CHOCOLAT RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Breda

We have visited Chocolat over dozens of occasions ever since it opened some 20 years ago. Due to circumstances they moved to a wonderful new place and did a great job with interior design, although details are to be expected for recreating identity. The plates coming from the kitchen remain solid. Not really suprising but with eye for quality and detail. Maybe all energy went into the relocation with little time for creativity. However, the kitchen fundaments remain strong. Nontheless, we missed out personal and true attention. The lack of leadership in the front end of the restaurant is a weak spot. Very little understanding of gastronomy, the dishes, none of wine at all with the crew. No one to take ownership and guide the inexperienced staff that is far from operating as a team. We also found it odd that not even half te restaurant was occupied on a Saturday night just after re-opening. Also, the invisible owner only showing his face drinking a beer after work from behind a glass window (that sort of connects the kitchen to the restaurant) is not in tune with hostmanship. Especially when guests seek to congratulate on the new spot, open for some positive feedback. All and all Chocolat has to level up the overall experience to be the magnet to guests. And fast. We would hate to lose a...

Disclaimer: I did not eat here. Looked wonderful though!

But I had to leave a comment to say thank you to the gentleman holding down the front of house this evening. I was booked in to the hotel opposite and showed up to find hotel reception closed and no way of contacting anyone. I stuck my head into the restaurant and asked if they were any way attached - the answer was no. However, he then proceeded to help me locate any possible place a key or envelope could have been left (nothing to be found), options to dial phone numbers (only to have them ring out and hang up)...and then called a nearby hotel to ask them to hold a room for me. Clearly this was not part of his job description but the world needs more humans like this...his kindness was so welcomed in such a stressful situation. He did not neglect his customers either so managers if you’re reading this - please acknowledge his outstanding customer service even though I wasn’t a...

Vorige week vrijdag gaan eten bij Chocolat met een bevriend stel, de eerste keer voor mij. Mijn vriendin was er al een keer geweest met de AH actie en had het toen als slecht ervaren en zou er niet meer heen gaan. Vrienden stelden het restaurant echter voor, dus we besloten hen een tweede kans te geven. De ontvangst en de bediening waren goed. We gingen voor het menu "all the way" m.u.z. van één iemand die een bob-wijnarrangement wilde i.p.v. ècht "all the way" en dus koos voor het vijf-gangen Gastronomique menu. Hierbij aangegeven geen vlees te willen, maar wel vis en vegetarisch. Uiteindelijk werden er vier gangen vis geserveerd. Jammer natuurlijk, want er waren ook vegetarische gerechten. De gerechten an sich waren lekker voor iedereen. De wijnen waren echter minder. De enige wijn die echt lekker was, was de eerste, een witte (naam of druivensoort ontschoten). Al met al dus heel lekker gegeten, alleen viel de prijs ons wel tegen. Met vier personen 345 (excl. fooi) moeten afrekenen vonden wij niet helemaal in verhouding. De sommelier was overigens wel heel goed. Hij vertelde een goed verhaal over iedere wijn en bracht het ook goed. Gezien de prijs-kwaliteit-verhouding, de tegenvallende wijnen en de eenzijdige gerechten keuze zou ik niet heel snel nog eens aanschuiven bij Chocolat...