Hoofdstad Brasserie

Following extensive renovations in 2010 and early 2011, 5-star Hotel de l’Europe reopened with swanky new suites and four restaurants including ‘gastronomique’ Bord d’Eau and the less formal Hoofdstad Brasserie.

The brasserie's Dutch-influenced, Parisian-inspired food is prepared in an open kitchen and served with a view of the River Amstel. Hotel de l’Europe describes the interior as 'sophisticatedly relaxed'.

There are lots of mirrors - tilted forward on one wall so that you can see what the people below them are eating - white linen and deep chairs. It's all very comfortable, but there’s something impersonal about the restaurant, perhaps due to the inherent transience of hotel clientele.

Image of Hoofdstad Brasserie The upside is that the service is also hotel stan- dard. Uni- formed servers ferry to and fro with silver trays, and you barely have the chance to put down your empty wine glass before someone appears at your elbow to offer a refill. The bar sales must be phenomenal.

The best way of sampling the food without regret- ting the finan- cial outlay is the 3-course Hoofdstad Menu for €35. This offers a choice of any starter, main and dessert except à la carte dishes (which are as much as €80 for a cut of Wagyu Gold). The spicy marinated chicken with mashed celeriac and pomegranate sauce was excellent, as was the Tarte Tatin with salty caramel sauce – a quirky combination that really worked.

Coffee was served with bonbons, fresh fruit and an incredible white chocolate and passion fruit dipping sauce (anyone who reads Eat Amsterdam regularly will know I’m a dark chocolate girl - it was a good day when I discovered Chocolatl's 100% cacao bars).

Image of Hoofdstad Brasserie You have to navigate past a doorman and several receptionists to reach Hoofdstad Brasserie and so it isn't the kind of place you would stumble across or walk into on the off chance that there was a table free.

And that's perhaps one of Hoofdstad Brasserie’s biggest selling points: there is always a table free, where you can eat in swish surroundings for a reasonable price, despite the restaurant’s location on one of the busiest junctions in central Amsterdam.