I was in the Springfield, MO area over the weekend. I ended up discovering a new part of the city I had not known about. It was very cool and well worth stopping if you are in the area.

It’s the original old part of Downtown on Commercial Street. We went there on Saturday morning. I was wanting – needing – to see and go someplace new and going there took care of that fix quite well.

I was with my son-in-law and granddaughter and we actually were out early to run an errand. Of course, there was another reason we ended up in this area – I found a new restaurant for us to try and it was time for breakfast.

On Yelp the day before I stumbled across a place called Van Gogh’s Eeterie. Wow…a restaurant with Dutch food! Hell yes! We must go.

What caught my eye was the kroketten and bitterballen. I had kroketten at a FEBO location in Amsterdam and I really liked them (if you go back to February 2020 it’s in my Europe posts). Bitterballen is on my list of things to try as well as poffertjes, a bite-sized pancake sprinkled with powdered sugar and come in an order of several.

We went to try this restaurant and the area is pretty cool. Lots of interesting restaurants, old buildings, and neat things to see. It’s an area that is trying to make a comeback and I can easily see going back there.

Inside the restaurant the old walls and such are visible but it had a nice vibe. The place was decorated just right – not too much or too little (it did have the feel of one particular restaurant I ate at in Amsterdam). The people were nice and the service was great.

We sat down and I opened up the drink menu. On the menu was a decaf espresso; I nearly wept tears of joy. My first coffee in months. It was a local coffee and it was full-bodied and delicious even being a decaf.

I have a pet peeve about American restaurants who are trying to do ethnic food – they try to be all things to all people. Irish restaurants serving chicken fingers and Italian restaurants serving burgers and all serving lousy big-name American beers. Chili’s doesn’t serve shepherd’s pie or chow mein, so these ethnic places need to quit trying to be all things to all people. If your food is good they will come despite no chicken nuggets. If people want chicken nuggets or a burger go to a bar.

However, the menu here was pretty true to the theme and I was impressed. I ordered the kroketten, bitterballen and poffertjes with the intention of sharing. However, they have stopped selling the kroketten and bitterballen. Damn! Instead I opted for the poffertjes platter, which was the little pancakes (which were on my food list to try), 2 eggs (scrambled please), a piece of bakon, and skillet crisps, which are very thinly-sliced potatoes that are fried but just to being crisp. Those were served with curry ketchup and made for an interesting side dish. It was a delicious breakfast that wasn’t overly filling and just right.

My son-in-law had the De Boer Breakfast Sandwich, which had gouda, ham, a four-egg omelet falling off a Dutch tiger bun with side skillet crisps and curry ketchup. His sandwich was delicious as well (I got a piece to try). Addy had Unicorn Toast because, well…that is what five-year-old girls eat.

I’ll be going back as there are many other menu items that I want to try. I did ask about the coffee and the waitress told me they own a store about a block down across the street and they sell the coffee there.

Well, we obviously had to go to their store but it wasn’t open for another hour so we took a walk and checked out the neighborhood.

We killed enough time until the store opened. It is called Chabom Tea & Spice and it’s a paradise. Teas and spices and so much more. I got a 1/2-pound bag of decaf coffee my espresso – which was a local-roast from Julia’s Java – and a rooibos tea sample packet. I could have spent more there but I resisted the temptation. Just one more reason to go back to “C-street “.

That was a fun adventure and we had a great time in a new place. I can’t wait to go back to see and eat more!

Afterwards I made a trip to some flea markets/antique stores. I am trying to find some vintage diner plates and cups that have old diner/restaurant names on them. They would not be for show; I want to replace the dishes I now use with them. If you see any please let me know!

That’s it for now.