Luden

Was in Amsterdam at the weekend, and my Dad treated 6 of us to dinner in the Luden as it was my birthday. Oh my God, I have never seen such bad service.

We ordered a bottle of white wine and 2 beers, but the waiter arrived with a glass of red and 2 beers. Our original waitress came back to argue with us that we were wrong (like we'd order one glass of red wine between 4 people). While taking my Dad's order, the waitress waved in his face to get his attention. At another stage she told one of our party that she only had two hands.

Eventually the starters arrived, but my mother didn't receive her soup. After about a minute, I looked around, and her soup had been placed beside me at one of the empty seats at the table, minus the quail egg and spinach that were supposed to accompany it.

When she eventually took our starter plates away, the waitress asked if we'd like to order deserts, and took some convincing that we hadn't yet had our main courses.

We then waited for ages for our mains. The waitress came and told us our mains would be in 2 minutes, and they did indeed arrive - after a further 10 minutes, just as we were about to stand up and leave.

I know you can get a bad waitress, and maybe it was her first day. When we were leaving, my mother made a complaint to the manager, and she wasn't remotely interested in what we had to say. The only comment we managed to get was that the manager would 'evaluate the waitress'. Not much use to us at that stage. My mother actually took back the tip she had been leaving.

The food was mediocre, but the service and attitude really ruined the evening for us.
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Valerie Smith
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

This is _the_ place if you have no taste for prepared food, which makes one wonder about the word restaurant printed on the front. Plain herring for starters, no marinade, no cream, nothing added... tastebud overload guaranteed after two bites. Next, kanguroo tasting of rotten flesh served with an insipid water-flavoured broth and half-cooked potatoes, probably acceptable after two weeks of starvation in the australian outback. Finally cheese, looking very nice but served without bread because they ran out, i.e. the lovely bread basket swiftly removed from our table prior to the arrival of the cheese had hastily been binned. Of course the shift manager leaves the premises before one has any chance of uttering a complaint. In short these people cannot cook, have no clue about the purpose of a restaurant, nor how to run one, and will gladly send you on your way with a smile, an empty stomach and a lighter wallet.
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Michel de frog
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Saturday, August 16, 2008

had a great stay in amsterdam recently made even more enjoyable by a meal at the luden, menu varied to suit most tastes

good atmosphere with nice lighting, very pleasant and helpful staff and good value

-3 courses for 26 euros,what i would describe as posh food at a reasonable price. would definitely go again and highly recommend the the luden
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t.smith - View all reviews by this user
Sunday, March 18, 2007

had a great time in amsterdam recently

made even more enjoyable by a meal at the luden, food was excellent,great atmosphere wlth nice lighting and very helpful and pleasant staff, the menu was varied to suit most tastes and great value at 26 euros for 3 courses.highly recomended
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trevor smith
Sunday, March 18, 2007