Cafe Wu — Restaurant in Amsterdam

TLDR is that the staff member who attended us was very attentive, kind, welcoming and generally a pleasure to be around (the Columbian lady), however the food was uninspired, overpriced and woefully under seasoned. This was paired with excessive wait times between courses. Not worth the hype.

I left as hungry as when I arrived and did not want to add the supplements as I already spent €150 for two people to have a mediocre experience with good drinks. (1 beer, 1 glass normal wine, two glasses of alcohol free wine)

The staff.

Very attentive, informed and accommodating to all guests

The service

Excessive wait times between courses. 2.5 hours for a 5 course menu was not well paced and the bar location just left discomfort when passing 1.5 hours.

The atmosphere

I was sat at the bar which was not very comfortable especially for a protracted 5 course menu and this also emphasised the chaotic feel of the place. It was not really possible to have a conversation or relax. Perhaps this is different at a table.

The drinks

A lovely selection of wines, beers and other drinks. Easily the best thing about the place

The food

From start to end this was a disaster.

Welcome snack, pickled veg that was nothing but a quick pickle and was boring and lacking in flavour

Amuse-bouche, a butter covered radish with a bowl of broth. The broth had good flavour but was nothing to write home about. The radish was a pointless and tasteless addition

First, a tartare that was massively overshadowed by the tuile as that was the only part with seasoning or flavour

Second, a cold chicken dish with side veg. This was completely bland and had a weird temperature mix with the slightly warm rice

Third, a noodle broth. The broth was very good but either needed to be thicker to stand against the noodles or the noodles needed to be less dense to not overpower the broth.

Fourth, a lamb roulade with veg on the side and dumplings. The lamb was very under seasoned and a little gelatinous. The dumplings were good but beside the lemon grass and note of chilli nothing special.

Dessert, a cake with a lemon verbena cream and a honey ice-cream. The cake was dry and uninspired, the lemon verbena was lemon adjacent at best and the ice cream was...

I’m not sure if it’s just me but I’m not getting the hype. Had the 5 course menu because of the stellar reviews but it was okay. Amouse was a radish dish, rather greasy which Chinese food usually is but the restaurant concept is Chinese fine dining so I did not appreciate it this time. First course was also radish, with mayo condiment that I did not mind. Followed by raw tuna glazed with oyster sauce which I liked but it was again accompanied by the mayo which I thought was unecessary. Would be nice to just have a nice and light dish after starting off with mayo in the first one. The radish and mayo after one another though, quite repetitive.

Third was squid with ink - I thought it could use more salt but the squid piece was perfectly cooked. Followed by main which was braised pork - that was delicious and perfectly cooked. We had the bone marrow as well to accompany our main and that was good!

Closed by the dessert which was a milky oolong chiffon cake that everyone to seem really raved about. First I tasted the cream, I could taste the oolong but when eaten together with the cake, the flavor was overpowered. Chiffon cake was perfectly soft regardless.

I think overall, the techniques were definitely there but concept and flavors were not quite hitting the spots yet. Traditional Chinese food shared together with friends and family brings certain level of joy and satisfaction and that was missing from the whole experience by Cafe Wu.

Staffs were friendly. Some notes on service was first, the first 2 dishes came out quickly, third and mains took a while. Second, I believe we were supposed to get a tea with our dessert? We did not get ours, I am guessing because we asked to take away our desserts. I think it would be nice if they’d ask if we want...

unfortunately mostly style over substance for me. coming in, i never expected to have an authentic chinese experience - but was excited to try a modern and fine take on the cuisine. the atmosphere is nice and akin to any of the cool small plate amsterdam restaurants. however, the food was unfortunately not much to write home about. radish amouse bouche was a tad oily - did more to coat my mouth with grease than open up my appetite (complimentary though so no complaints there). I wanted so hard to like this place but alas the wonton soup was disappointing. Broth was thin and reminiscent of sink water. Cheong fan concept was great but the filling way too thick and you can’t taste much of the mushrooms. I’m missing the silky smooth typical rice skin. Fortunately the bone marrow dish came to save the day. Maybe the set menu would’ve...