Restaurant Lastage

Should a review of Lastage focus on the chef, Rogier van Dam, who worked in Michelin-starred restaurant Posthoorn in Monnickedam before opening Lastage? Should it mention the prices, which are so reasonable you’d never guess a top chef was heading up the kitchen? Or should it simply focus on the compact but exquisite menu? It has to be the latter, although all the other things are true.

Restaurant Lastage only offers two dishes per course, with a choice of three (€36), four (€43), five (€50) or six (€57) courses. We opted for four courses and, as there were two of us, we were able to order almost everything on the menu - a foodie's dream.

Rogier van Dam has that rare ability of being able to combine multiple, often different ingredients in surprising and successful ways, a skill he already demonstrated in the amuse. Smooth potato purée was topped with rillette of mackerel, crumbled rye bread, a cube of sweet beetroot jelly and a salty cluster of fish roe.

Image of restaurant Lastage amuse The following courses were similarly complex, and beautifully presented. My starter looked like a piece of modern art.

A sliver of white and purple octopus terrine was draped across one side of a large plate. At right angles to it was a rectangle of pink tuna.

Holding them in place in the centre of the plate was a tiny, whole octopus with crispy, battered tentacles, a spring roll filled with prawns and a forkful of minty tabouleh. The creation was finished off with a flourish of red pepper coulis.

The intermediate course was a brandade of cod with mini scallops and pungent sauce vierge.

A hefty portion of firm halibut followed, on a duxelles of mushrooms, served with bundles of crisp asparagus tips wrapped in bacon and beurre blanc. It was another fantastic dish, although not as daring as the starter, and by this point the salty mushrooms were too much against the salty halibut and the salty cod of the previous course.

Image of Restaurant Lastage's octopus terrine Saving us from dehydration was Elise, Van Dam’s wife and the restaurant’s sommelier, who plied us with a series of carefully chosen wines. The nutty, sweet white wine with the cheese course was inspired.

In contrast to the compact menu, the wine list runs to 12 pages, and includes a verdicchio made especially for the restaurant. The emphasis is on southern European wines, although Germany and Austria are also represented. There is also a page of 'cellar finds' - wines from exceptional years, or produced in unusual formats - and even a homoeopathic wine.

We visited the restaurant on a busy Friday before a long weekend. Although the service was friendly and knowledgeable, the servers (or chefs) seemed to be struggling to cope: we averaged around one course per hour. The restaurant only has one sitting an evening, and while it's nice to have the option to loiter, after 3.5 hours for four courses, we’d almost worked up an appetite again.

Speed aside, restaurant Lastage has struck a careful balance between quality and price. We had to reserve a month in advance to get a table, so it seems many other people agree.