Where most people think of the big cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague for good restaurants, they are not limited to the areas around these cities. About 65 km (approx. 40 miles) east of Amsterdam, you will find Harderwijk. Mostly know for the “Dolfinarium” (The Netherlands’ own little Sea World), the town is host to several excellent restaurants. Two of them have been awarded Michelin stars, one of them is Restaurant Basiliek, run by chef Rik Jansma.
The restaurant is located in an old convent that looks like a nice old farm nicely located on a square in the old center of town. At the door a nice lady waiting to welcome all guests and after putting away my jacket she leads me to the table. The design of the restaurant is simple in a way, as there are no unnecessary bells and whistles, yet it is clear that thought has been put into it and it gives a feeling of something special/exclusive. The nice bricks, 
laid in a pattern of windows that come back in the restaurant’s logo, are complemented by the stained glass in some of the windows. There is a large wall that looks like a library, but is actually climate controlled storage space for wine. The place has room for (I guess) about 50-60 people and has a nice open kitchen, as many restaurants nowadays have. Nicely laid tables have plenty of space between them, so I could not overhear any of the conversations of our neighbours. It isn’t completely quiet, but the noise is by no means disturbing.
On the menu today was a 5-course meal, kicked-off by some appetizers. The appetizers were a nice start to the meal and were nicely presented: The fried cheese ball was presented on a small Dutch cheese, where the beef sausage was presented on a bone. A cockle was presented on some sea weed with salt on it. These little nibbles raised our expectations of what was to come….
First course sea bass with a crème of garlic and parsnip with some citrus gel. Next to this there was some deep-fried sweetbread, which provided some richness to the dish. The bass was beautiful and melted on my tongue. Add to this the garlic, parsnip and the acidity of the citrus gel and you have a perfect first course. Leave out any of the components and you will certainly feel like something is missing.
This course was followed by a second dish made up out of fish, being skrei cod (mature wintercod). The fish was fried and presented with 3 ways of onion, a bit of leek and some eel gravy. Given the choice, I would not order the gravy. The good thing is that I did not have a choice, because it was absolutely delicious. The slight smoky and salty touch of the gravy really complemented the fish, without completely overpowering the flavours of the cod. It did somewhat wipe out the flavours of the onion though. The fish looked firm but put your fork into it and it fell apart beautifully; cooked to perfection.
With the fish dishes now being eaten, next in line is some quail. Something I have never eaten 
before, but once again a home-run. A breast of quail with potato purée, crispy potato and sauerkraut with a foam of sauerkraut, served with a gravy of the quail carcass. Although the meat was juicy and the potato purée was also nice and moist, not having gravy or sauce makes a meal incomplete. This dish was no different. The richness of the gravy was really like the icing on the cake.
By now, we are ready for the main course: Flat iron steak with 4 preparations of celeriac, crumbs of macademia and a beef gravy. Where the meat had a little sinew in it, there is no way anyone could tell from the outside so this isn’t something to hold against the chef. Celeriac works well with the beef, which was very nice and tender. It gets boring, but once again an excellent dish worthy of a Michelin star restaurant.
Dessert was probably my favourite part of the meal, simply because of the flavours that I wasn’t expecting to go well together: White chocolate filled with a coffee flavoured mousse. On the side there was a compote of banana topped with cookie crumbs and kumquat ice cream. When the dish was presented, the first thing I noticed was the unusual plate it was on and the attention that was paid to the presentation. My first thought was worry that this was 
going to be very sweet. I was pleasantly surprised as I couldn’t have been more wrong. The slight bitterness of the coffee mousse was perfect with the sweet compote and cookie crumb. There was some nice freshness of the ice cream.
The menu was a perfect combination of fish, meat and dessert. We have ordered the menu as a special offer and for what we got I have to say we were getting a fantastic deal. Even with the additional cost of an optional extra ‘course’ in the form of a cheese plate, we spent approx. EUR 90 per person. For a Michelin restaurant this is great value for money even if it were EUR 20 or EUR 30 more expensive. The restaurant is a little out of the way, but it is definitely worth the going the extra mile for.
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: http://www.restaurantbasiliek.nl