Turkish Pizza, lahmacun, in Europe

You want Turkish pizza. You really, really want Turkish pizza. We stumbled across this gem of a dish late at night while searching for a tasty bite in Amsterdam near the Anne Frank Museum. Sefa Grill had pretty good reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, so we decided to give it a try. 

It may not be the most photogenic dish, but it is a tasty one.  

We ordered a pretty standard meat platter, and what we thought was a pizza. What came out was more of a wrap than a pizza, and it was absolutely delicious. The crispy and flakey wrap warmly hugged hot, juice doner meat and sauce. It was so good that I could have finished one in 90 seconds. I probably could have easily eaten 3 or 4. 

The mixed grilled platter at Sefa.

You  might be confused about why something that looks like a wrap is called a pizza. We had this dish a second time at a shop on the busiest shopping center in Leiden, and we got a sneak peek at how they are made.

I took this photo from over the counter. 

This dish does start out as a pizza cooked in a pan. The cooked crust is the dressed with sauce and toppings, and the entire thing is cooked in a pan. Then the entire thing is rolled up tightly into a delicious wrap. 

This one had more traditional pizza toppings. 

These pizzas are very affordable at just a few euros. You can always add more toppings for a more extravagant pizza. They were on the menu at shops every few blocks in Leiden, and they are also plentiful in Amsterdam. Sometimes Turkish pizza is called lahmacun, though it is typically served flat instead of rolled. Enjoy!

Egyptian Kapsalon: Fries + Meat + Cheese

Growing up, chili cheese fries were a thing you ate a the Sonic on a Friday night after the high school football game. Piping hot fries covered with spicy chili and cheese out of a can were classic. It was the Texas version of fries + meat + cheese. Another famous take on meaty fries is the poutine, a Canadian dish of fries covered with cheese curds and gravy.

The dressed up fries don’t stop there. Chilantro based in Austin, TX has their version which is covered in bibimbap meat, caramelized kimchi, cheddar + monterey jack, onions, cilantro, magic sauce, sesame seeds, and sriracha. Salt Traders in Round Rock has the chowder fries: fries covered in clam chowder, bacon, and leeks. And the new Soursop Austin has a version of crispy fries covered with rice cakes, five spice flank steak, rau ram, Thai basil, and pho gravy. 

  

These dishes aren't always the prettiest of dishes, but the taste makes up for that cosmetic short coming. 

 There are a few other versions of fries + meat + cheese concoctions including the carne asada fries that are served in the San Diego area, Halal snack pack in Australia, and the mitraillette in Belgium where it is served as a sandwich.

While in Maastricht, an American exchange student who recommended a version that he likes to have after a long night of studying. It was called the kapsalon, which oddly means hairdresser in Dutch, at an eatery called Isis Grill (as in the Egyptian God Isis). So one day, we took a short walk to the restaurant and ordered the kapsalon. 

A large pile of fries was covered in lettuce, doner meat, garlic sauce, and melted cheese. It did certainly taste like what I’d have after a long night of studying. I’d recommend it at least once because fries are always good, and so it garlic sauce and cheese.

Tips I learned in Europe

You might have noticed that I took trip over to Europe, and it was incredible. I’m breaking up the vacation into a series of short but deliciously fun blog post. The trip started in Amsterdam with a run down to Brussels, Antwerp, Maastricht, Valkenburg, Vaals, Aachen, and then back up to Amsterdam with short jaunts over to Wageningen and Leiden. This first post will be a combination of travel tips and what I learned while I was in Europe.

Hello, Wafels!

1. European facilities are tall. The toilets are tall. The mirrors in the bathroom are tall. I could barely see the top of my head in them. If you are short, you might have some challenges.

2. People there use TripAdvisor much more than Yelp. Yelp has little to no presence.

These flower pots were a genius way to hang them on the side of the rail. Genius I say. 

3. When you are driving in Holland and Germany, you still drive on the right side of the road like you do in the United States. The driver’s side of the car is the same as in the United States as well. However, most of the roads are just wide enough for 1.5 cars and there is no dividing line. Everyone shares the road. You don’t get a lane. You just move over to let people get by and you pray that the other person is in sync with your driving intentions.

4. Even though Discover card doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee, the only place in Europe that took Discover was the Enterprise rental car in Maastricht. Otherwise, get Euros or bring your Charles Schwab card.

Cappuccinos of Europe. They were all so consistently tasty!

5. Tea and coffee in Europe gets dressed up with snackies. Sometimes it is served with cookies, truffles, or other little bites. And the cappuccinos always come with a cookie or biscuit. 

