Arles — Restaurant in Amsterdam

After various recommendations we had high expectations for Arles, only to catch them on a very off day.. Unfortunately, we won’t be returning for the food after the experience that we had. We have to say, the service was not the problem. During our whole night our waitress tried to improve the situation around the food, but this was ultimately not in her hands.

At the start there was just a bit of chaos around where we could sit, as it seemed that they didn’t really know where to place us. We opted for the 5 course menu, to let us be surprised by the chef. We started with a cute little amuse, a potato with hollandaise mousse. Then we moved on the first starter, beetroot with blood orange and smoked yoghurt. It tasted fine, but was a bit bland, nothing special. It then took very long before we received our second starter. And when it arrived we discovered that it was the same as the amuse, just 4x the size and with the addition of a tiny bit of pastrami. In essence it was a very big piece of deep fried potato, which tasted fine, but felt like we were just eating bar food to fill ourselves up. The third starter came also after a long wait and it was a celeriac with pear. We were very surprised, because we seemed to receive different dishes than the tables around us. The dish looked great, but as wel tasted it, it had simply no flavour. No salt, no acidity, nothing. Just barely cooked celeriac and raw pear. We couldn’t even finish the dish, because it felt like a waste of our stomach space. The waitress apologised as we did express our dissatisfaction, and she tried to get to the best solution. We quickly moved onto the main course, which was the chicken with black garlic. This was a great dish, only to discover that my partner received 80% raw chicken. We were honestly a bit shocked how this just kept happening. The manager came up to apologise for the turn of events and offered us the food in the house. We appreciated the gesture and continued with a new main plate. The (cooked) main course tasted delicious. Lastly, we got the lemon curd dessert which tasted great as well.

Mistakes can happen, and preferences can differ, but this was not up to standard for the price that you pay. Maybe something went wrong after my partner indicated that was sensitive to shellfish, so to exclude this for him. The other tables in the restaurant seemed to be fine. We appreciated the gesture of taking the food off the bill and the effort put in by the waitress, but overall it wasn’t a very...

We came to Arles for a nice meal out for our last evening in Amsterdam this trip. We were looking for a high end fancy restaurant and opted for a Michelin reviewed restaurant as we thought it would be reliable. The restaurant is very expensive, so we had high expectations. My husband had the 4 course meal and I opted for a salad and main course. We did wine pairings with our meal. The wine pairings were quite perfect. The disappointment came when both my husband and I had the romaine salad, his looked and tasted amazing, but mine came and was wet and wilted, even the stem looked old and the top of the leaves were cut off and wilted, and it was wilted inside. As he dug into his salad and I cut mine open, I pointed out the discrepancy. They were quick to take it away, but only to bring it back to assure me it was fresh and the chef had intended it to be served wilted and wet, and the Chef must have just torched it maybe a bit longer than the other. I was offered another appetizer but since there was only meat based appetizers for a replacement I reluctantly took the same sad wilted salad back and ate it “as the Chef intended”. The texture was terrible and reminded me of eating yesterday’s dressed salad that spent the night in the fridge. A lot of money (15 euros) for a very small sad salad. Interestingly enough the neighbouring table had 2 of the same salads that resembled my husband’s salad and not my wilted fair. This hit us off to a bad start - why not just replace my salad as requested with a less torched one, why be so arrogant and insist it was fresh and fine when it was clearly different? Very disappointing and in bad taste for them. My husband’s fish appetizer was fine, his chicken main was very nice, my steak main was very flavourful but was an unusual cut with lots of tough connective tissue spots to cut around. The vegetables were perfectly done. His dessert was great. The service was mostly adequately attentive, the odd lapse. We sat in the back by the patio doors and the location was amazing with a but of a breeze. Overpriced for the quality and contents of the menu. There you have it, if you have seen any of my other reviews you will know I give high praise when warranted and tell it like it is...

Arles restaurant came highly recommended for a special occasion, so I chose it to celebrate my birthday dinner. From the moment we stepped in, the warm welcome from Iris stood out. She went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable, setting the tone for what we hoped would be a memorable experience. Her attention to detail and hospitality were top-notch, which immediately raised expectations for the evening.

We opted for the five-course tasting menu with wine pairings, a choice that should have showcased the restaurant’s culinary prowess. While the food had its highs and lows, one aspect that truly impressed was the exceptional selection of wines. Each pairing was perfectly matched to the dishes, enhancing the overall experience. Iris elevated this even further with her great storytelling, giving us insightful and engaging background on each wine. Her knowledge and passion added a personal touch that made the wine pairings one of the most enjoyable aspects of the evening.

However, the food itself was a bit of a mixed bag. While two of the five dishes reached the high standards one would expect in this price range, the remaining three left something to be desired. These dishes felt like a letdown, hovering somewhere between laziness and overly pretentious execution. One of the biggest disappointments was a dish that involved serving a semi-fresh cabbage cut in half, hidden under an overly salty sauce—hardly the creativity or finesse I had hoped for.

As a firm believer that food should not only look good but also deliver balanced textures and flavors, some dishes fell short. Thankfully, the fish dishes were a saving grace. Their presentation was impeccable, and the taste was genuinely exceptional. Even though they were prepared as ceviche—a nod to Latin American cuisine—this was a curious choice given that the restaurant is marketed as a French bistro.

In conclusion, while Arles has potential, the inconsistency across the menu made it difficult to fully justify the high price tag. That said, the wines were an absolute highlight, with Iris’s storytelling and knowledge making the pairings truly unforgettable. With a little more attention to flavor and balance in the food, the overall experience could be...