Nomad aan het IJ — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Food: The five-course menu offered some delightful dishes, and we truly appreciated the thoughtful vegan-forward touches, such as the use of coconut butter. The interactive element of guessing the country associated with each dish was a fun and engaging twist. However, while enjoyable, the flavors weren't intense and didn’t strongly evoke the intended countries. Some dishes stood out for their creativity and uniqueness, especially compared to other fine dining experiences, but others fell short of the same level of excellence. Overall, it was an enjoyable dining experience with room for some improvement. 4/5

Service: The service team was exceptionally friendly, and we enjoyed the engaging conversations with the staff. That said, there are a few areas where the service could be improved:

We requested the vegetarian menu but were served fish dishes. Upon clarification, we learned that their definition of "vegetarian" included fish, which is actually pescatarian. While this was promptly resolved by switching to the vegan menu, it’s crucial for future reference that terms like vegetarian, pescatarian, and vegan are used accurately to avoid confusion.

After finishing our prosecco, we received the wine menu and ordered glasses. Later, we noticed other guests enjoying a wine pairing option that had not been mentioned to us or listed on the menu. This felt like a missed opportunity, as we would have loved to explore the pairing experience.

While attentive at the start, service became increasingly disorganized as the evening progressed. Mistakes included being served a meat dish intended for another table, we weren’t asked if we wanted additional drinks or coffee after dessert, despite other tables being offered these options. It also took a long time to receive the bill, to the point where we had to go to the bar to request it. While the server mentioned not wanting to rush or disturb us, which we appreciate, it's still important to check in with customers at a table. 3/5

Ambiance: The restaurant’s atmosphere was stunning, complemented by a breathtaking view. It was a perfect setting for a fine dining...

Disappointed. This is being totally honest. Having dined at several fine dining establishments and also being a chef in my prior years this didn’t have any wow factor on any of the dishes. We were there for over 3 and half hours so as much as its nice to space the courses out this I think was too much. Starters was a soup, lacked depth or even adequate season, it was very light but was quite watery and just lacked any depth of flavour.

We also had a risotto dish, but whilst it was nice enough it wasnt anything special, it was strangely served with ice cold diced tomatoes so the hot and cold contrast just didnt work.

Mains was duck with a pomme puree. Its ok but every dish tasted exactly like you expected, no surprises or interesting combinations. Duck can be quite a bland meat and needs some creativity which I am afraid was lacking.

The dessert was a panna cotta and some cookie crumble and berry mousse. While it was ok its just very safe option, where is the creativity? The panna cotta also lacked flavour, and overly firm, likely too much gelatine leaf. It’s a shame as panna cotta is such a common dish you really got to knock it out the park if you want to be adding it to your fine dining menu, this one was honestly boring.

Staff were pleasant enough and spoke through the dishes, would of been nice to clear the tables down and get rid of empty glasses and offer more drinks. Meal was over €200 and thats just with two bottles of beer and water. Cutlery is also very cheap and dosnt match what the price and level it appears they are trying to achieve.

Overall disappointing, I was expecting more technical dishes that come along with fine dining but this failed to impress, but I hope the feedback can be used to be constructive. The other reviews seem really good and thats what drew us to choose Nomad but the reality for is fell well below what I would expect from a fine dining...

If you’re looking for a romantic date night experience this is your spot. It was exactly that an experience. If you are also looking to introduce your pallet to some food from around the world (Nomad is a great name for a fusion restaurant by the way) let this be your sign. You can tell everything has been curated with intention. Certainly you don’t have to be on a date to go here. However, the location being right on the IJ dock, the beautiful view of the water, the moody interior and lighting would make a very memorable night. Not to mention tucked away near some breath taking modern Dutch architecture. The exceptionally wonderful staff ( front of house and back) runs like a well oiled machine. Ready to accommodate your every need. We ordered the tasting menu so if you plan to do that make sure that you have allotted yourself enough time to throughly enjoy because this is not a quick bite to eat. We did get a little antsy in between course but that was our fault as we picked this restaurant the night before our flight back home and didn’t allow for the extra time this meal deserved. After explaining to them we would like a little less time in between courses they quickly moved them along. Again, that was our problem not them and they accommodated without issue. The fusion between different places around the world and little bits of trivia and knowledge about the dishes from the staff are enough to keep things exciting from beginning to end. Reasonably priced in my opinion for such a beautiful tasting menu. Will will most certainly be back if we find ourselves in Amsterdam again and I hope we do. What a beautiful and special place you all have created. Thank you for sharing that with us. Much love...