We are absolute foodies but there comes a time when though you appreciate the artistic and creative talent for chefs who have earned a Michelin star or 2, you do get jaded by the overblown fanfare that generally greets you at these establishments and you long for something that is just yummy.
Well this is exactly what you get here at The Lindenhof Lodge and Restaurant. This place is truly amazing, read my post on the lodge. It is set ina gorgeous picture perfect village Giethoorn in the Netherlands that is refered to as the Venice of the area.
Martin Kruithof the chef and his wife Marian de Jonge who run this are just so friendly and relaxed. There is no formality here. It’s about chilling out whether for aperitifs on the terrace oranmeal in the restaurant. People are casual and there isn’t any stiffness.
We stayed the night at the lodge , you can read about my post on that and came down for dinner fairly late so had amuse bouche which were divine on the rear race with beer and champagne.
It was a gorgeous evening on the terrace overlooking parts of the canal as we enjoyed a series of canapés that were both simple but complex in taste yet comforting if that makes sense. There was the salmon with the wasabi nice but then there was this great sensation of hot and cold with the ice cream with sesame and something warm that just explode in your mouth. I liked the mixture of the selection the known with a twist beef tartar with olives and foie gras on hazelnut cracker.
It was all approachable food that was tasty. We then decided to eat in the dining room as it was getting cooler. It’s a gorgeous relaxing room with lots of great funky art. I started with a crab salad which was light with bits of freezing sensation and crunchy lettuce. It was unusual but great. Richard had red mullet with pumpkin and macadamia but he wouldn’t let me taste it!
I then followed with the pigeon with cabbage and cepes which was very good while Richard had the Royal Langoustine.
We learned from experience to choose A la Carte as the tasting menus for us were just too much but Martin offers both a tasting menus which is 4 courses or a Surprise menu of 12 courses.
The wonderful thing here is that many of the vegetables edible flowers and herbs are grown in the gardens and it’s really great to just wander around. It’s the kind of place we’re you can even go into the kitchen say hello to Martin while he is doing the quail eggs. It’s about making everything approachable easy, fun, relaxed.
We we then had and this was absolute greed the most gorgeous sensational lemon soufflé with passion fruit that came is several dishes the soufflé then passion fruit and a separate dish of ice cream and raspberries .
The whole evening really was just about simple food beautifully prepared and absolutely yummy. Read about the breakfast post as that was something too.
Mona Moments 