hot chocolates instead. To our waiter’s credit, and since we’d run out of time to re-order, he took them both off the bill with no fuss (and without being asked). So the service, while not perfect, at least tried to make up for its imperfections.

My huevos and Bloody Mary came to €22 in total, which isn’t so crazy for brunch in Amsterdam these days. I had a peek at the dinner menu while I was there too, and next time I’ll be back for margaritas and enchiladas in the evening. The crucial question, however, is not whether I’ll be back, but whether it cured my hangover. I’m not sure whether it was Los Feliz or the bottle of coke I bought on the way home, but the second half of the day was a lot more manageable than the first…