Johannes — Restaurant in Harderwijk

Unplanned and on a spontaneous drive out, we stopped at Harderwijk, and having walked around for a while decided to eat something as we customarily do. Out of two joining restaurants, one appeared unusually quiet and this one fairly busier. We took as a sign of better quality. We were hugely mistaken. First, we waited for unusually long to be seated even though there were lots of staff just hanging around doing basically not much. Then we were shown a table but not yet cleaned from the leftovers of the previous customers. We decided to clean it ourselves. Ordering and receiving the drinks was rapid. Then again, a very long wait for the food ordering. We had to ask for service more than once. Once ordered, again a considerable wait for the serving of it. And the food! For a fish restaurant, except those of us ordered cod pieces, the rest were truly disgusting. Cods not great but edible. One of us with bad memories of fish eating, enquired about the steak on their menu, he was assured that it was a delicacy of their establishment but received a piece obviously on border of going off, full of chewable and undigestible cartilage, and quite frankly with an odor of being passed the expiry. Barbie size portions of side dishes were all in lieu of the rest. The French fries so small yet still full of burned pieces from the deep fryer. We decided to pay and leave but then had to wait for a waiter again. Finally, we left and stopped by the nearby McD's to fulfil our hunger against our principles. For two adults and three teenagers, two of them weight watching small eaters, the bill averaged 40 euros per person, a waste. Recommend...

The service was great overall and the food presentation too. But here comes the downside. I ordered tuna steak, was rare, the same as the beef my girlfriend had. The waitress, although polite did not ask how we would like the meat done and it was not stated in the menu, which was in English. Thankfully I love sushi, so I eat my tuna with pleasure, but my GF totally skipped the beef, so I had that one too. That is the reason for subtracting a star. Will I sit there again? Maybe, but would not order those dishes and will opt for something else instead. One more thing - the glass my GF had had way too many scratches on it. Replacing drinkware in restaurants should be a common sense if they get used that much. Moreover they are not that...

We had a great experience at this restaurant. The atmosphere and service were absolutely fantastic – warm, welcoming, and very attentive.

The food was also delicious. We’ve never had such amazing scampi before!

However, the vegan dish was a bit disappointing. While the fried cauliflower itself was tasty, there were just too many florets, making the dish feel too heavy. A fresh side salad instead of such a large portion of cauliflower would have made it much more balanced and easier on the stomach. Also, a lighter, more vibrant lemon sauce would have been a better match for the dish.

Overall, we enjoyed our visit and would definitely come back – especially...