Restaurant De Belhamel — Restaurant in Amsterdam

This is hands down the best french restaurant I have been to outside of France, and a very close second to the best restaurant I have tried in Paris. Every dish was perfect, inventive, packing flavor, genuineness, and passion. As a starter, I had the best burrata I have ever had (and this includes the many burratas I had at top restaurants in Italy). A Puglia-inspired recipe, this starter was imbued with cantaloupe compote, San Marzano tomatoes, Ibérico, and a basil reduction that elevated and brought an incredible freshness to the dish. The sweetness of the compote was perfectly balanced by the acidity of the tomatos. Plain simple: the chef is a genius. Just when I thought this could not be topped off I tried the main course: the Tournedos Rossini with fried foie gras, green asparagus, potato rosti, and fresh winter truffle-Madeira gravy. The beef - a very flavorful filet mignon - rested on a bed of what could be considered the most flavorful and perfectly cooked potato cake I have ever had (crispy on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside). On top of the meat, an amazing foie gras that brought earthly and complementary flavors to the potato and meat. I couldn't stop dipping the steak in the gravy - an amazing mixture of entrecote and borderlaise sauce that I simply cannot stop thinking about. If the starter was ingenious, the tournedos is the chef's opus magnum. The ambiance was the third most romantic location I have ever experienced (first and second were in Italy and the Berkshires). After experiencing many restaurants in Paris and several in Amsterdam, I can tell you that this place is a gem. It was such a surprise and I can wager that it will - as it did me - make your Dutch food experience among the most memorable. How this restaurant has only 4.5 stars is incomprehensible to me. It deserves a...

De Belhamel, the reason why I rate you two stars is mainly because you take on more than you can handle, but I will start with the positives first. Beautiful location.l and your staff are charming and energetic. In fact, your servers have to be charming and energetic if you are making you customers wait an hour and a half for their main courses. We booked a reservation for 5:30 and arrived 5:20 and were the first people there YET our food got served around 6:45. Bread and escargot were so so, the escargot achieved its goal by being buttery, herby, salty with a meaty chew. However the catch of the day? Who made this dish? What was your thought process? To just have the same combination of purees, sauces, miscellaneous sautéed fungi and veggies, and not to forget charred but essentially raw half of a lettuce head? Our catch of the day was sea bass; a delicate fish. It’s a shame that the delicate meat and crispy crunchy salty skin was masked by a strange sour sauce which completely overwhelmed the fish and made it taste bland, unseasoned, and strangely sour. Everything in that dish was honestly a bit of a mess; novel ingredients piled up in a plate with nice presentation that amounted to nothing(nothing is a bit rude but it was not much of anything). All for 30 dollars and barely filling! What they did do amazingly was the risotto. Creamy, rich, perfectly salty combined with a nice chew from the mushrooms balanced out by the acidity of the tomato. Hats off to whoever made that one. Otherwise… meh. Not worth the money imo…. and not really worth the hour long wait DESPITE being the first...

Please see my updated review below, but I'd like to update I emailed the restaurant to speak with a general manager and no one cared to reply.

Updated 13/01/24 - I called the restaurant the day before to check what food is available with the bar seating reservation (no menu online). The person on the phone went over the bar bites, when I asked she said I could probably order on the wider menu no problem. We specifically joked on the steak tartare "we can make that happen"

Well I am here and was refused what the agreement was. I am sitting at a dinner table now in which I'll have to eat and leave quickly. The manager acted like she did me a favor with getting me a table and told me EXACTLY when I would need to leave.

My bar drink arrived at my table AFTER my entree. Why am I drinking a martini with my steak?

Horrible! I thought this place was a gem but will not recommend it for service alone. The manager was very unhelpful. She should have at least bought my drink or came over with a very formal apology. But I guess if she can't train her employees on what to say to guests, maybe she doesn't know how to manage guests herself.

Previous review:

Fantastic restaurant on a beautiful quiet elegant canal. Menu was a bit small but the food excellent and the decor wow.

Had the beef tournedos with foie gras and a glass of cava. Only minus is the staff barely knew Dutch and it's important to...