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Café Par Hasard – Almere

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.9/5 | Google – 4.2/5

In April 2018 Par Hasard opened their doors in Almere. Located on the Belfort, the restaurant square of Almere.

It’s the first franchise of this concept that has been proven successful in Amsterdam. Richard, the franchisee, has been the chef in Amsterdam for over three years, before opening his own Par Hasard.

The atmosphere is that of a Belgian ‘frietkot’ combined with that of a eatery. Par Hasard has a nice menu, with starters and main courses. Most products are homemade, and that reflects in the taste. The fries are fresh as are their sauces and side dishes.

Special wishes? No problem for Richard. If possible he will accomodate you.

We always enjoy eating at Par Hasard. Service is friendly and professional and fits the cafe feeling of the place. We enjoyed the small sole fish, the satay, the hamburger, the chicken, the fish and chips and of course the ‘zoervleisj’.

You are also welcome for just a drink, or a few. We are sure you will order some nice snacks to go along.

Café Par Hasard Almere  |  Belfort 128  |  1315 VD  Almere

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Gasterij Stadzigt – Naarden

Ratings : F-D – 3/5| TripAdvisor – 3.5/5 | Facebook – 4.1/5  | Google – 4.1/5

Driving by we have seen the sign ‘Gasterij Stadzigt’ very often and it was one of those places on our list ‘to visit when the occasion arises’.

Last week finally we had a reason the visit this restaurant. It’s located in the middels of a nature park operated by the organization Natuurmonumenten. Of course we are only interested in the part where you can get food and drinks…

Beautiful weather, and luckily we were able to get a table on the terrace.

We ordered drinks and studied the lunch menu. The white wine is Spanish, the girl serving us had no idea of what grape, but of course willing to go inside to check. The beer is from Docqmans, a small brewer in Tiel in the Netherlands but the beer is advertised as Belgium???? Maybe worth some more research…

We ordered the fish trio -advertised on their printed menu as ‘variety of smoked fish and tuna salad’ with bread and butter-, the tuna melt and two veal croquettes on bread.

When served the fish trio was made up of salmon (smoked), some very tasteless and watery crayfish and the tuna salad that looked and tasted like canned tuna without anything done to prepare it and turn in into a salad. We mentioned our disappointment with the waitress who discussed it with the kitchen: “we always do the smoked salmon and the tuna and the third fish is whatever we have of could get our hands on”.
(Strange that the menu on the website states a trio of fish without further specification.)

The tuna melt consisted of one slice of sourdough bread with the same boring tuna thinly spread and of course the cheese melted on top.

The two veal croquettes came on one slice of the sourdough bread.

All very ‘sparse’ and there was not enough value for money. Service was adequate but not very warm or welcoming.

Gasterij Stadzigt  |  Meerkade 2a  |  1412 AB  Naarden

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Gasterij de Seterse Hoeve – Oosterhout

Ratings : F-D – 4/5| TripAdvisor – 3.5/5 | Facebook – 4.4/5  | Google – 4/5

We have visited the Seterse Hoeve more then once over the eight years it exists. A nice continues factor in de Oosterhoutse food scene!

Quality is always as to be expected and is better then average. We enjoyed the  chicken salad, the salad with Asian and Italian tuna and the omelette with mushroom.

 

 

 

 

 

Service is very friendly and quick and staff consist of a mix of young and older experienced people. However, this is no guarantee for good communication. We ordered the salad tuna without rucola. Our waitress had checked with kitchen staff and this would not be a problem. It was clearly written on the order ticket, but the salad still had rucola in it. Our waitress and the a woman who we suspect of being the owner, both went into the kitchen to straighten this out. They came back with the well meant apologies from the chef.

Salads were nice and fresh. We were a little disappointed by the stripe of balsamico on both salads. Seems they start every salad like that. If so it’s pure decoration and has nothing to do with taste or flavor.

Desserts were nice and all in all we had a very relaxed and nice lunch.

The Seterse Hoeve also has te opportunity to rent private rooms -with terrace- for parties.

Gasterij de Seterse Hoeve  |  Vijf Eikenweg 56  |  4903 RK  Oosterhout

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Singel 101 – Amsterdam

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5| TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.7/5  | Google – 4.4/5

Food-drinks is enthousiast about an newly discovered restaurant in Amsterdam. Located on Singel 101 bearing the same name.

