30s Magazine

Rotterdam has a new kid on the block in its hip ‘Wijnhaven” district. The new wine bar/restaurant Hangar 85 is the new place to be for delicious wines and gourmet food. The restaurant concept not only offers an excellent dinner menu with culinary delights and delicious wines, but guests can also drop by for lunch or drinks.

Classic dishes with a cosmopolitan touch

Hanger 85 is a ‘gastrobar’ with the accessibility of a wine bar. The dishes on the menu are best described as classic dishes with a cosmopolitan touch. Think of a smoked duck breast with a green curry or a tataki tuna rolled in green tea. Hangar 85 also has a very extensive aperitifs card with wonderful snacks. Think of delicious truffle salami or shrimp croquettes. Of course there’s also an extensive cheese platter on the menu.

Hangar 85 Rotterdam — bitterbal (fritter) of truffle risotto with red beet cream

Sleek design
The accessible, sleek interior design at Hangar 85 ensures that every type of guest feels comfortable in the restaurant. The name of the restaurant refers to the freight hangars in the Rotterdam port and the street number of the restuarant. The rugged, yet modern decor of Hangar 85 is also a reference to the docks.

Dinner at Hangar 85

I was invited to Hangar 85’s opening night for a dinner to sample their menu. We started with a truffle risotto ball with red beet cream (as shown above) and a glass of prosecco. Loved it! Then we moved on to a Verdejo wine from Rueda, Spain paired with tuna rolled in green tea with sweet and sour pickled cucumber and carrot, a foam of piccalilly. I liked the pickled vegetables but I do think the tuna lacked a bit of flavour.

Next we had a red Spatburgunder wine (pinot noir) from Germany-Rheinhessen combined with pork belly that has been cooked for 24 hours on 60 degrees, then marinated with eastern sweet and sour soy sauce en topped with pickled red onion. Although I loved the texture of the meat, I did miss the spunk you would expect with an eastern marinated dish.

Following was a red wine, Shiraz, from South-Africa, Tulbagh, with black fruit and spiced and wooden tones. It was paired with beef, a cream of sweet potato, asperagus, crunchy mushrooms and a sauce of baked scallions. What I loved most of this dish were the curry blinis. I would love to get my hands on the recipe. They gave this dish that extra flavour since it was a little blunt for my taste.

The dessert is always my favourite moment of the evening. We were served a sweet yet fresh white bio Chateau de stony, of muscat grapes from languedoc paired with a tangerine cake, tangerine marshmallow, bergamot macaron, orange-zest, and blood-orange ice cream.