Loetje Nijmege — Restaurant in Nijmegen

Review is based on visiting Loetje with a group of nine people.

Seating: We were luckily seated quickly on the outside terrace as we could not make a reservation (see further notes). We had two vegetarians with us and were a bit afraid they might not like the restaurant.

Food: Loetje has a reputation for their tenderloin steaks (in dutch: ossenhaas biefstuk), which is why I went for the Biefstuk Ossenhaas 'De Roode Waard'. This dish had additionally onions, chicken livers and bacon, besides the gravy. On the menu there is a note that the steak will always be prepared medium rare unless asked otherwise. Unfortunately mine was medium. The quality of the meat and preparation was good, tender and well seasoned. As we were sitting outside and it was a bit windy the plate and everything on it cooled down quickly. We received some bread to dip the gravy with, which was to my liking. At Loetje you need to order any additional sides (e.g. fries, veggies, etc.). Not much to say about the sides, they were okay. Furthermore, there were three different options for our vegetarians, which I think is quite a lot for a steak house. No vegan options though. Afterwards I went for the 'koffie van Loetje'; coffee with chocolates and a bit of liqour.

The quantity was enough (no need for the XL) and besides steak there were enough other options.

Costs: I think the costs were decent, I payed 35 euros and that included a little tip (which is not obligatory in The Netherlands).

Ambiance: The inside was nicely decorated, the outside features a really nice terrace. At the time (16 aug 2018) there are still some parts under construction, and some plants/trees still need be planted. I think it will look really nice in a year.

Hospitality: The hospitality overall was good, until we wanted to pay. We asked if we could pay separately and received the feedback 'I am not sure I have time for that'. That is just plain rude and this type of payment is quite common in the Netherlands. Even with groups. We needed to calculate the costs ourselves. I hope this will not happen again in the future. In response to other reviews, we never ended up too long with an empty glass and were asked regularly if everything was alright.

Beer menu: You will not find any surprises here, the beer menu is just okay. Good quality from common brands. You cannot really go overly wrong with your choice here, I did not test the knowledge on beer or food pairing of the employees. My recommendation: go with something easy (e.g. Weizen or Sol) for the steak, or if you want something of a pairing go for the barley wine from Jopen with the steak or one of the IPAs for the Poke Bowls. I was missing local beers here (they are located 500 meters from four local breweries: Oersoep, Hemel, Lab54, and Nevel).

Further notes: I do not agree with the reservation policy: I could not place a reservation a week in advance because they only allow 30% of the place to be reserved at any time. This is especially upsetting for wanting certainty with...

First the positive: very nice location and beautiful place! Earlier complaints about the staff and speed seem to be picked up by management. It was my first visit but the food and drinks came fast and the friendly servers came at the right times to ask if we wanted to drink something else. So nothing to complain about. The beefcarpaccio is very tender and full of flavour!

I was a little less enthusiastic, or on average enthusiastic, about the steak. It's probably just not my kind of steak, and while it was a nice cut, I didn't think it was all that special and certainly not worth the hype. They did cook it just right, medium rare with a nice crusty layer on the outside and red on the inside. Nothing to complain about but also not all that special. The french fries are the typical kind of french fries you find in a lot of restaurants, so just fine but nothing that sets it apart.

Although the place was full on a wednesday night I did think it was a bit overpriced. The regular 200g steak was 18,95 (300g was 27,95) and the carpaccio was 11,95. Both should've been 3 euro cheaper looking at the price/quality ratio. I don't mind spending some money when I go out for dinner, but I always look at the price/quality ratio and I thought Loetje was a bit steep. Drink have regular prices, same as other places.

All and all I had a nice evening with some good food and nothing was bad, but they didn't blow my socks off...

Ordered two steaks (ossenhaas), fries and a salad. One steak was medium done and the other medium rare. The waiter did not ask how it should be baked, I wished he did. The fries were not crunchy, but a bit dry and wrinkled like they were already baked for awhile. The salad that had a bit of too much dressing, but it was the best of the three dishes.

We asked for lactose free dishes as one person needed this, we didn't realized that this meant that they were going to leave out ingredients without replacing it for some alternatives, such as the gravy for the steak. I read a review of a Loetje restaurant from my hometown city where someone experienced the same 4 years ago at a Loetje restaurant, even though there are plenty of solutions for this. If they warned us about leaving out ingredients, we would have known and chose something different or just leave for a restaurant that offers alternatives with lactose free ingredients. We were just surprise with a plate of plain stake without anything with it and a waitress complaining that we should know that they will leave out ingredients. Didn't felt like discussing this while I just wanted to eat.

The ambiance is good and serving is fast, but the quality of the food isn't something I would highly recommend...