De Hoop op d'Swarte Walvis — Restaurant in Zaanstad

Beautiful location and setting, mustard soup was delicious, getting raw beef on a sandwich very strange. Unfortunately our server was nothing but a arrogant little prick from the moment we walked in right until we walked out the door. Not sure if he had a issue with brown people or he just doesn't like tourists I would hope not or maybe he is just a spoilt little brat who is used to treat people bady and getting away. When we first went into the restaurant he had attitude all because we asked are still open he replied well the doors is open isn't wjat do you think, we said we were not sure as it was later in the afternoon thats why we asked because he had seen us multiple times because he actually attendand to us he showed us to our seats our was taken abruptly. When we went to pay the bill he then said what table were you at to which we replied tje table you sat us at he reply was what was your table number I relied I have no idea what the table number we were not given a number this made him very angry and aggressive I said ro see a manager which he replied there are no managers here I said what about the older gentleman who served our lunch is the manage to which he replied no he isn't he works in the kitchen so I went looking for someone in charge this made the server very angry and settled making nasty remarks the more I ignored him the more angry he became it turned out the older gentleman who served our food was the manager who was lovely and listen to our concerns. I would be firing that server he is no good for business or he needs to be sent to the naughty corner for...

I visited De Hoop op d’Swarte Walvis with my family from UK, and what should have been a relaxing meal turned into the worst part of our day.

I ordered a burger without bacon or tomatoes due to dietary restrictions—I’m allergic to tomatoes!!!! Despite clearly communicating this, the final dish still arrived with both ingredients after a long delay. The first burger was undercooked—completely raw inside—which is simply unacceptable. No burgers should be raw pink.

In addition to the food issues, the hygiene was appalling. Our original table had wood lice crawling on the cutlery and surface. We asked to move, but the staff seemed indifferent.

After waiting 20 minutes for a replacement burger (by which time my family had already finished eating), I was served another incorrect order, with the ingredients I’d specifically asked to avoid as I’m allergic to tomatoes. At this point, I was upset and just wanted to leave.

To make matters even worse, some gifts I’d bought for my daughter, which I had placed beside me on the chair and table, were stolen. When I asked the staff for help, their response was cold and unhelpful. They didn’t want to help me. Terrible service.

I had been so excited to visit the Zaanse Schans, and this experience completely soured the day. I do not recommend this restaurant, neither for the food, service, nor basic...

Absolutely shocking service. Poor menu options. Food was ok, but the Bavette steak was really tough. They told us a table was ready but when we sat down there was no water, no cutlery, no side plates no water glasses. Just a napkin each. When they bought the bread out we had to steal plates and knives from another table. There was no English menu and our Dutch is limited, server was less than forthcoming in explaining the dishes. Completely ignored the starters and just informed us what the proteins were on each dish, minimal explanation of garnish or how anything was cooked so we only ordered mains. Mains portions were really small. Would have sent mine back accept 1) there were no staff about to complain to 2) it already took an age to receive this plate 3) there was nothing else on the menu that looked vaguely appealing.

We were largely ignored and left in a corner. Really, really poor experience here, which was a shame as we had visited earlier in the day and sat outside under the canopy and heaters during a down pour which was lovely. The food was trying to hard to be a more fine dining concept, however, the service and poor quality meat really let everything down. Nobody even apologised about the wait. 100% would not recommend .

On the plus side, the wine was good and they do know how to make a...