 
 

6. There are some pretty neat ways to solve annoying problems. For example, to keep doors from slamming, a leather pouch is attached to the door jam to keep it quiet. And a few photos above was a smart way to hang flower pots on the rail.


  
































This anti-door slamming device was at the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. 

St. Elmo's Brewing and Soursop Austin Soft opening Nov. 8th

Pouring the pho gravy over the Pho-Tine: fries, rice cake, flank steak from @soursop_austin #yum #media #atx @stelmobrewing

A photo posted by John M. P. Knox (@hopsafari) on Nov 3, 2016 at 5:25pm PDT

Tasting good food is a joyful experience. Tasting good food with great beer can be a wonderful experience. Tasting really amazing food with great beer is kind of mind-blowing. That is what happened at the sneak preview of St. Elmo Brewing and Soursop Austin. *Thank you to St. Elmo and Soursop for inviting us for a preview.

Angus Dry Stout @stelmobrewing #beer #yum #media

A photo posted by John M. P. Knox (@hopsafari) on Nov 3, 2016 at 5:11pm PDT

St. Elmo Brewing is a new brewery with alumini from Austin Beer Works, Bryan Winslow and Tim Bullock. Given Austin Beer Works’ impressive awards right from the start, the dedication to producing great brews was obvious at the tasting. The beers served at the sneak preview were on point and balanced. We’ll circle back to those as we take a look at Soursop’s food samples.

I was not alone in my strong feelings about the food served that night. We’ve all eaten really good food. And we’ve all had some life changing food. Soursop was life changing. The chef, Teddy Bricker, has built a remarkable vitae with stints at La Condesa and Qui Austin. The layering of different flavor profiles and textures into familiar and approachable foods was just perfect. It was a great blend of off the hook delicious with classic beer pairing food.

Teddy, the brains behind @soursop_austin, serves us a *$@%!!!! Amazing #Thai #icecream bun: #coconut condensed milk, pandan milk jam, jackfruit lime #caramel, rice crisp on a Martin's roll. #austin #southeastasia #sneakpreview #media #dessert

A photo posted by Jennie Chen (@misohungry) on Nov 3, 2016 at 6:06pm PDT

The first dish I sampled with the kaeng pa curry which includes grilled and curried eggplant, chili crisps, kaffir lime, galengal, and young peppercorns. The vegetarian dish is a bit on the spicy side if you’re not a fan of the capsaicin sweats. It paired really well with kolsch to clean the palate. I also tend to like IPAs with spicy foods, and the American IPA would have held its own against the curry. Some people don’t enjoy that type of pairing as they feel like it can intensify the spice, but I kind of like it.

The La Korenita sandwich and the Pho-tine were perfect with the American IPA as well. The La Korenita sandwich is a galbi-marinated pork and beef patty, kewpie-mojo, full sour pickles, melted Swiss, and topped with shoestring potatoes. It is no secret that I love burgers. I strongly believe in eating burgers and fries at least once a week as part of my patriotic duty. This sandwich holds one of the top three spots in my favorite burgers ever, and I have eaten many burgers.

The @soursop_austin food tonight is mind blowing amazing. These are the Ayan Goreng chicken wings. #austin #media #sneakpreview #asian #wings #southeastasia

A photo posted by Jennie Chen (@misohungry) on Nov 3, 2016 at 5:50pm PDT

The pho-tine is a play on the words to sound like poutine. This dish starts with a pile of fries, topped with 5 spice flank steak, ram ram, Thai basil, rice cake slices, and smothered with a pho gravy. The flavor of the gravy was aromatic with intense meaty goodness. I’m a fry fan. Get this dish. Have it with a beer. Thank Teddy later.

The ice cream sandwich of all ice cream sandwiches goes to the Thai ice cream bun. I list of components in this dessert was missing magic. There was some kind of fairy-dust-unicorn-magic in the ice cream sandwich. All my dopamine receptors were firing like a fourth of July parade. Maybe it was the coconut ice cream or the jackfruit caramel? Maybe it was the pandan milk jam? Something in there was magic. Pure magic.

St. Elmo’s Brewing and Soursop Austin are a welcome addition to South Austin. Be there to experience the magic.

The future of ice cream sandwiches? Thai Ice Cream Bun. #yum #atx #media @soursop_austin @stelmobrewing

A photo posted by John M. P. Knox (@hopsafari) on Nov 3, 2016 at 6:04pm PDT

St. Elmo’s and Soursop are a welcome addition to South Austin. Be there to experience the magic.