A starred gastronomic lunch date at Het Koetshuis
Every now and then I go out on a date with the Dutchman. We do not have children, which in principle means, we can go out anytime whenever we want to, like every weekend and even during the week. However, when you have lived together for more than 10 years and have known each other for almost 13 years, the frequency of going out naturally tapers off. Most of the times we just want to stay at home together. We both work full-time and when the weekend arrives, we just want to unload and do nothing.
Moreover, eating out is not the Dutchman’s thing. It is more for moi, so as a compromise, we do this together sparingly, unless of course when we are on holiday. Nevertheless, I get to enjoy my own culinary quest anyway when I am out travelling alone or with friends.
Now, this is one of our Saturday dates, a lunch date at the elegant restaurant called Het Koetshuis in Bennekom (part of Ede in the Gelderland province) situated in the southwestern part of the massive Veluwe forest. The restaurant has a 1-star Michelin under her belt and is quite popular in the Netherlands.
After this gastronomic starred lunch, we will take a romantic walk (hmm) in the forest, which I will post separately after this entry.
The last time I ate at a Michelin starred restaurant was in Porto, Portugal last month (an exquisite lunch with to die for views which I will be posting soon) and in December when Dutchman and I had a closing the year 2012 dinner at ‘t Amsterdammetje in Loenen aan de Vecht (this was a lovely evening as well).
Fine dining, be it lunch or dinner, in a starred restaurant is always an arty culinaire experience. The food served are beautiful pieces of edible art, and if you are to ask me, one must pay homage by capturing the food workmanship in photos before enjoying it =)
Let’s just say that this lunch date is to welcome spring in the Netherlands.
We had the COW table. Each table has its own bronze art installation from artist, Helene Steenhof.
Amuse bouches from the chef. I am not good with food descriptions so I will keep my descriptions simple. This plate obviously went with a glass of milk and pickings of caramel glazed shrimp tempura style, tofu with biscuit and some ginger paste, and another vegeteble-egg-tofu bite.
Trivia: Did you know that customarily the Dutch drink milk for lunch?
This one is a scrumptious pork bite and a minced meat mix w/ vegetables + croutons on the side. The pork was succullent, really excellent.
I had a glass of dry white wine from the northern part of Austria (forgot the name). It was a quiet Saturday in the restaurant. There were only 3 groups having lunch including us.
Next is a refreshing salad with yummy mousse concoction at the bottom. And the mini gourmet breads were heaven, dipped in extra virgin olive oil or smeared with butter with fleur de sel.
Steak tartare with crab mayonnaise on top. This was quite good but the least of my favourite in this set. I even gave half to the Dutchman who insists that it is a Lay's chip that adorns it on top, haha.
I adore this! Cubes of poached salmon with a sheet of crunchy caramelised sesame seeds on top, an herb cracker, peelings of courgette, and finally, some light mango sauce.
Then we had roasted beef brisket with a spring medley of tomatoes, peas and I think celery, and tomato and potato purees, and then served with jus. I am not a meat lover but this one was quite good.
Then the dessert arrived! 3 styles of pineapple preparation: glazed pineapple, pineapple ice cream and pineapple beignet (fritter). The pineapple beignet was simply delicious.
To finish off our lunch, the coffee arrived with mignardises. Double espresso for moi and capuccino for the Dutchman.
This was some yoghurt-style pudding topped with caramel, nuts and a hint of rum(?).
I do listen to the waiter's monologue about the dishes but at the end of each dish, I have already forgotten what he said, haha. Anyway, this was not my favourite... but then again, I am not the sweet tooth type.
The mignardises: blinis with cream and caviar, white chocolate ball rolled in coconut slithers with pinacolada juice inside, butter cookie with butter cream. This was all too much for the not into the sweet stuff me. I only ate 1 blini!
Then a quick trip to the toilet to freshen up.
And I checked out the backyard of the restaurant as well, that has very relaxing views of the forest. I even saw a hare hurriedly crossing the lawn! It is still cold to be sitting outside but the terrace at the back of the restaurant would be a lovely place to dine during summer days and nights.
'Twas a lovely and quiet lunch with superb service and great ambiance in a renovated farm house. Until then Het Koetshuis, who knows, we might be back =)
Now we are off to a walk in the forest... but firstly, we need to know which part of this massive forest (Veluwe is the biggest forest-national park in the Netherlands) we will be going to.
