It’s not often that I leave the A10 (especially when it’s zero degrees outside with fog as thick as cotton wool) but last night I made an exception to visit friends in IJburg. We went to restaurant Mchi, which serves a range of Asian fusion food: think fancy sushi (served with dry ice fanfare, as you can see in the photo!), garlicky steamed scallops, Peking duck pancakes, chicken gyoza, bulgogi beef lettuce wraps, truffled rack of lamb and much more. The service was attentive, augmented (maybe?!) by these little robot carts that glided around carrying food and taking away plates (and singing Happy Birthday a lot!).
But I couldn’t help feeling the food was all rather safe and westernised (curry powder in the Thai curry, anyone?). There was nothing unpleasant about it and we enjoyed our dinner (the sashimi and uramaki especially). But you’ll find better, more authentic versions of everything at more specialist Asian restaurants in the city centre.
That said, if I lived in IJburg, I’d probably go back to Mchi as a reliable neighbourhood restaurant with good service and an atmosphere that makes you feel like you’ve had a proper evening out.
