François Geurds FG Restaurant — Restaurant in Rotterdam

We recently dined at François Geurds, a 2-star Michelin restaurant, and left feeling underwhelmed. Unfortunately, the food, service, and atmosphere did not meet the high standards one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber.

The Positives: The sommelier was excellent, recommending a delightful bottle of wine that paired well with our tasting menu. Among the dishes, the duck stood out as the only one deserving of 2 Michelin stars. The flavors were harmonious, with a perfect balance of crispiness and richness, though the sauce was slightly overpowering.

The Negatives: • Biet Truffle: A decent dish with simple ingredients and a pleasant taste, though not particularly memorable. • Black Beauty: Overly oily, with unbalanced flavors that didn’t blend well. • Avocado/Banana/Beluga Caviar: A major disappointment. Cooking and blending caviar this way felt like an insult to such a premium ingredient. The cream tasted identical to the first dish, as if the sauce had been reused. • Tuna/Kombu: The sorbet was a surprising highlight, working well with the salty sauce. However, the tuna itself was not fresh, likely defrosted, which was quite disappointing.

Atmosphere: The seating arrangement was awkward and uncomfortable. We were placed very close to the neighboring table, to the point where we could hear their entire conversation. This lack of privacy made the experience feel far from the refined and intimate setting one expects at a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Service: The staff lacked the training and finesse expected at a 2-star Michelin establishment. Small details and attentiveness, which are critical at this level, were missing throughout the experience.

We traveled to Rotterdam specifically to try this restaurant, and sadly, it fell short of expectations. While there were moments of brilliance, significant improvements are needed in the kitchen, service, and ambiance to truly live up to its...

I loved this restaurant when it was at its previous location (where FG bistro is currently). Since it moved, the experience of a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant has changed for the worse.

The dining room: it is quite small, though the lofty ceilings add their charm. The tables are fairly close together, and with the huge chairs that are offered (comfy, but impractical), you’re forced to lean into the table to have decent conversation, which is in no way even remotely private given the amount of space between people and the neighboring tables. Big NO: the restroom is in the dining area, so guests can see everyone coming in and out. There are caracature drawings of the owner on many items, such as the ice cream cart, goody bags and cards on the table (offering hot sauce for purchase??) that are cartoonish and in terribly bad taste, promoting the owner’s “franchise”. The tables do not have tablecloths, which could be ok in some instances, but given the impersonal nature of the venue, I’d suggest that they be used.

The food: good, but not 2 Michelin Star good. I had the 8-course vegetarian menu, which seems to have not changed since the first time I visited the restaurant (when it was Ivy), five years ago.

The service: also good, but not great. The servers are friendly and fairly knowledgeable (our server advised us on wine instead of the sommelier, we didn’t get the wine we wanted). No formal attire, no gloves. The tables are also so close together that when the neighboring table was being served, we had their rears in our faces.

For the price, it’s honestly probably not worth it as-is. With a little change to the interior and menu, I...

We came here expecting high quality service and food. We could choose our own knives, which was an interesting concept. We were greeted with amuses and a delicious sour dough bread. But nobody came to ask how many courses we wanted, or what the difference was between 6 courses and 8, and they already served us the first course. Then we told the waiter that we would like 6 courses since we dont eat that much. After the first course, we then had to wait an hour for the next course. We told the people that it was quite long. Eventually we were served the main dove course, but by then, I realised we were only served 4 courses. So I told the waiter that. They came and checked my photos because they seemed surprised that we missed a course. So they eventually gave us one of the courses that they had missed. This just felt like grave mistakes that even regular restaurants dont make. The food was on average okay, but not worth the price. Some parts like the meringue with the lobster was sickenly sweet. Other dishes were overtly sour and the flavours just didn't work well together. It was sometimes difficult to even finish the dish. The white chocolate in the dessert tasted like chocolate that had been left out in a cupboard for too long and had somehow adopted a very weird taste. Then the table next to us had someone who got a wine bottle dropped on them because it fell off a serving table. The glass shattered and wine poured all over the floor. Maybe it just wasn't their night, but it was overal a rather disappointing experience for more than 200 euros pp worth of food. I wouldn't...