In the Amstel Quarter, along the banks of the Amstel River, there is a building that is hard to miss. Three floors, a large terrace over the water, and a menu that sits somewhere between Japan and the grill. George Marina is there, and it fits right in with what this neighborhood is becoming.
Behind the restaurant is Abraham Alfaro Herrera, founder and owner. He chose the Amstel Quarter at a time when the neighborhood was far from complete. That's a gamble, but also a calculated one: those who get there early in a neighborhood that's growing fast pick a location that won't be available later. And a building right on the Amstel, with that view and that terrace, you only get that chance once.
The menu is all about sharing. Asian influences, lots of different dishes, few mains. You order a Spicy Tuna Roll with tuna, cucumber, avocado and chili for eleven euros, a few gyoza, maybe a skewer or two, and for the tablemate who is less into fish, there is meat with teriyaki sauce or miso chicken. The Green Maki Roll comes with savoy cabbage and mixed vegetables in tempura, topped with avocado cream. Oysters are also on the menu. It's not a menu that revolves around one dish, but a table full of little things that add up to something.
A riverside terrace in the middle of the day, with a few scrolls and a glass to go with it, could be worse.
The Amstel Quarter is one of the most rapidly changing parts of East. New construction, restaurants, people coming to live or work there for the first time. George Marina is no oddity in that picture: it is exactly the kind of restaurant that belongs to a neighborhood that is still inventing itself. Big, visible, waterfront, with a menu wide enough for a table of six with six different flavors. Whether you're there for lunch or for sunset, the terrace on the Amstel is in itself a reason to go.