Last week was Amsterdam Restaurant Week, which is meant to be an opportunity to go to top restaurants, eat three courses, and pay €25. The reality, of course, is quite different: all the best restaurants are fully booked within half a day (and that’s even with priority booking through Dining City, supposedly 24 hours before the general public) and it’s amazing how quickly €25 can turn into €50 by the time you’ve bought wine and mineral water.
Still, feeling optimistic, I booked Seasons – a neighbourhood restaurant in the Jordaan, and pretty much the only remaining place whose normal menu looked to be more than €25 in the first place. The three waiters seemed to be in some confusion as to which language they were speaking; when I asked whether a table away from the door would be possible, I was told ‘er komt een big table hier’. I got the message, but the delivery could’ve been a lot simpler. The slightly chaotic service continued when they came to take our order; I can’t remember the last time someone wanted to know what I wanted for dessert before I’d even had a piece of bread. And in fact, in this case, the bread came at the same time as our starters, which somewhat defeated the point.
I had gambas with a lobster sauce. So far so good. But then they decided to poke the gambas into a mound of mashed potato, like cloves in a Christingle orange, along with a large, dry crouton. I would love to know why. Next up came salmon with a lemon and pine nut crust, a small herb salad and (on a separate plate) a mound of jasmine rice. There was nothing wrong with the individual elements of the dish, but why serve them together? The crust of the salmon was dry (as it should be), as was the rice. A thinking chef would have paired it with a sauce. I came away with the feeling that the kitchen staff could actually cook; they just couldn’t think. I would love to re-design Seasons’ menu; it’s small to begin with and has the potential to deliver tasty, reasonable, well put-together food. They just need to think about it.
