On a very sleepy drive – I know because I was dozed off going and coming – to our lunch destination in Noord Brabant, in between drizzling and dry weather and with tinges of blue sky, we gambled and settled in facing the pier at the al fresco terrace of Restaurant ‘t Veerhuis. The place came up in one of my aimless searches for eating establishments with beautiful outdoor terraces and at first glance I thought it was a bit oversold, grander than how it really was. As we sat down in the best-looking, near-empty section, away from the traffic and close to the water, I started to get it – it exuded a coziness that felt right on slow weekend days like today. After I had my first sip of chilled white wine, it got even better, and ultimately quite satisfying after the seafood pasta, looking too nice to eat, was quickly laid on our table. It was a nice, rejuvenating lunch.

It felt like our planned long-distance holiday drive a couple of months from now has started early. Noord Brabant is over an hour’s drive away so it’s by no means a practical location for a quick lunch, but if there are other Restaurant ‘t Veerhuis’es out there, they may just be good enough to fill in other slow lazy Amsterdam weekends.