This is my review (and my first Tasteem review!) of a 1 star Michelin restaurant in Voorburg which is a suburb of The Hague (Den Haag) in The Netherlands. Now, to avoid the idea that we always dine at these sorts of incredibly high end places, let me just say that we don't! Once or twice a year at most, for a anniversary or a special event, we treat ourselves to a nice restaurant dinner or lunch (after booking the kids into a daycare/school/babysitter or in extreme circumstances, leaving them on the curb outside!).

Introduction

We visited this restaurant last month for a special anniversary, it is set back in a quiet part of the town of Voorburg. It is really quite easy to miss it completely if you were driving past. In fact, it doesn't even look like a place that you would think would have a restaurant!

Even though we knew exactly what we were looking for, we did drive past the entrance a couple of times before noticing this sign....

Whenever we eat at these places, we just order the set menu. It is more affordable and gives you a nice selection of all the tastes and ideas on offer! This time was no different, we settled on the 5 course meal as cheese platters and I have a long standing disagreement, usually resulting in the cheese winning in a big way!

This particular time, my wife had some really lovely wine (which I forgot to write down and photograph...), but I had to settle with non-alcoholic beverages as I was the driver. Next time, we ride bikes...

Pre Lunch snacks

Presentation is a huge part of a Michelin experience, and even the bread was well presented in a tastfully and artfully crumpled bag. However, it was perfectly cripsy on the outside and spongy in the middle, the right sort of bread, not sweet and not fluffy...

A spiced poppadom and a lime dip rounded out the pre lunch menu, along with a butter that was slightly hinted with pistachio?

First Course

First course was raw Yellowfin tuna, served with seared pork belly, veggies and a carmelised disc to top it off! This was a stunning beginning to the meal!

Second Course

Second course followed the seafood theme, with a dish of mussels with fennel and various herbs in a wine sauce. Again, the presentation of the food was top notch, indeed, the waitress took great care in even aligning the dish to the right angle!

This was a great compliment to the first course, the taste was not overshadowed or overshadowing....

Third Course

Grilled Plaice with Peach and Hazelnuts! I had no idea that fish and nuts would go together at all, after all, one is found in a tree and the other deep in the sea! Well, it is a combination that works amazingly (along with the peach). Definitely something that I would try out again the next time that I cook fish!

Fourth Course

BBQ Sirloin and Amandine Potatoes in Mustard Gravy, so moving up to the stronger tastes. Oddly enough, this was the dissapointing part of the menu! The meat was tough and cooked too much on the well-done side of things. This is an odd thing as most steak houses can really do this right, I'm not sure what was at fault, the cooking or the cut of the meat!

Fifth Course

Strawberries, Orange, Basil, Almondcake and Yuzu was the dish for dessert. It was a great recovery from the low point of the BBQ steak. All the parts really worked well together and the ice cream (which I guess was the Yuzu) was an unusual citrous taste which really set off all the other parts of the dessert!

Wrap Up

A Michelin star restaurant is a great treat for those special occasions. Generally if you order from the set menu and don't go overboard with the wine, you could be looking at around 150 euro for two people. Take out a lot of time for the eating (and the afterglow!), this 5 course meal took a bit over two hours of lesiurely eating!

A single star restaurant is the perfect blend of that lusxurious eating experience combined with a touch of affordability!

However, I stress that this is really only for a treat! It's not a place where you stop off for a quick lunch or dinner, but really a place where you take to dress up and take your time to enjoy the entire food experience with enjoyable company (preferably a special loved one)!

The food is rich and surprisingly filling, and your stomach (and you wallet) will not thank you if you are doing it on a weekly basis!

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