Brasserie de Haven — Restaurant in Aalsmeer

I would give this 0 stars if I could.

We popped in for a quick lunch after arriving into Holland before heading to our nearby accommodation. We were quickly seated which was the only good thing I have to say about this establishment. First of all the table clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly, there was still food remains on it. The cutlery was dirty and the glasses were sticking to the table. Two tables that then came in after us were offered drinks and menus before us and the waitress clearly ignored us when we are trying to order. She finally acknowledged us and sent a young waiter over to take our order. We placed our order and waited…and waited. In fact the tables that came in after us both had finished their meals before the same waiter who took our order came over and asked if everything was ok. We said we still haven’t received any food, it had about an hour since we sat down. The waiter came back and said since it was ‘a busy day’ the sushi was taking longer to make. They obviously had totally forgotten to put the order in, as we not many tables had come in after us and ordered. My young daughter, at this point was starting to fall asleep, so we had to ask for the food to be packed to go. The waiter didn’t have much to say and we were totally ignored by all staff on the way out. We had been recommended the restaurant and hoping to book for dinner one night but this is one place that I would tell everyone to avoid! It was honestly one of the worst experiences I have ever had anywhere! I’m not sure if this was down to us not being Dutch, as it seemed like most other customers were local and they seemed to get better service. So an ok place to go if you’re Dutch but...

Let me start off by saying clearly and with no equivocation, I enjoyed the meal I had at Brasserie de Haven.

The service is really good, so is the location and the place has a great atmosphere.

The food is well enough executed and the technique used is great too, but...

...I miss South East Asian food and ordered the Satay like a shot. It was cooked beautifully and the plating was nice too...

...but in all my time in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, I've never needed a knife and fork to eat it before. It was like the chef had heard about satay but never seen it or eaten it in person.

Fusion is good, but play with ingredients, flavours, but don't change the total concept. Taking fun bite sized chargrilled pieces of marinated meat or poultry on small skewers and turning them into three big lumps of meat on a skewer is like making Lasagne with Fusilli, or making Fish and...

It's a great place to get together with friends or for a family dinner. I came along for dinner with a couple of friends on a Saturday evening during winter, and they have an outside area for smoker clients that was heated up by gas-heating devices, keeping the room temperature very comfortable. Regarding the food, I got a delicious beef sate served with vegetables and a spectacular portion of french fries, served in the Dutch style (with mayo). The dessert (panna cotta) was also delicious, and the portion was larger than at other restaurants. It was super well prepared. The waitress team is good, the wine options are decent, and the place is cozy. It is the best restaurant in Aalsmeer. I look forward to trying the Brasserie De Haven during summer, as they are in a small harbor ;-). It should give people a fantastic view...