Over the past months, I have visited some well-known and even Michelin star awarded restaurants. Luckily, we are not bound by the Michelin guide and the Nieuwe Polderkeuken is one of those hidden and less-known treasures that is not in the Michelin guide. The restaurant is located in Stolwijk, which is a small rural village that we reached driving over some really narrow but lovely country roads. In the middle of the town is a nice red building that houses the restaurant.
As you walk past the restaurant, I noticed a private dining room full of guests. The room is nice an spacious and have beautiful large windows and a lovely large dining table. Right next t these windows is the main entrance, where one of the staff directed us up the stars for the main space of the restaurant. The staircase is rather steep and narrow, but it is good to know that there is an elevator for less mobile guests. Arriving upstairs, you will enter a room that looks a bit like a large kitchen in a country home.
The menu had 5 courses, starting with a dish that was not only beautifully presented but even better tasting. It was tuna with several preparations of tomato and some wakame. This dish is probably one of the best starters I have ever eaten. The tuna was nice, tender and beautiful red of color. The tomatoes had not only different sizes and cuts, but also different colors. The somewhat sweet acidity of the tomatoes and the salty sea water foam and the wakame paste were delicious with the fish. A bit of crunch was added in the form of small sea weed crackers. Visually this is already a stunning dish, but trust me when I say this really is a dish that would be a welcome addition to any restaurant’s menu.
A second starter had a somewhat unusual ingredient; ice cream. Jerusalem artichoke with mushrooms and pumpkin. Once again the presentation is stunning. Delicate flavors is probably the best summary of this dish, meaning that in this case, I was not able to identify any difference in flavor between the ice cream and the pannacotta below. This is a shame as the dish really looked good on paper. As a result, this was by far the least favorite dish of the evening.
Moving on, we get a fish dish; Scallop and corvina. This dish is like the first starter absolutely delicious. The scallop was perfectly cooked and the slightly salty sauce had a rich and deep flavor, without overpowering the fish and scallop. If this was given to me as a main course in a 3-course meal, I would have been very happy. Where the flavors are spot on with this dish, the portions could have been slightly bigger. As the evening progressed, we definitely felt like we had eaten something, but we were not exactly full. When you then have a dish like this one, you just want to keep eating.
Main course is up next, already. Venison steak it is….. The meat is cooked well and incredibly tender. For reasons unknown to me the sauce was poured onto the plate all the way on the side. Obviously it does not affect the flavor, but normally you’d expect it to be poured over the meat. The meat is clearly the hero of the dish, but to my opinion the proportions were a bit off. A slightly different mix of meat and vegetables would have made a very good dish an excellent one.
The evening is closed off with yet again a stunning-looking dish. Cranberry sorbet with a macaroon with raspberry and an almond cake with cranberries in it. A ‘surprise’ element in there is some fuzzy powder. The level of sweetness in the dish is excellent. Each element of the dish has excellent flavor and you can taste each element. As the evening draws to an end, it is time to reflect on the evening and go home.
Looking back at the evening, I can only conclude that this really is a hidden treasure where it comes to food. Two members of staff were present that evening. The female staff member was clearly less experiences, which is fine. She really made an effort to ensure we had a nice evening. Her colleague, who was male, took care of the wine. Where he was polite and knowledgeable, he also clearly present. Every chance he had, he could not help himself bragging about which Michelin star restaurants he had been to either for work or pleasure. Of course, I wish him all that, but he forgot that in a restaurant it is all about the guests and not the staff. Despite the less positive aspects, I still had a very nice evening with good food. It would be good if the male waiter would keep in mind that it really is all about the guests. Increase the portions by just a little and you’d have a wonderful evening.
All together you’ll spend approx. EUR 100 per person for a 5 course meal including drinks, but there is also a choice for a-la-carte or less courses. Would I go out of my way to visit this restaurant? Not sure. For the food most likely yes. Considering the taste and presentation of the food, prices are very reasonable. However, the service was not in the same league as the food. One point of doubt as to whether or not I would ever go back really has to do with the service. Another would be that it really is quite a dive over narrow countryside roads. For now, I would tend towards not going back, but who knows…..
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: http://www.polderkeuken.nl