Brasserie SenT — Restaurant in Amsterdam

First off - the food and wine were absolutely outstanding. I've rarely had such a sublime steak, the chimichurri and bearnaise were things of beauty, a little potato and pumpkin stack on the plate, lightly curried - a delight for the tastebuds. If this review was based purely on food, it would absolutely be a 5 star review, I'd give 6 if I could. Hats off to those in the kitchen!

Now on to the less positive part of the review - a comedy of errors when it comes to service. We were greeted quite coldly at the door and were very lackadaisically pointed in the general direction of tables rather than being shown to one. Not a smile in sight. I know it was a hot day and maybe nobody wanted to work, but I've worked in service for many years and that's just part of the job, I'm afraid.

Things started off small - I had emailed in advance to ask for two glasses of Brut to start, since I was there for my birthday. These were forgotten- not a big deal at all. I was mostly looking forward to the meal and the bottle of wine I had my eye on anyway.

The food arrived and the waiter pointed at the steak and the sauces, looking like he truly didn't want to be there. It's ok, again the food was so outstanding that my attention was fully on the gorgeously prepared steak and the beautiful bottle of pinotage I had ordered for us.

Now the fiasco really began - I ordered a crème brûlée to share, and as it came out, the waitress (the third person to serve us this evening?) came out with the brûlée in one hand and a gigantic sparkler - more like a big flame - in the other. After the happy birthdays were sung, the flame was set next to my partners wine glass. You can see how this could go terribly wrong, and it did. The wine glass shattered. Glass went everywhere - into the dessert, all over the table, and into my arm. Not once was I asked if I was ok or was I offered anything to treat the burn. I had to go ask for some balm as the burn started to blister. The wine glass, which had quite some wine still in it, was removed and my partner was not given a new glass. Pretty shoddy, since I had already paid for the bottle. I was given two glasses of dessert wine as an apology for the fact that the bubbles at the start of the meal were forgotten, and these two glasses were left off the bill, as they should have been since I didn't order them.... I paid the bill in full, even foolishly tipping (I hope tips are shared with the kitchen staff who very much deserve it)- but all of the kitchens I've worked in would have rushed to the aid of an injured customer rather than laughing it off, would have certainly replaced the broken glass of wine, and would have taken a significant chunk off of the bill. At least I will have a gorgeous scar to remember my birthday by!

I hope this incident was a one off, and it sure seems to be by the looks of the reviews - because as I said, the food was outstanding. It seems to have been a bad luck...

Update after third visit, my girlfriend took her parents who flew into Amsterdam and we made a big fuss over this place but it felt like they shafted us with their crap left overs, crusty Burny chips etc worth the expensive steak meal and no veg to go with this time . We always get the same meal but this time it barely has sides and everything was less and the service was noticeably worse, as if we weren’t welcome. Huge shame as it was my favourite place to eat when I come to Amsterdam but now I fear it could be a waste of time since I only have a few days in the city when I visit.

First and second visit …Had the steak meal and with ravioli starter and I have to say it is probably the best meal I’ve ever had when eating out and the price for two of us was very fair. Better and cheaper than anything I can get in England, very good quality. Me and my girlfriend basically want to come back to Amsterdam just to go back to this restaurant.

I just came back two months later and again best...

Terrible experience at Brasserie SenT. Don’t ever go to this restaurant.

The service was so terrible that nothing else was enjoyable and it destroyed my night of celebration. The waitress was completely RUDE AND RACIST. She was looking down on us, rushing us, taking wrong orders and dropped food from another table on two of my friends. One cashmere pullover, a jacket and a pair of white jeans destroyed. Was anything offered to compensate our nuisance? Absolutely nothing. Any normal establishment would’ve offered a dessert/coffee/drink on the house.

Because the order was wrong, they charged us incorrectly, so we were trying to get it right. The waitress started screaming at me, interrupting my sentences, which put me in a completely awkward position, as the entire restaurant was starring.

Go to McDonalds and you will have a better service.

A complete nightmare. I’ve never been treated so...