Some restaurants in The Netherlands are in unusual or unexpected places. Several of them are in really nice places, either in a nice area or a nice building (or both). Located in a nice old farm in De Meern (a town next to Utrecht in the center of The Netherlands) is Balijepark. The farm is a beautifully maintained venue with a nice terrace for al fresco dining in the summer. To go there, you’d have to drive through a residential area that feels a bit like a walking in a maze as a little kid. The restaurant is not hard to find though.
On the inside, the restaurant’s decoration is simple but effective. The only thing is that the blue walls are a bit bright/harsh. Tables are large enough and have comfortable chairs. Spacing between tables is enough to not be bothered by conversations of neighbours. From the part of the restaurant where we were located, you have a nice view of the open kitchen. Some of the tables are a little too close to the bathroom to my liking and the design of the bathrooms doesn’t really match the rest of the restaurant. The place does have nice authentic(-looking) features like a fireplace and wooden beams on the ceiling.
When we were at the restaurant they had a special menu for their 5 year anniversary. The menu is four courses with one amuse to start off. This amuse was delicious: A pannacotta of fennel with a compote of apple which in turn was topped with roasted almond and ras-el-hanout. The silky smooth pannacotta with nice anis flavour of the fennel goes really well with the slightly sweet and sour apple compote. Crunchy almonds with the earthy tones of the ras-el-hanout complete the dish with a crunch and slight bitter.
Normally, I don’t really eat salmon, but for the next course I was willing to have a go at it. A starter of raw salmon with radish, feta and a sauce of sorrel and string-bean. Where I would love to say that I liked the salmon, however, the sauce had such a strong string-bean flavour that all over flavours were whiped-out. Leave out the sauce and you have some nice salmon, especially when combined with the other ingredients. Problem really was the portioning as there was simply far too much sauce on the plate. Using only very little of the sauce and for the first time in a long time I almost enjoyed a salmon dish.
Next on the menu was a scallop with a crab-filled ravioli with cabbage. Before this dish I have never eaten crab but I did know it could be a little sweet. Well, this was more that a little sweet and I wonder if the sweetness was all from the crab. The scallop was nicely prepared. The cabbage was raw and added a nice crunch. I see why they added it, but they could have done something with it as it did not have a lot of flavour. Also, there was a little too much of it. A dish that really has potential if executed just a little better.
Main course in the menu was a porterhouse steak with salsify and hollandaise sauce. A pretty safe choice for main course and not too creative. However, if executed well it can be still a nice dish and it was. Steak was cooked well and nicely presented. It came with some mushroom and asparagus. Definitely a nice surprise after the somewhat disappointing scallop dish before.
Closing the meal with desert, which was just fabulous in several ways. Not only was it nicely presented, it was really a nice combination of flavours: A cannelle of white chocolate ganache, beautifully soft and creamy with next to is the nicest ice cream I have eaten in a while made of blood orange. A nice crunch from cookie crumbs, supplemented by a bit of bitterness from grapefruit and meringue with tarragon. With so many things on a plate it was still perfectly balanced and the presentation on a black plate made the vibrant colours really pop out. By far my favourite dish of the evening.
The restaurant is in a residential area and a bit out of the way. If it were a real good place, I would say it is worth the search. However, the food wasn’t that good, apart from desert. All together, we spent about EUR 50 per person (excl. drinks). Was it worth it? Well, with the meal we had it was only just worth it, to my opinion. Although it is a nice-looking building and the dishes are presented beautifully, the noise inside combined with some dishes where the flavours are just not 100% right, I was not impressed enough to visit again in the short term. In time, I will definitely go there again.
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: http://www.balijepark.nl