On a recent trip to Amsterdam by car, we stopped off at a service station to fill up and get a spot of lunch. I’d never been to a Dutch service station before and wasn’t expecting anything above and beyond the usual fast food offerings we get here in the UK – especially as the brick and concrete structure looked so uninviting. If it hadn’t been for the calls of nature, we would probably not even have got out of the car. But I’m glad we did.
Walking into the small service station I could see the usual buffet set up but the smell was amazing. It didn’t smell like school dinners, chip fat, overboiled vegetables or baby vomit. It smelled of food. Real home cooked food.
As I walked in I could see the chefs hard at work chopping, stirring, preparing and tasting their dishes before putting them out on the buffet counter. I’ve never seen anyone in a UK service station taste anything. I’ve seen them take things out of huge packets ‘fresh’ from the freezer and lob them into deep fat fryers. I’ve seem them prod tired looking meat or fish with thermometers but don’t ever recall seeing a sense of pride on their faces like these Dutch men had as they tasted and adjusted seasoning.
We started at the fresh fish counter. Indeed we chose the fish we wanted and watched the chef prepare it for cooking as a fishmonger would.
A range of fish you’d expect to see in a fishmonger
We chose our salad as he cooked the fish to order. There were bowls upon bowls of freshly chopped and dressed vegetables and pastas. Nothing looked like it had come out of a tin or a packet. The chopping was rough and rustic. The range creative and seasonal.
Fresh vegetables roughly chopped
Creative and seasonal dishes
Pasta made to order like in a five star hotel
Desert was simple but hand made. We saw the lady at the til lay sheets of puff pastry down, dollop over some cream, top with huge strawberries and then slice them as evenly as she could reserving a big one for the head chef with a wink.
Strawberry tarts made in minutes before our eyes
She took these apple pies out of the oven, toasted some nuts and layered them on top.
Rustic apple pies with freshly toasted nuts
But best of all she made my daughter’s hot chocolate by melting some dark chocolate and adding warm milk. Simple and tasty with not a trace of artificial sweeteners anywhere.
Hot chocolate made with melted dark chocolate and milk served with a cheeky smile
We paid around £25 for four meals of outstanding quality and ate the lot almost licking the plates clean.
Empty plates, not so empty purses – £25 for four
I felt guilty that I had made a judgement on this little service station before setting foot inside. I felt humbled by the pride of the team who had prepared my wonderful pitstop. I feel sad we don’t come close to this pride or quality in the UK.
Wow, what an offering! Nothing like the poor food offered in most uk service stations. Work to be done!
Indeed but who does one influence/lobby? I remember the Heston programme on Little Chef and how that bombed.
Wow! What an experience! I agree, all service stations should be like that, and what’s more, here in the US, we should flat out HAVE service stations to begin with. What a delightful surprise 🙂
I feel for you. US service stations are all about fast and greasy food. But at least you have cool diners like Phoenicia Diner
Oh my goodness, what amazing service station food! Tempting food for anywhere in fact. It all looks wonderful, making me feel very peckish.
It was hot, tasty and interesting. No set menus. Just reasonably priced. Brilliant.
Oh yes! I have never had such a nice experience in a service station, and have mostly taken refreshments of my own along with us to avoid the typical disappointment.
Yes we usually do too. And the expense! Two coffees and a few drinks for the girls doesn’t give much change from £10 nowadays
That’s impressive! I always think the food in French service areas is way better than the UK but not on this scale. I would really like to drive to Holland, we’ve done Belgium but not got any further in that direction yet.
Things are slightly better in the UK since M&S and Waitrose opened sites in most service areas. In Kent, we often make a stop off at Maidstone services which doesn’t have either of these but their “Rest Bite” canteen does excellent kids meals. If we’ve been somewhere and we’re good to hold off until home time but Ted needs food on the hoof we’ve taken him there for a kids curry with salad for £1.99 and I’ve been quite envious because his dinner looks so nice!!
We also love the French ones. Good coffee and croissants for the morning eurotunnel.
Oh my goodness, that’s quite a surprise. I used to travel to Europe a lot in my last role and as a vegetarian I often struggled. Looking at that spread I’m really impressed; those seasonal dishes and rustic pies look fabulous x
That pie was amazing!
That’s really impressive for service station food. And shows that we’ve become used to expecting rock bottom quality on a journey. Do you think this kind of thing would go down well here? It would be a major change from the standard fried fast food usually served up on motorways, and given the struggle Jamie Oliver had with school dinners…
I would stop if this was the kind of food at the kind of price we paid.
Never mind a motorway, I’d like to see this kind of service on our local high street – sounds absolutely fantastic. The staff sound fabulous – thoughtful and passionate about food. Bottle it and bring it to the UK I say – It’s the polar opposite of our service stations really isn’t it…
It’s a total polar opposite and you’re right the staff made all the difference
Those pictures are making me hungry. I would have never in a million years thought they were taken in a service station if you hadn’t stated it. I don’t know if you have ever been to the Teabay services in Cumbria (http://www.westmorland.com/tebay-services). It is a bit ‘posh’ but it is always a welcome stop and such a lovely setting too. Ducks come up to the full length windows before dipping into the little nearby pond! But it doesn’t seem a patch on your experience, especially for the price. The total bill is unbelievable!
I must check that out but yes for little chef prices we had some amazing food.
I live in the Netherlands and have to say this is not typical of Dutch service stations, La Place belongs to a High Street store chain and are always a good place to eat. I returned yesterday from a visit to my daughter in London and would like to thank you for a delicious lunch, we went to Dishoon based purely on your review, it was delicious, or as the Dutch say “lekker” 🙂
Hi Lynn that’s food to know! But at least they let chains like that have spots in service stations. They best we have is pizza! So glad you enjoyed Dishoom. I am addicted to their okra and dhal. Lekker indeed!
Highlighting a really good issue here. When my sister visited from The States she was horrified that there was absolutely no salad anywhere in our M6 service stations – unless a mini Waitrose or M&S happened to be open. The food here looks amazing.
If I had the money I would revolutionise food in places like service stations
What amazing food. It highlights much of what is wrong with the British way of thinking about food, especially when on the go.
Indeed. I remember my mum used to make food and take it with us on long car trips. I would be envious of the people in the service station as we sat outside and ate our pickles and parathas. I don’t think I’m envious anymore. My mum certainly did the right thing for the purse and tastebuds 🙂
Interesting post and interesting comment from your Dutch reader. My general experience of driving along motorways in the Flemish part of Belgium and in the Netherlands is food that is very low bar. No better than what we have here. I suppose now that we are getting M and S and Waitrose in our service stations, this is clearly a universal phenomenon but I wish I had had such experiences on our European drives. I shall look out for this one next time
It’s so strange because in India the food at ‘service stations’ on the road is stunning. I wish I had the funding to create a series of cafes serving great food like this!
Just as Lynn said above, this is not the typical fare in Dutch service stations but La Place, a high street chain, has found its way into quite a few service stations. Our Dutch neighbours go there for coffee regularly but consider it to be slightly expensive for a meal (but perhaps things are more expensive in the UK?). The food is organic and delicious, though! 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to let me know. It’s a good move to have such quality food even if it is a chain. I hope the UK moves in the same direction. Currently the ‘healthy’, inexpensive option is a Waitrose or M&S Food store within the service station where you can buy pre prepared salads or ready meals to microwave.