Le Garage
our comments
They say Le Garage is influenced in its design by French Bistros but to me it looks like its been influenced by 60’s American Cars. The banquettes are bright red and the chrome and mirrors flash light and colour in all directions, contributing to a happy buzzy feeling. Mind you I’m lucky to be here at all, this place is booked out in advance and celebs love it apparently. Owner television star and Crazy Cook Joop Braakhekke is not in charge in the kitchen every night, but his influence is all over it. The food veers about taking in a classic dish from here, a subtle influence from there. The menu itself gives little away with some of the most brilliant dishes boasting the minutest descriptions. ‘Tuna Pizza’, ‘Fish Burger.’ But these dishes are far from simple. First an amuse of Dorade wrapped in beef. Stylish in a fusion way, it’s an excellent opening salvo from Chef. Now let’s talk about that Tuna Pizza. I’ve never seen my colleagues eat like this, We all stopped talking and just exchanged glances while nodding our heads. Basically this is a carpaccio of raw sashimi grade tuna on a wafer thin ‘tortilla, itself glued to the plate by a viscous sauce. It doesn’t shatter when you cut it, it just flakes demurely. Laced through the tuna is the merest hint of wasabi, the fearsomely hot Japanese horseradish. The effect is dreamy, one of the best things I’ve eaten for months and believe me (and my cardiologist) I eat out a lot. Best of all it’s not at all filling. Then its ‘fish burger’. This turns out to be a two ‘burgers’, one a delicate and delicious cod mix, the other all prawns that have been cutely circled. All topped with a crispy deep fried bird’s nest of vermicelli. Beautiful to look at and even better to taste. We finished with a trio of desserts of which the Chocolate sponge, with its lake of pure chocolate inside, stood out as a real winner. There are so many great things on this menu, which runs around the world but has its spiritual home in France. It’s easy to see why people come back again and again. I’d like to try the Fish Soup and the scallops served with black pudding and lentils. Then again, the Poulet Noir sounds great too. And the prices are right, very reasonable a la carte and even more so on the set price menus.NH - November 2005
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I went with my Wife, whilst on a weekend trip to Amsterdam following the good reviews.
Quite frankly we do not see what all the fuss is about. The atmosphere/decor in the restaurant was nothing special, the service was slow - we waitied 1 hour between our starter & main course and the food not that great. Half the chips served with my steak were burnt end bits of potatoe that I would not expect a good restaurant to dare send out to a table.
The extra portion of vegetables we ordered ended up being a vegetable - green beans, which were served with my steak anyway, nice of our slow waiter to tell us that when we ordered. My wife had a mixed veg starter that was nothing special and some fatty lamb for main course. The only good thing was the dessert I had - a beautiful Tarte Tatin. Given the poor food & service I think they are being cheeky charging the prices they do. I suspect they are riding the wave of a once good reputation, that they have now let slip.
If we are in Amsterdam again we will not be returning to Le Garage.
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Ajay George
Friday, September 01, 2006
We were in Amsterdam last year on a four day break from London. We researched restaurants and booked this before we left London. It has a great reputation. You must go there to find out why. The welcome was superb, ambiance great and the food was absolutely fantastic. The wine list was exellent and there were a good selection of reasonably priced wines as well as the really expensive. We chose one set menu and one a la carte. The bill was not unreasonable. I could not fault the service or the food. It was overall a great eating experience.
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F.B.A. - View all reviews by this user
Monday, November 28, 2005
