De Gouden Reael

I am a breakfast fan.
Not even a fan. A lover.
I’m a breakfst lover.
So never had lunch or dinner here, but only breakfast. And I will continue to come back for more and more of their breakfast.
This place is a bit far from my home but in a beautiful part of amsterdam. So after breakfast you can go for a walk and enjoy the beautiful houses in the area.
They have bloody marys here, it was a bit too early for me for vodka so I took the virgin mary. And then I had another one. And now I just wanna go back there for more of those.
And the food! First of all it was quick. Which is really important when you woke up hungry.
I already tried two different options of their vegetarian breakfast and loved them both. And now I wanna go try some more. And have more of those virgin marys.
I would love to try their dinner, but for now, I can highly (as highly as it gets!) Recommend their breakfast.

A quick note to my fellow Unilocalers: Please review the restaurant not the boil on your butt that made the chair feel uncomfortable or the ringing in your ears from your wife nagging at you all day. Jeez people these reviews are so we (WE) can find good restaurants and weed out the losers. So adjust your behind, turn down your hearing aid and read the rest of my review.
I had brunch at De Gouden Reael today with two friends. It was a spectacular day (yes, I realize I am reviewing the weather), but we sat inside anyway. This place defines cute, the staff were all smiling and extremely attentive, the atmosphere was charming and we haven’t even gotten to the food yet.
I wasn’t in a drinking mood but my friends were. One started with a Bloody Mary which he proclaimed to be the 2^nd best he had ever had. When he ordered a 2^nd my partner decided to order one but he was curious if they could add some Clamato Juice to make what they call a «Caesar» in Western Canada. The waitress immediately knew what he was talking about and the two slightly different drinks arrived in short order. Now let’s get to the food.
Amazing variety of selections for a Brunch. Not that there were dozens of choices but the range of choices was across the board. From a French dish called Poutine to a breakfast burrito (but not your average burrito) the selections were unique and each one had it’s own distinct personality. They even had Artichokes on the menu and since my partner (soon to be husband) is an Artichoke whore he ordered one to go with his meal. This is where the rubber hit the road as far as I was concerned.
I have prepared a lot of Artichokes. I’ve learned to cut them in half and remove the «Choke» so you can eat them down to the heart and then just dive into the meaty remains without dealing with the fuzz. Somehow this chef had figured out how to remove the choke without cutting the artichoke in half. The center of the artichoke had a glass ramekin inside with the dipping sauce and the top of the heart was exposed and absolutely free of any fuzz. Everything about it was so perfect we commented to the waitress how amazed we were and a few minutes later the Chef himself showed up at our table with an Artichoke and walked us through the process of preparing the perfect Artichoke. For $ 4.99 plus shipping I will pass along this information (Just kidding). It’s actually simple to do or at least he made it appear so but it’s too much to go into this review.
So, to wrap this up, here’s what our experience was today. Cute restaurant in a charming waterfront area. Fantastically trained staff all warm and friendly and attentive. Unique eclectic menu with delicious food, and according to my friends «great cocktails», When the Chef leaves his kitchen and comes upstairs to your table to share with you one of his cooking secrets that speaks volumes as to the «attitude» behind the business. It has been my experience that good service starts from the top down. That pretty much explained why the staff was so fantastic because they were being led by example, not intimidation.
I’ve been coming to Amsterdam for 30 years. One of my oldest friends married a Dutch guy and they live in one of those beautiful old canal homes. I used to make it over here twice a year but things change so it’s every few years now but Amsterdam will always be on my list as long as I can make it over here. Stay out of the Tourist Areas and, by the way, this restaurant is not in what I would call a «Tourist Area», get to know the Dutch people and their culture not just the inside of a «Coffee Shop» in a pot smoke haze. Think what you want about the women in the windows with the red lights, keep a constant eye out for the bicycles and now the electric cars; both capable of ending your vacation in short order, and when you’re hungry, stop into De Gouden Reael and experience a restaurant that truly has its own heart and soul.

And affordable wines — 3,50 for a pleasant house White. Which is pretty amazing in Amsterdam. It’s the time between lunch and drinks and there are few customers. the Chef is cooking his roasts. Frank Sinatra is singing his greatest hits, including White Christmas and Let it Snow. Hilarious. Anyway, the toasted sandwich was good. Had it had the expected amount of blue cheese it would have been magnificent. It was plenty though.
Had dinner here in the past. Pleasant. Don’t know that the make of the owner. I like that they like their chefs handsome.

De Gouden Reael has excellent roast chicken and the staff is very friendly. I always enjoy coming back here :-)

I was staying at a hotel down the road and was looking for something nearby. I had a great meal. The charcuterie board was very flavourful and certainly did the job of killing the hunger pains that I had coming in. The veal ribeye was tender and the pepper sauce was a perfect accompaniment.
The staff were knowledgeable and friendly and I had the feeling that they cared a great deal about the product that was coming out of the kitchen.

This is my neighborhood restaurant. Good food. Very relaxing and friendly service. It’s not that pricy actually. It’s about € 25 a piece.

I’ve been coming to this place for years and I’ve seen various different owners come and go. Its current incarnation is defintely the best.
I came here last Saturday as part of the restaurantweek promotion. I didn’t have high expectations but was very pleasantly surprised. The restaurantweek menu was limited was limited offering two choices for each course. We had both of the starters and both of the main courses accompanied with the wine arrangement. The food was excellent, especially the house smoked salmon and the Iberian pork roulade.
The restaurant has something of a brown café feel to it (that’s a positive thing!), is comfortable, and it is easy to converse with one’s partner without being disturbed by other diners.
I will defintely return soon to sample some dishes from their regular menu.

This place must have been classified as French for 2 reasons: the rather poor service and the good bread. Otherwise they picked «French» from a hat. The owners are Dutch.
There are only 2 French wines on their list (the one we tried wasn’t good) though they did find room for Italian, Mexican and Turkish drinks among other nationalities. Dishes from Alsace and Southern France were combined to make 1 for some reason. The steak with salad and fries was nothing special and looked like something I saw at a touristy «steakhouse» in Spui for 8 €.
It’s a good setting for a quiet drink by the canal away from the crowds. I really liked the fresh and crispy French bread with tapenade.