Nairobi, April 23 -- Last time I visited Amsterdam, seven years ago, I ate steak and burgers in a very strange steakhouse on Handboogstraat. That experience never left me. The place was a peculiar mix of spooky and stimulating. I'm back in the city now and, naturally, I returned for this strange dinner experience

It sits on a dead, cold side street, and the moment you push open the door, you step into a completely different world- lively dinner chatter, music, heat. We hadn't booked a table because we are Kenyans and, as punishment-and because the bar was full- we stood at a corner with our shopping bags at our feet, sipping drinks while we waited. About 30 minutes of quiet reflection on poor life choices.

We were eventually sat near a ...