The restaurant operates without a menu. The chef, Orlando David Iradi, who has worked with three Michelin star chef Sergio Herman, is based on the chef’s menu only. It starts of with three courses for € 35,= and can be extended to 6 courses.

Our visit started of with some nice amuses presented in a trendy style. Our three course menu started of with a very nice salmon, served in a cucumber soup, with a kroepoek of potato and an ever so nice wasabi creme.

For us the star of the menu was the braised veal cheek in it’s own jus. Accompanied by some grilled green asparagus and leek.

The dessert was a very tasty panna cotta style pudding with passion fruit.

The restaurant is family owned and run which provides a good understanding of hospitality. The lady serving is very friendly and does everything to make your dinner a great experience.

We understand the menu changes often depending on availability, season, quality, freshness and price of the produce. That showed when, a week later, we visited Singel 101 again and had a completely different new menu.

Restaurant Singel 101  |  Singel 101  |  1012 VG  Amsterdam

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Quartier Latin – Amsterdam

Ratings : F-D – 4/5 | TripAdvisor – 4/5 | Facebook – 4.6/5  | Google – 4.5/5

Ever so often we visit Quartier Latin, a nice small restaurant in the center of Amsterdam. For over 40 years (since 1975) this restaurant is being owned by the same couple.

He runs the front of the house and she takes care of the kitchen, on busy nights they expand the staff with their sons and others. The communication between the two is very pleasant to witness, ‘just a blink of an eye’ is often enough. Since the kitchen is open the chef can see what’s happening and she manages a perfect stream of great dishes going into the restaurant.

The menu is traditional French and main dishes come with French fries, warm vegetables, a potato gratin and a salad. We enjoyed the tuna carpaccio, the game paté, the carpaccio from angus, the catch of the day and the ribeye. All cooked to perfection! For dessert we had the crêpe Quartier Latin and the homemade creme brûlée.

The owner has great connections with various suppliers so he gets first choice  of the best and most fresh products they have. Except for the menu there are always some specialties and we can highly recommend the pan fried sole.

Restaurant Quartier Latin | Utrechtsestraat 49 | 1017 VH Amsterdam

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Restaurant Bentinck – Amerongen

Ratings : F-D – 3.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.9/5  | Google – 4.7/5

Driving through the Dutch countryside we decided on a visit of the Buitenplaats (estate) Amerongen. This beautiful estate is the place of a castle and in one of the old outbuildings you’ll find restaurant Bentinck.

We found a table on the terrace with a great view of the castle. We had to ask for a menu and overall the service was not too observant. We enjoyed a few  neighborhood beers and a Bobby’s gin tonic with slices of orange with cloves.

From their ‘bites’ menu we ordered the cheese platter, the shrimps in panko and the homemade small meat croquettes. The cheese platter had five very small pieces of cheese on it. Shrimps and croquettes, six of each, were nice.

Unfortunately we had to ask the staff to clear the table. When ordering a second round of drinks they apparently didn’t notice the snacks were finished so they left the platters on our table.

We left at 16:12 hrs. and everybody was very busy setting tables for dinner and placing the reserved signs on them. This seemed very early to us, and the effect was that people arriving just for a drink were denied a table. Maybe they have a good reason, but it seems they are missing out on business that way.

When we are in the area again maybe we go back to Bentinck because of the nice terrace but it’s not on the top of our list.

Restaurant Bentinck | Drostestraat 12 | 3958 BK Amerongen

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De Kluis – Doorn

Ratings : F-D – 3.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 4/5 | Facebook – 4.2/5  | Google – 3.9/5

Food-drinks.info needed a lunch while touring on a beautifull and sunny day in August. We are always on the lookout for nice place to have a bite to eat. That is how we found ourselves on the terrace of De Kluis (The Vault) in Doorn.

Bert started with a latte macchiato and a pastry called ‘skitaart’ and I had a cappuccino. After that we decided to order from the lunch menu. We had a sandwich roll with warm meat and peanut sauce and the chef’s surprise.

Normally this type of sandwich is made with slices of roulade but this one was made with ham, and lots of it. Unfortunately the request to put butter on the sandwich wasn’t honored. Ham and bread tasted great and made a nice lunch.

The chef’s surprise consisted of four slices of French bread with carpaccio, ham, goats cheese and salmon. Made me think of pinchos.

