De Juwelier
A refreshingly informal fine dining experience.
De Juwelier is not like other fine dining spots. Behind an unassuming facade in central Amsterdam, the restaurant features two levels, with a chef’s counter on the first floor and the second floor balcony overlooking it, so everyone has a view of the open kitchen. The service is friendly and unpretentious, which is not always expected at a Michelin-starred restaurant. The menu, featuring original, contemporary cuisine with a heavy French bent, is a la carte, which is also somewhat rare for a restaurant of this caliber — it’s a choose-your-own-adventure, and you can walk out having spent €50 a person or €150. (We were pretty close to the former.)
We began our meal with one of the best white wines I’ve ever had and some of the best bread and butter. When a restaurant pays attention to the details like this, I know I’m in for a treat.
We ordered three starters and one main course: marinated tomatoes, beef tartare, potato purée with caviar and eel, and Dover sole. You basically can’t go wrong with tomatoes in July, and these—served, some cooked and some fresh, with strawberries and a very original and delightful caper ice cream—were the perfect summer dish. The Holsteiner beef tartare was excellent as well, achieving that ideal balance of flavorful but not so heavily seasoned that the fresh beef flavor can’t shine through. It was served with a creamy sauce (the English menu describes it only as “foamy remoulade”) and, memorably, a veal brain beignet. I’ve never eaten veal brain before, and its very soft texture might be off putting to some, but this meaty fried donut was delicious. The soft interior and crisp exterior added a wonderful contrast in texture as well as a slightly different meat taste to the beef tartare. The only appetizer I didn’t love was the potato purée with caviar and smoked eel; the fish flavors were too strong for me, and the potato purée itself didn’t impress me (I think I’ve been spoiled by a visit to L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris). Unfortunately, this cost more than three times as much as the other two starters and wasn’t even a third as good; I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Sometimes I get caviar goggles when looking at menus.
It’s rare for me to order cooked fish; unless the preparation really excites me, I usually opt for meat, raw fish, or shellfish, but the Dover sole appealed to me the most among the main course options. I had also recently had a fantastic sole Meunière at Pied à Terre in London and was hoping for an echo of that experience; though this wasn’t a Meunière, the butter, wine, and lemon based “vin jaune” sauce was similar. It added a delicious richness to the fresh, firm fish, and two preparations of mushrooms provided a welcome earthiness.
After such an enjoyable meal, dessert was a must. The dessert list is rather homey and approachable in contrast to the savory dishes, and since we were in Amsterdam we decided we’d go for De Juwelier’s version of apple pie. The baked apple served with puff pastry and vanilla ice cream was comforting and tasty, but nothing to write home about.
We headed to Paris three days after this meal, and it was still among the best French food we ate all week. If you’re in Amsterdam and looking to have a delicious, high end meal at a reasonable price, you can’t miss De Juwelier.
TL;DR: WHAT WE ATE
Loved: tomatoes, beef tartare with veal brain beignet, Dover sole, complimentary bread and butter
Liked: baked apple
Should have skipped: potato purée with caviar and eel