10 Years

This weekend, G and I celebrated 10 years together. To mark the occasion, we decided to go to Broadway, an American-style steak and rib restaurant. Fancy? Not really, but it was perfect for us. For one thing, we met while living in New York and even lived on the corner of Broadway. Furthermore, we love ribs, but you can’t really get baby back ribs here. Spare ribs are sometimes available, but even those are usually pre-marinated and just not the same. Broadway does an excellent American-style ribs. Sure, I still prefer the ones that we made and smoked ourselves, but this is a good substitute. Even their cole slaw is surprisingly good, although the addition of raisins and the slice of orange was a but unnecessary.

We got lucky and after only waiting about five minutes, we were able to get a table outside. In fact, if you look at the first photo, we ended up sitting at the two-person table by the red door. It was a nice spot to enjoy the evening. One of the things that makes dining at the restaurant so nice is that you can sit there by the side of the Oudegracht. As you can see, it’s one of the unique canals here in Utrecht. The Oudegracht and the Nieuwegracht are the canals with a street level and a canal level. Along the Oudegracht, most of what used to be storage caverns under the street level have been turned into restaurants where you can sit indoors or outdoors (depending on the weather). It’s always a pleasure to sit outdoors and watch the various boats passing by. At one point, we saw five boats tethered together, one after the other, puttering along the canal. Each had the name of a different prince. Another boat went by with a very big dog curled up on the bow, fast asleep.

You really do sit right by the water, so a bit of care must be taken not to drop stuff into the canal, including yourself! As it was, we did see one of the chairs end up in the canal. Someone had lost their balance on the uneven bricks and knocked into a chair, which knocked into another, which fell right into the canal. Fortunately, it was light enough to float for a while, giving one the waitresses enough time to eventually fish it out of the canal with the help of a long broom. Once she pulled it up, a round of applause went up from some of the diners on our side of the canal, as well as the diners on the other side! They probably had the best view of the rescue.

It was a fun way to celebrate our anniversary, and best of all, we had leftovers! The restaurant keeps with the American concept and gives American-size portions. Fortunately, they also offer doggy bags!