Review of cafe restaurant De Balie, Amsterdam

De Balie, located on Leidseplein, is more a cultural institute than a restaurant. Depending on the theme it offers movies, plays or discussion forums. But De Balie is also well know for its foyer area with bar. So far I had only been to De Balie for a drink or a coffee in the bar (they have nice cakes here too ), but today we finally decided to check out the restaurant. Quite by accident frankly, because bothWagamama and the Hard Rock Cafe were full.

You can have a meal in the foyer area, but the real restaurant is located on the small entresol that you reach via the stairs next to the side entrance. The decor of the restaurant is quite shabby, reminding me of a seventies cinema. As soon as we came up the stairs we were greeted by the waiter and he said the we could choose any table that was free. We chose a nice one with a bench where through the internal window you can look down on the foyer area. Nice trivia knowledge for you here. De Balie used to be part of a prison complex that was located where now the Max Euweplein is.

After we sat down, our table was cleaned and some nice white table linen was put on and real napkins as well, not the paper kind. We then got the menu and the waiter asked us if we wanted anything to drink. The menu was quite interesting, some very nice imaginative dishes were listed. Also the waiters told us the daily specials. I always prefer to have those on paper too, cause I can never remember them. What is nice is that they also have a daily special made from biological meat.

With the drinks also arrived some complementary bread and we placed our order. We took a salad and pumpkin cake as starters. For the main course we ordered the polenta and the duck. I had no idea what polenta was though. The food was some time in waiting, but was worth the wait. The pumpkin cake was delicious and the salad very generous for a starter. Also the main course took some time in arriving. I guess it didn’t help that the waiter was handling the restaurant alone. And if you are not in a hurry the food really is worth the wait. The duck was good and the polenta, well I still don’t know what polenta is exactly, but I do know that it has a good taste.

Of course after all this we had to order a dessert and try them out. We ordered a hazelnut cake and the crispy kruidkoek. Also the desserts didn’t let us down, although the crispy kruidkoek is more crispy than koek When we finished the desert we asked for the bill. And when we left, even though the waiter was talking to a friend, he still wished us a good evening instead of keeping talking to his friend.