De Plantage — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Would we have been treated better if we weren’t POC?

Special occasion ruined by truly awful waitstaff.

Last night in Europe + reunion with old friend. The ambiance was beautiful and hats off to the kitchen for the gorgeous food!

Our waitress however was nothing short of a nightmare who completely ruined our experience with her awful attitude.

However, we tried to be understanding and know everyone has bad days…but once the negative behaviour is called out we do expect a change in said behaviour. I can assure you, that did not happen.

Our order: 6 oysters, pate, 2 glasses of orange wine, lamb to share and a bottle of Italian red (all outstanding)!

After our starters my friend had to step away from the table…to which the staff without asking brought our main dish. Because we had JUST finished our starters and my friend was not even at the table when they brought the main, I asked the food runner to take the dish back until we were ready…or at least till my friend returned to the table. Our waitress refused and just brought the food back and placed it on the table…again my friend was still away from the table. Ok, fine.

Because the portions were generous, we unfortunately couldn’t finish all the food and asked to take the remaining food home. Which is blasphemy, apparently.

The waitress simply refused to even try to help us find some way to pack up the food which was half a leg of lamb, rice and pate. There was a significant amount of food left and we didn’t want to see it go to waste.

When there is a will, there is a way and finally the waitress decided to help. Her solution was to bring us an entire roll of industrial size tinfoil and drop it on the table next to us and walk away. Photo attached.

After the tinfoil being left on the table we asked to speak to the manager who was slightly more helpful. She did find us a take away container that was dripping wet and comically massive. Again, photo attached.

At the end the waitress half heartedly apologized for “the misunderstanding”. Although we would have loved to stay for dessert and some port the service indicated we should not spend any more money in this establishment. The manager didn’t even offer us any compensation. Finally, when we went to split the bill of roughly 130€ the waitress couldn’t even be bothered to calculate how much was owed between the two of us. We had to bring out or phones to calculate it ourselves.

If you’re booking here for a special occasion I would highly recommend finding somewhere else. Being treated with dignity and respect is truly the bare minimum and that was not met at this establishment.

When we left we couldn’t help but feel because we were women and people of colour that the staff felt confident enough to treat us as sub par. It was not just rude but actually very uncomfortable and embarrassing for us.

I’m not just angry but I’m actually sad that the last day of such a beautiful trip and a 3 year reunion with my dear friend was met with what truly felt like racism and...

After cross-correlating several positive external reviews of Cafe-Restaurant de Plantage during a recent week-long visit to Amsterdam and my spouse falling for photos of patio lights on their outdoor dining area, my partner and me decided to book a reservation for dinner.

On arrival, we were immediately struck by the beauty and ambiance of the indoor dining space in particular. We were quickly greeted and seated for our reservation by a host. That was then followed with an immediate order for water by another member of the wait staff.

However, thereafter, we seemed to fall into something of a wait staff black hole.

Yet a different member of the wait staff (this now the third, including the host) quickly delivered still tap water, as requested. There was then an unexpectedly long wait to have our beverage and/or appetizer/main order taken. A fourth member of the wait staff finally arrived to take that. A fifth member of the wait staff delivered our beverages. A sixth member of the wait staff then delivered our appetizer. She appeared to be the one assigned to our table or area of the dining room. Fortunately, she also delivered our entrees. Unfortunately, the meat on the entrees was undercooked relative to our "medium" orders and that sixth wait staff member never checked back in. So, we finally grabbed the attention of a seventh wait staff member to further cook the entrees which were then redelivered by one of the first five wait staff. After we finished our delicious and well-prepared meals (undercooking notwithstanding), we then had to wait an unexpectedly long time for the sixth wait staff to bring by desert menus. We kept seeing her but could never get her attention. So, again, we flagged down someone else again to bring by a desert menu. This happened again with getting our check, flagging down someone else for that. We finally settled the bill with the sixth member of the wait staff, who was presumably assigned to our table / area.

Bottom line, the food and the ambience were great; however, despite the dining room floor having a seemingly solid number of wait staff relative to the diners in the dining room, we found ourselves constantly meeting a different face, waiting for any wait staff attention at all, or not being able to get the attention of the wait staff that seemed to be assigned to our table / area.

Cafe-Restaurant de Plantage had great ambience and delicious food, but floor service hiccups prevented it from being the experience it had the...

I recently visited Restaurant De Plantage with a party of 16, comprising friends of various nationalities. We were eagerly anticipating a long-awaited reunion over lunch. Initially, the restaurant seemed promising with its reasonable prices, good food, and an impressive wine list. It appeared to be an ideal spot for a large group like ours.

However, our experience was marred by incredibly slow service. It took an exceptionally long time to receive our order, testing our patience. When it was time to settle the bill (which we had to request twice), the waitress displayed evident irritation, impacting the overall atmosphere.

As a diverse group from different countries, we requested to split the bill into 14 parts. Despite our preparation to facilitate a smooth transaction, we were met with resistance. The waitress informed us that it was not feasible, claiming it would take too long. This response was surprising and inconvenient, especially considering the usual flexibility in Dutch hospitality.

Ultimately, another staff member allowed us to split the bill. Contrary to the initial claim, the entire process took merely three minutes and 25 seconds. When I shared this feedback, the response from the staff was disheartening. One waitress wished me a "good weekend" in an aggressive tone, while another sarcastically commended me for speaking to the manager. This interaction left me feeling belittled and disrespected.

This was, undoubtedly, the worst dining experience I've had in the Netherlands. I strongly recommend the staff at Restaurant De Plantage undertake training in customer service and hospitality. Respectful and efficient service is fundamental, especially in a setting that brings together people from various...