Breakers Beach House — Restaurant in Noordwijk

Expectation: We chose this restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. Unfortunately, our expectations were not met even at the most minimal level.

Price: We ordered oysters and champagne to start, followed by a 6-course menu with wine pairing. (Half glass) The total bill for two people was 300 euros. Let's be clear, the budget didn't surprise us, we were willing to spend it because we wanted it to be a special day. What shocked us was what we received

Let's start with the food: The oysters were VERY small, The menu had a good concept but the quality of the ingredients and the execution was quit poor. The first course "appetizer" was based on vegetables, specifically pumpkin, and it wasn't bad. The second "soup" was a cream soup. It's difficult to mess up a cream soup, but also difficult to surprise, in fact I've already forgotten what it was. The third "appetizer" was a dish with vegetables and shrimp sauce, and it's the only one I don't have complaints about. The fourth, "main fish course," was sea bass, which is usually a very easy-to-make fish, even with oil, garlic, and parsley it's already good. However, in this restaurant they managed to ruin it, and serve an insipid and bland dish. The fifth "main meat course" was chicken breast. It already seemed a bit out of context that in a menu of this price the main meat dish is chicken instead of choosing a more noble cut. On top of that, it was dry, insipid and the sauce and vegetables that accompanied it did not integrate. The sixth "dessert" was sweet, which is the minimum requirement a dessert should have. And you know what? When we got home, we were hungry.

The wine pairing: The wine pairing left much to be desired... extremely poorly chosen, and not at all careful. They repeated wine in the first two courses, and paired the chicken with a red, a Rioja Tempranillo, with tannins too high to accompany chicken.

Service: The service was even worse than the food. The girl who served us was pleasant, smiling, and attentive, but she had no training whatsoever to serve in a restaurant with pretensions (judging by the price). The girl was unaware that there are several types of oysters in the world, she thought they only differed in the sauce. Every time she brought a wine, she carried it under her arm, as if it were a handbag, even the white wine, which should not exceed 12-14 degrees, she brought under her arm warming it with her 36 degrees of body temperature. One of the dishes, she brought when my companion was in the bathroom, in a restaurant where the explanation of the dish is part of the price and experience, it's not an easily forgivable error. It's true that upon arrival she offered to come back later, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place. Although it wasn't at our table, we observed how at the table next to us, they placed the plates first and then the cutlery, which is even more serious.

Overall! Very disappointed and not...

We picked this restaurant to celebrate our anniversary, but unfortunately, it fell far short of our expectations—even at the most basic level.

We started with oysters and champagne, followed by a 6-course tasting menu with wine pairing (half glasses). The total cost for two people was 300 euros. To be clear, the price wasn’t an issue—we were happy to pay that for what we hoped would be a memorable experience. What truly shocked us was the quality of what we received in return.

The oysters were disappointingly small, and while the menu had a creative concept, the quality of the ingredients and the execution were poor. • The first course, a pumpkin-based appetizer, was acceptable but nothing extraordinary. • The second course, a cream soup, was uninspired. It’s hard to get a cream soup wrong, but equally hard to make it stand out—so forgettable that I can’t even recall what it was. • The third course, another appetizer with vegetables and shrimp sauce, was the one dish that didn’t disappoint. • The fourth course, the main fish dish, was sea bass. Typically, this is a simple yet delicious option, even with minimal seasoning. However, the version we were served was bland and lacked flavor. • The fifth course, the main meat dish, was chicken breast. Serving chicken in a menu at this price point already felt out of place; worse, it was dry and tasteless, and the accompanying sauce and vegetables didn’t help at all. • The sixth course, dessert, was sweet—which is the bare minimum you’d expect—but completely unremarkable.

By the time we left, we were still hungry.

The wine pairing was equally disappointing—carelessly chosen and lacking refinement. The same wine was served for the first two courses, and the chicken was paired with a Rioja Tempranillo, a red wine with tannins far too strong for such a delicate dish.

The service was, unfortunately, even worse than the food. The waitress was friendly and attentive, but it was clear she lacked the training necessary for a restaurant of this supposed caliber. • She didn’t seem to know that there are different types of oysters, believing the only distinction was in the sauce. • She carried wine bottles under her arm like a casual bag, including white wine that should have been chilled. Instead, it was warmed by her body heat. • At one point, she brought out a dish while my partner was in the bathroom. In a restaurant where part of the experience is having the dishes explained to you, this felt like a significant oversight. While she did offer to return with it later, the mistake shouldn’t have happened in the first place. • At a nearby table, we noticed plates being served before the cutlery was laid out—a basic error that shouldn’t occur at this level.

The experience was a letdown from start to finish. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend this...

After two excellent experiences in March 24 when the beach house terrace was already open, food and reception very convincing, I decided to come back last Thursday. Our online reservation was made asking for a terrace lounge table if weather permitting. When we arrived on time last Thursday it was a very sunny though bit windy day. After waiting outside in the lounge corner eventually a service lady came and told us that the terrace was closed and we could eat inside, despite the sunny weather and all other beach clubs and restaurants being open on the terraces. We said we would be okay wearing jackets outside but we definitely wanted to enjoy the only sunny day during the whole weekend in the outdoor atmosphere. This had been even possible in March with chilly winter temperatures. The refused to serve even drinks outside although all pillows relate and some used classes were seen on other tables . So we Decided not to sit indoor but to move to another beach club where we were warmly received and served with hundreds of other people on all the other beach clubs’ terraces: Only the Breakers Beach house was closed .. all the others were open and we spent the whole day in another beach club enjoying the warm sunny atmosphere and feeling well received. Hadn’t I made a way better experience back in March this year I wouldn’t have been surprised about the very arrogant behaviour of the breakers beach house this time. What a pity that their lovely terrace was closed all the days we were in Nordwijk whilst all other beach clubs were open and fully booked with people in loungy atmosphere. No customer oriented behaviour, maybe they don’t need customers? we passed by today to see if there was a chance to sit outdoor but the terrace was again closed. Found another Beachclub as all the others...