The Van der Valk Hotel Tiel is a very nice hotel situated on the outskirts of town. The rooms are…read morevery nice and the service is also very good. What sets this hotel, as well as as most of their locations, is the restaurant. The dinner I had last night was great but it's the breakfast buffet I also look forward to. The fresh squeezed orange juice machine is great.

Disclaimer: as a hotel, this is a FIND for modern luxury at a decent price…read more The dining options, however, get decidedly mixed reviews in my very biased opinion. The cafe downstairs serves a really decent cappuccino in a great atmosphere. The accompanying cookie is crunchy and welcome- at this point, I feel quite ripped off if served a coffee in Europe sans cookie. 4 star cappuccino The sushi restaurant (and I must admit it was very new when I ate there a few times, maybe it has come up to speed) has what I've come to think of as 'decent for Dutch sushi' type sushi. I'm not sure how a place so swimming in water manages to have less than fresh fish on the menu, one of the great mysteries of the Netherlands?!? In any case, it's passable but nothing to write home about. Rice a bit overworked, as I remember. 2.5 star sushi. The 'ala Carte' fine dining type place has an INCREDIBLE breakfast service, with every possible continental style delight and omelets to order. 5 star breakfast. Dinner at the 'live cooking' ala carte restaurant, however, was one of the most disappointing experiences to cross my palate in years. No joke. The harried waitress forgot to input our main orders, following a decent if forgettable shared flatbread appetizer. An hour later, the curried chicken soup was a bit flat and served with bread I could have found at any Denny's in the states. This struck me as especially tragic considering the overflow of beautiful breads in this country. The real deal breaker, tho, was the ahi- utterly devoid of flavor and totally grisly, in some way I've never before encountered in an ahi fillet and quite hope to never come across again. I don't know that I could stand the heartbreak, loving a good seared ahi as I do. Unable to eat more than a bite - it just tasted dangerously unfresh- the manager nicely nixed it from the bill, and the very nice if untalented waitress was apologetic. Nonetheless, it was an epic wait for an inedible meal, and ranked less than a star. As I'm not great at math, and averaging such divergent experiences is more than my road-weary brain can handle, I'm giving the overall dining experiences a 2.5, which I'll round to 3 considering the staff is typically very accommodating. I'll revisit the hotel for certain, with an emergency protein bar in tow, and venture out to eat in centraal Tiel.

I don't get to visit my bestie in her hometown as often as I would like but when I do, I can count…read moreon her to come with me to the DE café. After all, it's not even a five minute walk from her apartment and when I come by train it's on the walk between the station and her place anyway. Douwe Egberts coffee is a big part of my childhood memories and I think that goes for almost anyone with a Dutch opa and oma (granddad and grandmother). You can probably ask anyone "What does opa and oma's house smell like?" and the answer is most likely to be coffee. Douwe Egberts coffee. Now at my grandparents' house more than with most households it HAD to be Douwe Egberts coffee because that's where my granddad worked for most of his career and they have always been a very good company even sending out Christmas gifts and tickets to personnel outings at the Efteling well into my granddad's retirement and even after his death eleven years ago my grandmother would still receive a Christmas gift every year. Truly an amazing company. Now, as for this café, it definitely brings back great childhood memories and it really is good coffee, good service, the works but would I come here for any other reason than to relive memories of my granddad? Probably not as there's also a bagels and beans down the street and I love bagels. But do I recommend others to come here for a cup of coffee? Absolutely! Just because my only reason for coming here is my childhood does not in any way mean that you and yours shouldn't come here and make memories of your own. Hopefully Douwe Egberts will bring you a sense of family, warmth and coziness too, because at the end of the day, isn't that what we're all looking for in a cup of coffee? Gezelligheid.

got an iced latte with almond milk, a bit too sweet for my liking but still really good, service…read morewas quick and really nice, cute cafe and has a toilet

Your average run of the mill medium class supermarket with a good variety and good discountsread more