The Netherlands, AmsterdamAugust 20, 2019, by Maartje

Nacho-mania at Parakeet Amsterdam West

The Netherlands, Amsterdam, August 20, 2019, by Maartje

Nacho-mania at Parakeet Amsterdam West

Let's nacho the night away! It has been two (or is it three? or four?) weeks since I received enthusiastic texts from J.: "There is a new place in our street, at the location of Par Hasard, open for the first time today. and it's soooo much fun!". And how right she was, Miss J.! The new Parakeet Amsterdam on a cozy corner in a quiet residential area in Amsterdam is exactly that tasty treat that the neighborhood was looking forward to, not far from Spaghetteria. So the Italian cravings were already covered, and now there is no longer a shortage of nachos and cocktails. Hi Parakeet Amsterdam, good to have you.

Parakeet Amsterdam

Parakeet Amsterdam

Mexican in Amsterdam West, with a big focus on, well, on the drinks actually. The cocktails are incredibly on fleek (in tip top condition) and it is the crispy Mexican freshly made chips with dips that are particularly popular. That's basically all they serve: nacho dishes. But the good kind. We, and I don't just mean us here at Barts Boekje HQ, are crazy about Mexican chips, but in Amsterdam they are often poor in terms of quality. Until recently, we especially liked to sit down at Harlem in the Haarlemmerstraat if we had an unstoppable craving for nachos, but from now on we cycle to the Douwes Dekkerstraat where Parakeet manages.

Where? On the spot where the chip shop-plus Par Hasard used to be. Not that things are going badly for Limburg's chip makers! At least they are moving from Douwes Dekkerstraat to Hoofddorpplein. Is that out of the question again?

You can order four nacho dishes, named after the Amsterdam parks where the namesake of the business, the parakeet, might just hang out. There is the Vondel, Erasmus, Wester and Sarphati. And it's simple: choose nachos with meat (the idea is that you can also order a dish as a complete dinner), or vegetarian. There are three options from the first: pulled pork for the Vondel, 9-hour beef chili for the Sarphati and sweet & spicy chipotle chicken at the Erasmus. The Wester is vegetarian where the meat is replaced by spiced cauliflower. With all dishes you get sour cream, red salsa, guacamole, cheese, lettuce and cilantro, everything separately (nice for cilantro haters but nacho lovers like yours truly). You can order a small (€9) or large portion (€15). NB: small is already quite big. What betters the cocktails: the Parakeet Sangria is a (summer) keeper.