De Goudvis Club

This place was divine. Great ambiance and great food. I came in on a Thursday and was asked if I had reservations. Luckly there were open tables so I got right in. I ordered the Italian Malbec red wine to start off. Very good. They bring you bread to start. My friend that I went with ordered the half lobster for an appetizer. For dinner I ordered the halibut and she ordered the sea bass. They both were delicious. Well prepared and the taste was exquisite. I do believe they change up the menu every 2 weeks. This restaurant is a little fancy and spendy. With my halibut and wine I spent about $ 33. When ordering water be specific on if you want tap or bottled. They will bring you bottled unless specified. I did not give this place a 5 star because when we 1^st walked in and told them we didn’t have a reservation the hostess snarled, walked away and said «I’ll ask my manager.» But I feel service in Amsterdam isn’t all that great, or maybe I just haven’t had much luck.

We stayed at a hotel nearby and we found the restaurant when we were walking around. We browsed the menu for dinner and it seemed like it offered a good selection of food.
So later in the evening, we decided to try the place. We ordered a couple of starter dishes: couple pieces of oyster, cold soup, shrimp/​scallop starter. These dishes were decent enough that we thought the main course should be tasty. The bottle of dutch white wine was ok too.
So heres the big surprise … the main courses. Ordered the halibut and lentils for entrees and these two dishes were major disappointments!
Before our main dishes were brought out to us, my wife told me that the 3 chefs in the kitchen were not busy at all ~ because she saw them putting food into the «Microwave» to heat up the food. From her seat angle and the open kitchen view, she had a clear view of the kitchen area. And she was correct, in the corner on shelf, was a white microwave and it was indeed being ‘busy’.
A few minutes later, the food was brought out … to us!
First off, for any restaurant to use a microwave is a big no~no, not to mention a restaurant of this price point and using microwave for its main course. Second, if the chefs plan on just using microwave to heat up the frozen dinner, we could have easily gone to the local market and pick up better tasting frozen deals; plus better selections.
Lastly, the main course meals simply tasted … well, like microwave frozen dishes. It was not that good at all. Plus the outside was hot and center of the fish meal was somewhat cold. The fish tasted soggy. It took 3 chefs to mess up a meal using a microwave … tells alot about a restaurant.
If you are in Amsterdam and don’t feel like having cooked meals cooked by real chefs or simply cant find the right frozen meals in the supermarket, then yes, I would recommend you to give this place a visit!
UPDATE:
Been meaning to update, however been traveling.
Received an email from the Chef after I left the review. He explained to us that the microwave was used to reheat a special sauce for a Lobster dish. Did a quick reply but there was a word limit, so only reply partial back.
Anyways, we didn’t order the Lobster so we couldn’t judge. But we appreciate him taking the time to reply and to explain to us. We understand that a lot of restaurants have microwaves and use for different purposes. If the food had been great and tasty I wouldn’t think it would bother us that the microwave was being used every couple minutes or 7 to 8 times when we were waiting for our food, considering it was already late in the evening and not a super busy night.
The main point is the fish was served very soggy and when I poached the center the steam came out but when I tasted it, it felt cold inside, kind of like when you microwaved food at home if you know what I mean. Even though I was very hungry I couldn’t finish the dish. And the lentils with mushroom which my wife ordered was plain salty that my wife couldn’t finish it either. We had no problems with the service and putting aside the microwave question, there are certainly room to improve on the main dishes. Its as simple as that.

fabulous, beautiful, tasty food! only comment — if you sit out front, the club next door makes that front area their smoking lounge, so be sure to sit on the side away from the club…

Amazing seafood and some of the freshest tomatoes I have ever had. So happy there is an MSC certified seafood restaurant in Amsterdam. And great to enjoy a delicious meal and fine wine in a relaxing atmosphere. Highly recommend checking this place out

I never had dinner here, but it’s an alright spot for a few drinks and some snacks or desert. We had glasses of sparkling wine and an orange cheesecake. The dessert didn’t taste freshly made, but was alright.
The hall is huge and is great for groups. The place didn’t smell like fish so it’s good for vegetarians-​having-​drinks as well.