All four were very tasty and fresh with appropriate dressings.

 

Very friendly staff, nice location and terrace in the center of Doorn. Food-drinks.info would go back whenever in the neighborhood.

Gasterij De Kluis | Plein 1923 nr. 24 | 3941 ER Doorn

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Mira – Almelo

Ratings : F-D – 4.0/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.5/5 | Facebook – 4.9/5  | Google – 5/5

Food-drinks.info visited Turkish Restaurant Mira in Almelo. A very cozy original family style place.

Surprisingly we were the only party there this Friday night. When you enter the restaurant the chef, from the open kitchen, immediately welcomes you. You can see him working with fresh ingredients.

The friendly staff brings you to you table in the small cozy restaurant. With the first drink -we had an original Raki- the meal starts of with a nice amuse. We had a very tasty salmon tartar.

Everybody enjoyed their meal. Food-drinks.info has never been to Turkey, but the people in our company that have, vouched for the originality of their dish in looks and taste! We had soup, shrimps, lamb, chicken and kebab and we all enjoyed it very much.

This place deserves more guests so food-drinks.info recommends you to visit this restaurant! Maybe relive some of your holidays in Turkey?

Turks restaurant Mira | Molenstraat 3 | 7607 AL Almelo

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Eighteen restaurant lounge – Enkhuizen

Ratings : F-D – 3.0/5 | TripAdvisor – 4.0/5 | Facebook – 4.5/5  | Google – 4.5/5

We were in Enkhuizen. A small touristy town in the north of North-Holland. One of the main streets is the Melkmarkt, where you find numerous restaurants and places to snack. We decided to go for lunch at Restaurant Lounge Eighteen.

We enjoyed the terrace overlooking this rather busy street. Service is very prompt and friendly. We had our cappuccino’s and checked out the menu.

Bert deciden on the tomato soup that, according to the menu, has an asian twist to it. The waitress said the mention of asian is because it is rather spicy. I decided on a steak sandwich with steak strips, mushrooms, onions, paprika and HP Sauce.

The tomato soup was served in a big soup plate. We couldn’t find anything asian about is. It wasn’t spicy, and the added zucchini and rocket salad are definitely not asian. You wonder why the description on the menu doesn’t match the product.

The steak sandwich contained plenty of steak. Unfortunately just a few onions and mushroom. The tast of the HP Sauce got lost because of the salad on the sandwich.

All in all nothing special. Fair product for reasonable prices. Next time I visit Enkhuizen I’ll try another restaurant.

Eighteen restaurant lounge  |  Melkmarkt 4  |  1601 HC Enkhuizen

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PorterHouse – Naarden

Ratings : F-D – 4.5/5 | TripAdvisor – 3.5/5 | Facebook – 4.5/5  | Google – 4.0/5

PorterHouse is a wonderful modern and contemporary restaurant with a casual atmosphere. It’s located at the marina of Naarden.

The porch overlooking the marina functions as a terrace and is a perfect spot to enjoy a nice dinner or some bites with family and friends while enoying  the harbour.

The interior of the restaurant has a great industrial look and feel, with a big bar and an open kitchen.

Maybe you can get a spot at the chef’s table and enjoy watching your food being prepared.

The menu is based around steaks, but they also serve rotisserie farmhouse chicken, burgers, salads and fish. Except for the burgers, which comes with fries, you can order all side dishes separate. They are big enough to share with your other guests.

For an enjoyable time with just some nice wine and smaller dishes the PorterHouse  menu contains a section of bites. Perfect for sharing!

We enjoyed the crispy onion rings with lime aioli and the chicken wings with herbs and garlic from the bites menu as starters. As our main we had the ladysteak and a premium bavette. Both were perfectly grilled and very tender. The steaks are served standard with a sauce based on Madeira. For the bavette I chose the chimichurri that is prepared at the table.

The good habit of asking for specials that are not on the menu resulted in us being the first guests to enjoy the new dessert based on coffee with orange.

It is like Grand Marnier on a plate. Very tastefull and I can highly recommend this as a great way to finish your meal.

 

The staff at PorterHouse is very friendly and welcoming. Service went smooth and the timing between courses fitted our expectations.

PorterHouse is a very popular restaurant and I advice you to book a table before going there.

PorterHouse  |  IJsselmeerweg 6  |  1411 AA Naarden