La Place

Maybe La Place will finally keep Dreefzicht in business? This used to be one of those places where only the elderly would eat. You’d show up for lunch and dinner, half the place would be empty, and everyone would be over 70. Unsurprisingly, that iteration of Dreefzicht didn’t make it. What did surprise me, was that La Place of all places moved in here. Wow what a change… who knew the restaurant most people see as the department store café would want to move into a building like this?
The location of Dreefzicht is great, lot of traffic comes by, they have ample parking, and you can go for a lovely walk in the park afterwards. They seem pretty busy for weekend lunches, but last time I went on a week day, the monumentally large and stately restaurant was virtually deserted, with all those stands filled with prepared food going unused.
The food itself is reasonable. You can choose from different cuisines, have them make stir frys Mongolian Grill-​style, get sandwiches, hot meals, cakes and pastries, etc. Great in principle, but I found their stir frys very bland. They need better sauces. And sitting in that enormous space with most tables empty felt a little sad too, not very ‘gezellig’. I just don’t get the whole idea of buying this gorgeous, historic building, and then putting what is essentially a food court in it.
Good lunch option though, especially with kids or if you’ve been walking in the park!