Eetcafé de Verbeelding — Restaurant in Delft

We visited De Verbeelding for dinner recently, and it turned out to be one of the hidden gems of Delft. It's a cozy restaurant with a small but mighty menu, mostly French-Belgian influenced, I'd say. They serve no fuss, old and trusted recipes with their own twist.

We had a table for two reserved, outside on their boat which was quiet and peaceful on a Sunday evening. We ordered our mains from their daily dish menu. We had the catch of the day, which was botervis with saffron sauce and roasted pheasant, which was the chef's choice on that day. All mains are served with vegetables and thick cut fries. Both dishes were delicious, well-seasoned and prepared. The fish had a nice crust, and the pheasant had crisped up quite a bit. Their homemade fries were one of the best I've had in Delft so far, I was so tempted to order another serving. For dessert, we tried the American cheesecake and it was tasty as well.

They have a pretty decent wine menu, with a handful of options per glass, and good value. I had a Verdejo with my fish, it was fresh, fruity and acidic, nicely balanced with a relativelylong finish for a Verdejo. I imagine it'd pair well with most of the dishes on their menu.

The staff is really kind, cheerful and they did their best to help explain the food. There were 2 large groups with 20+ people inside when we first arrived, and one of the waiters cautioned that our food might take longer than usual to arrive. But it was actually the opposite, our mains were served in less than 20 minutes, even before our drinks made it to the table! Overall, we had a lovely dinner at De Verbeelding, we really enjoyed our time. We'll definitely...

Tasty food, but my steak was not as tender as I'd expect from a restaurant. It tasted fine though. The side dishes were very tasty and the desert was just perfect. Service was good, friendly, but a little slow, not taking off any stars for that as we were with quite a large group and a bit of delay here and there is to be expected. My only real complaint would be the really uncomfortable wooden chairs, yeah, they fit the ambiance nicely, but every single person in our group complained about them. If they put some seat cushions on those chairs, I might just go back for a 2nd chance on one of...

Diner with a group of 20ppl. Plus: a boat to sit on outside. Good variations of choices in menu. Capacity for hosting group. Good wine. Fresh material and taste.

Could be better: location. A bit walk from the center (can be bumpy for buggies), parking along water and difficult to find, so you're park somewhere elsewhere and walk.... Portion of main course is a bit smaller than expected (compared to the portion of starter).

Overall, reasonable price and quality. Not sure if that pays out for my walking...