Brasserie & Wijnbar Lalou — Restaurant in Delft

A new spot in Delft by chef Mario Ridder who has experience in Michelin starred restaurants. From the decor, the plates and staff uniforms you can tell there has been a lot of investment in terms of time and money into Lalou. "Fresh from the oven" within 2 weeks of opening we stopped by for a dinner.

The menu is a collection of French classics with some modern twists. For most dishes you have the option to get a small or large portion which is a nice idea if you want to try more things from the menu. The dishes we had were overall well made, with good/fresh ingredients and plated intricately. From our dinner, I would suggest you try out the seafood options from their menu, especially the scallops. And also the oysters if they have some. To finish off, either a dessert wine or their creme brulee is a great option. The creme brulee was very flavorful, you could see plenty of vanilla bean specks in it!

They have a decent selection of wines by glass, along with a big list of bottles available. Although the list is mostly French wines, it was nice to see some smaller regions such as Jura being included there as well. And they have some classic producers from Italy and Germany too, overall the prices are what you'd expect at a restaurant.

The staff is really friendly and helpful but I found them to be inexperienced for this level of a restaurant. There're many small mistakes that should not happen, especially when it comes to serving wine or just lacking basic knowledge about the wines they have on their menu. Not to mention the butter they bring along with their bread being cold out of the fridge and too tough to spread on the bread.

Given the time and money invested in Lalou, the quality of the food we tried as well as the chef's background I hope they can quickly improve on these minor details. I am already looking forward to visit the place again and see how they develop in the future. It will be a great addition to the dining...

A tough one to review - it's difficult to figure out what this place wants to be. It's got a couple of very competent waiters, and a group of very inexperienced staff. It's got an amazing selection of wines, but almost nothing for a price that you might expect when you go to a 'brasserie'. It wants to serve casual, TASTY food, but serves it at prices as if we're still at a star restaurant. I mean, it's fine if it's a place where new staff learns from the experienced; it's fine if it wants to be an exclusive wine bar, it's fine if it wants to either be a simple, casual place, or an expensive star restaurant, but it can't be all those things at the same time. Because the final experience came out as, well, less than mediocre. You don't go to a brasserie to spend €250+ euros for two for a 3-course meal, with €70 for a house red. For a few dollars more I'm at a star restaurant doing 6 courses with wine pairing. And at the bottom line, when push comes to shove, all would be well if the food would've been great. But it just wasn't.. there was just nothing special about it. It was just food I can whip up myself at home on any given weekday, not even something special you'd cook in the weekend. You could tell they're using quality ingredients, but the dishes are so dead simple; you miss a bit of effort; something special to give you that culinary experience. Again, nothing wrong with serving simple food, but not at these prices. All-in-all a very underwhelming experience. But, can't wrap up without mentioning that the setting is beautiful, we had a lovely spot at the window in a gorgeous decor. Two...

Lalou is a great addition to the Delft restaurant scene. The location was always a nice building (was previously Cafe Einstein for many years) and now it's really gotten an uplift in the styling. Very beautiful and comfortable interior.

The food is awesome. Really delicious. The wine list as well. As always be prepared to pay for the good stuff. Partner and I did a full meal (Mise en bouche with house bubbles, oysters, small starters, large mains, cheese/dessert, washed down with a few glasses of wine, a digestif and coffee. And some bottles of water) and our total was about €275.

As great as the kitchen is, you need to be prepared for well-meaning but clumsy service. It's not (yet) at the same level as the food and environment. Things like not describing the wines served, bringing food without checking on drinks orders, dirty dishes sitting too long, empty glasses without an offer to refill. All signs of inexperienced and young staff; it's a relatively new restaurant and people learn. The food is most important, and it's delicious. If service is still like this one year from now though.... It needs to get to the same level the price tag.

Also at this price class I don't think a cloth napkin is too extravagant. An easy fix.

The "big" cheese plate was surprisingly small. Just three little fragments of cheese. We wondered how little you would then get with the small portion. It was the only dish we weren't enthusiastic about.

Very much looking forward to watching this restaurant develop and...