Bistrot Neuf

After selling wine for years in Chabrol on Haarlemmerstraat, Rex Neve, Bart van Loon and Robert Peppelenbos opened Bistrot Neuf next door in 2010 to serve the food to go with it.

The restaurant describes its menu as provincial dishes 'from all corners of the world', but in fact that corner is France: pâté, escargots, bouillabaisse, filet de canard and crème brûlée. Daily specials are written on mirrors on the wall. Each dish, described in French, Dutch and English, is followed by a recommended wine from Chabrol.

I started with a goat’s cheese and chicory Tarte Tatin served with honey and puréed beetroot - a lovely combination of creamy, bitter and sweet.

Image of Bistrot Neuf Next up was a leg of lamb you could knock someone out with and apricots. I often avoid lamb because I find it fatty and, if poorly prepared, tough. I am a fan of meat and fruit combinations though, and the sweet apricots were the perfect match for this lamb, which fell easily off the bone.

Dessert was two balls of dark chocolate mousse that coated the inside of my mouth with bitter loveliness. These were adorned with kletskoppen, brittle Dutch gingersnaps (the name means ‘chatterbox’).

Image of Bistrot Neuf's dessert Bistrot Neuf is long and slim, with the kitchen at the front near the windows - great for curious passersby, not so great if you’re consigned to the windowless room at the back like we were. The best seats in the house, if you can get them, are in the middle of the restaurant which is lit by a skylight. It's crowded and noisy wherever you sit though, but perhaps that's part of the bistro experience.

Bistrot Neuf more than does justice to the bistro dishes on its menu, but at €29 for the three-course Formule and à la carte mains starting at €23, its pricing strays far into restaurant territory.