I am skeptical of hoity-toity or Michelin-starred restaurants, who pride themselves on their…read moreinscrutable food, or the gigantic-white-plate-to-invisible-morsel-of-food ratio. Many have not lived up to my expectations...nor their price tags. But our experience at the one-starred Michelin restaurant, De Posthoorn - one Michelin star since 2009 - was a pleasant surprise.
Located out in Waterland in the historical town of Monnickendam, De Posthoorn is in an old brick building dated from the late 1600s, and is part of the boutique Suitehotel Posthoorn, whose guests have included people like Napoleon (Bonaparte, not Dynamite).
The restaurant shares its entrance with the hotel and the path leads directly to the hotel front counter, whose proprietor instructs you to enter the restaurant on the left, which is totally empty...because only idiotic starving Americans would book dinner reservations starting at 6:30pm on a Tuesday.
Our evening started off with drinks in the lounge located towards the front of the hotel, facing the street. The lounge hearkens back to an age of comfy leather seats, libraries with serious leather-bound books that really contain written words and complex sentences. Traditional decor and understated finery - perfect for enjoying that snifter of brandy. As we sipped on our white wines - the restaurant does not serve mixed drinks - our host/sommelier/restaurant person in charge brought us one (unasked for) inventive appetizer after another - some filled with unobtrusive cheese, others made with light pastry, sometimes mild flavors of cucumber, hints of curry. Each appetizer was an amuse bouche, and gave a little hint at what was to come.
There is a choice of A la Carte or Set Menu, with a choice of 5, 6, or 7 courses, plus a wine pairing with each course. As I write this review, it has been over a month since we dined there, so I can't describe each course in detail. The menu also changes frequently, depending upon the availability of local ingredients at that time. But I recommend going all out and getting the Set Tasting Menu and as many courses as your body and cholesterol will allow. What did strike me --
1. All courses, except for the dessert and the course with the meats, were all served at room temperature.
2. The standouts from our menu was the smoked seafood course and the meat course. I always thought that smoked foods were supposed to be heavily smoked. The smoked eel and fish here were very subtle, never overpowering. The lamb was cooked perfectly, though it was about the size of a baby's fist.
3. Several courses were served with accompanying broths and jus, some poured right at the table. The resulting flavors were complex and never cloying - nothing had too much cream or buttery richness. In fact, the food felt light, but satisfying.
4. The restaurant tried to incorporate wines from all over Europe. We were taken on a happy wine tour from France, Spain, Italy and even an Eastern European country (I'm thinking Turkey, but can't be sure now). Most wines were white, so they wouldn't obscure the flavors of the food. There were one or two wines which I thought did nothing to enhance the food, but otherwise, each one was a treat. And, when the courses will slow to arrive, our host made sure our wine glasses were NEVER EMPTY.
5. That's right. We easily had a bottle of wine each. Our experience was more like a wine tasting with food accompaniment.
6. The host/manager who brought out each course also introduced the food and wine with such enthusiasm and detail that we could have been served toothpicks dipped in motor oil and we would have wanted to devour them. Fortunately, each dish lived up to the hype, and I think our enjoyment of the food and wine was enhanced by his excellent service and attention to detail.
7. Oh yeah. The bread. There was also different freshly-made breads for the first two courses with different accompanying spreads. We had tried the wrong spread with a certain bread and the flavors were just not the same. I was amazed how the attention to detail even came down to the bread and butter.
Although it was a Tuesday evening, the place filled up later in the evening - some visiting tourists and other dapper-looking locals. An impeccably-dressed man sitting at the next table with his sweater strategically placed over his shoulders even nodded at us in acknowledgement upon sitting down. The vibe of the restaurant, though, wasn't as stuffy as the library lounge at the front of the hotel. A great choice for those wanting to try local ingredients and cuisine at another level.