Stay tuned.
Visit Period: April 2013
Destination: Bennekom (Ede – Gelderland), The Netherlands
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
Moreover, eating out is not the Dutchman’s thing. It is more for moi, so as a compromise, we do this together sparingly, unless of course when we are on holiday. Nevertheless, I get to enjoy my own culinary quest anyway when I am out travelling alone or with friends.
Now, this is one of our Saturday dates, a lunch date at the elegant restaurant called Het Koetshuis in Bennekom (part of Ede in the Gelderland province) situated in the southwestern part of the massive Veluwe forest. The restaurant has a 1-star Michelin under her belt and is quite popular in the Netherlands.
After this gastronomic starred lunch, we will take a romantic walk (hmm) in the forest, which I will post separately after this entry.
The last time I ate at a Michelin starred restaurant was in Porto, Portugal last month (an exquisite lunch with to die for views which I will be posting soon) and in December when Dutchman and I had a closing the year 2012 dinner at ‘t Amsterdammetje in Loenen aan de Vecht (this was a lovely evening as well).
Fine dining, be it lunch or dinner, in a starred restaurant is always an arty culinaire experience. The food served are beautiful pieces of edible art, and if you are to ask me, one must pay homage by capturing the food workmanship in photos before enjoying it =)
Let’s just say that this lunch date is to welcome spring in the Netherlands.
We had the COW table. Each table has its own bronze art installation from artist, Helene Steenhof.
Amuse bouches from the chef. I am not good with food descriptions so I will keep my descriptions simple. This plate obviously went with a glass of milk and pickings of caramel glazed shrimp tempura style, tofu with biscuit and some ginger paste, and another vegeteble-egg-tofu bite.
Trivia: Did you know that customarily the Dutch drink milk for lunch?
This one is a scrumptious pork bite and a minced meat mix w/ vegetables + croutons on the side. The pork was succullent, really excellent.
I had a glass of dry white wine from the northern part of Austria (forgot the name). It was a quiet Saturday in the restaurant. There were only 3 groups having lunch including us.
Next is a refreshing salad with yummy mousse concoction at the bottom. And the mini gourmet breads were heaven, dipped in extra virgin olive oil or smeared with butter with fleur de sel.
Steak tartare with crab mayonnaise on top. This was quite good but the least of my favourite in this set. I even gave half to the Dutchman who insists that it is a Lay's chip that adorns it on top, haha.
I adore this! Cubes of poached salmon with a sheet of crunchy caramelised sesame seeds on top, an herb cracker, peelings of courgette, and finally, some light mango sauce.
Then we had roasted beef brisket with a spring medley of tomatoes, peas and I think celery, and tomato and potato purees, and then served with jus. I am not a meat lover but this one was quite good.
Then the dessert arrived! 3 styles of pineapple preparation: glazed pineapple, pineapple ice cream and pineapple beignet (fritter). The pineapple beignet was simply delicious.
To finish off our lunch, the coffee arrived with mignardises. Double espresso for moi and capuccino for the Dutchman.
This was some yoghurt-style pudding topped with caramel, nuts and a hint of rum(?).
I do listen to the waiter's monologue about the dishes but at the end of each dish, I have already forgotten what he said, haha. Anyway, this was not my favourite... but then again, I am not the sweet tooth type.
The mignardises: blinis with cream and caviar, white chocolate ball rolled in coconut slithers with pinacolada juice inside, butter cookie with butter cream. This was all too much for the not into the sweet stuff me. I only ate 1 blini!
Then a quick trip to the toilet to freshen up.
And I checked out the backyard of the restaurant as well, that has very relaxing views of the forest. I even saw a hare hurriedly crossing the lawn! It is still cold to be sitting outside but the terrace at the back of the restaurant would be a lovely place to dine during summer days and nights.
'Twas a lovely and quiet lunch with superb service and great ambiance in a renovated farm house. Until then Het Koetshuis, who knows, we might be back =)
Now we are off to a walk in the forest... but firstly, we need to know which part of this massive forest (Veluwe is the biggest forest-national park in the Netherlands) we will be going to.
Stay tuned.
Visit Period: April 2013
Destination: Bennekom (Ede – Gelderland), The Netherlands
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
