Delft restaurants
 

Am visiting the Netherlands in June with three days in Amsterdam at the Canal House Hotel and three days in Delft staying at the Hotel de Emauspoort. I can find plenty of restaurant recommendations for Amsterdam, but none for Delft. Can anyone recommend a couple of places to eat; one up-market for a birthday celebration and the other more reasonably priced? Am planning to try an Indonesian restaurant while in Amsterdam, so hoping to sample typical Dutch food whilst in Delft. Any suggestions and help would be gratefully appreciated.

Try the recommendations on the official tourism site. I can't comment, as have only lunched in Delft.

http://www.holland.com/ca/

I asked a friend of mine who regularly eats in Delft. Recommended are: De Zwethheul (Michelin 2*), Rotterdamseweg 480 - http://www.zwetheul.nl/
Le Vieux Jean, Heilige Geestkerkhof 3 - http://www.levieuxjean.nl/
Bistro De Pijpenla, Hippolytusbuurt 10 - http://www.bistrodepijpenla.nl/

As far as I can see from their menu, they're all French oriented and not typical Dutch.

Ask the hotel - you might even email them in advance and describe what you're looking for. We batted around .500 on our nights in Delft a few years ago - some mediocre, but one place (can't remember the name, plus you know how it is with restaurants - not the longest lived enterprises) was a total knockout. I recall Mustard Soup (I know - sounded weird to us too) that was a flippin' revelation, followed by main courses that were all fab... sorry for the blank brain.

But there are good places; I doubt you'll have much trouble.

I also don't remember the name, but there's a brown cafe near the Canal House in A'dam (left out the door, first left, cafe on the left) that is also wonderful. This is all helpful, isn't it? ;)

Actually, Mr.P, I have what I think is an excellent recommendation for Delft (two actually, but the first one is by far my favorite) it's called "DE RUIF" on Kerkstraat-check it out here: www.kroegpagina.nl/deruif. Best food I had in Holland. Dutch and French cuisine- what the Dutch call an "eetcafe" -right on the canal, lovely salad, wonderful fresh mussels, yummy apple cake-for about 25-30E for dinner. I actually recommended this restaurant to an older lady in Amsterdam once, who was going with her other lady friends for the day to Delft. When I saw her again the weekend after, she thanked me because they all had enjoyed the atmosphere and the meal at De Ruif-it pleased me that a native would actually take and enjoy my restaurant tip! Highly recommended-I think "ruif" has something to do with equipment in a carriage house, which is what I think the bldg. where the restaurant is housed used to be.

The other restaurant-is the Cafe/Restaurant "De Waag"-a 14th century "weigh house" converted into a good and not too expensive restaurant, (more than "de Ruif" however-around 40E on up or so not including wine). An antique bldg. also on the canal, located on the Markt, French/continental cuisine- good fresh fish dishes.

I think you'd enjoy either one of these, but my preference is definitely for the former.

Five recommendations for you:
1. Upmarket: second MyriamC's: "De Zwetheul" - fantastic. Be sure to reserve well in advance - Emauspoort can do it for you. Figure at least $70 per person with wine. It's an even more special occasion if you rent bikes and cycle there from Delft. It's a 30 - 40-minute ride, but if you have reasonable weather it's pure pleasure. Work up an appetite on the way there, and have a leisurely cycle back after dinner. It won't get dark until about 10pm in June! You can rent bikes at the train station.

2. Upmarket, in the center of town: "L'Escalier", small and charming, French with other European influences. 5-minute walk from Emauspoort.

3. Reasonable: "De Dis", Bagijnehof, 8-minute walk from Emauspoort. Mostly Dutch specialties and other European influences.

4. Reasonable: "Den Blauwen Snoek", center of town, 2 minutes from Emauspoort. Fish restaurant.

5. Reasonable and a bit wild: "Herberg de Mol", center of town, 5 minutes from Emauspoort. Medieval-themed, fairly authentic old Dutch restaurant; eat (mostly with your hands) from a set menu, waiters & waitresses in costume; sometimes live troubadours, clowns and other live entertainment. Great atmosphere and wonderful fun. Ask for the "Open Avond" or the "Open Breugel Avond" because some nights are reserved for private parties, weddings and conferences.
Eet smakelijk! (Bon appetit!)

Thanks everyone for the help - you can always rely on Fodorites to deliver the goods. I'll try a couple of these recommendations and report back.

Whoops - correction: 'De Dis', Dutch cuisine, is on the Beestenmarkt, the most charming square in Delft; the restaurant on the Bagijnehof is 'der Dussen'; mostly French cuisine. Both are reasonably-priced.

We stayed three nights in Delft and ate at three different places and had good meals each time.

But our meal on the last evening in Delft (before we had to head home from our 14-day holiday) was our best and most memorable meal of our trip.

Normally we wander blocks around our hotel, from restaurant to restaurant, reading menus and trying to decide which one to choose. On this particular night, we decided to just go to the first one we saw.

We were staying at the Emauspoort - we made a right out of the hotel, went down a block or two, made a left and crossed the canal, and there was "Happy Corner". The name certainly caught our eye and it didn't look crowded, so we went in.

As it turned out, we were the only ones in the restaurant. The waiter took our order, served our wine, then disappeared into the kitchen, which we could see into through a large open window.

We soon hear pots and pans clanking, and discover that our waiter is also the "cook and bottle washer" too. Pretty soon, he emerges with the most tasty stuffed mushrooms, which we did not order but he told us were on the house. Our travelling friend and I had Weinershnitzel, which was good, until I tasted the mussels that my husband ordered, which were "heavenly". The food was delicious and the service was suberb - of course we were the only ones in the restaurant for most of the evening.

Eating at Happy Corner was like being invited to this guys home for dinner.

<b>jenviolin</b> - Have you ever heard of this place?

Peace, Robyn :)&gt;-

Just returned from Delft and Amsterdam. Opted in the end for Spygirl's suggestion &quot;De Ruif&quot; for the birthday celebration which was superb with loads of atmosphere and excellent food. The perfect choice, but many thanks to everyone. Delft is lovely and well worth including on anyone's itinerary. Also a short tram ride into the Hague for the Maritshuis (three Vermeers on view as his masterpiece, The Art of Painting is on loan from Vienna at the moment) and the Escher museum. The Hotel de Emauspoort is excellent, very friendly &amp; helpful with nice but basic rooms. Adored Amsterdam especially the Canal House - not everyday you get to stay in a 17th century canalside merchants house. Price was reasonable @ Euros 140 per night whereas most other hotels in that part of the canal ring are + 200. My advice would be that unless you particularly want noise and crowds and to be on the edge of the red light district, avoid staying anywhere around Dam square and aim for the Jordaan region.

MrPotatohead-JUST saw your post, after almost a month! SO glad to hear you liked DE RUIF, esp. since there were native posters here who didn't recommend it! I thought it was a super restaurant, (esp. for Holland, which isn't exactly known for its cuisine) and you actually found it and had a birthday celebration here-excellent! thanks for posting your feedback!