Looking for a fancy night out in a top notch restaurant? Inside Rotterdam selected five of the city’s best fine dining hotspots.
Parkheuvel
Twenty-seven steps lead you up to the half-moon shaped restaurant. From your table, and more so from the terrace, you have a wonderful view out over the Maas’s shipping quarter. You will soon be distracted by the ‘welcome’ nibbles though, such as the fingerfood: a micro-toasted sandwich with truffles, pata negra, and pecorino. The appetizers are to die for. If the restaurant is fully booked, don’t panic. Parkheuvel works in partnership with The Park, Parkhotel’s in house restaurant on the Westersingel, serving (slightly modified) Erik van Loo’s signature dishes.
Heuvellaan 21
parkheuvel.nl
YAMA
The city’s best Japanese restaurant. Owner/chef Yamamoto truly understands the art of making sushi. His partner Yuko is hostess and saké sommelier in this austerely decorated long, narrow restaurant. You can sit at the kitchen bar and watch Yama and the other cooks at work or be seated at a small table if you prefer. Yama, who worked in the Okura-Amsterdam, cooks something different every day, using only the freshest of ingredients. Everything is created with harmony, taste, and texture in mind. Beautiful crockery is used to serve up numerous dishes, a sushi selection, and the sukiyaki hotpot. Finish it all off with a bowl of miso soup, then, all Zen-like, you are ready to hit the Witte de Withstraat where it’s all happening.
Eendrachtsweg 31a
jcyama.com
De Harmonie
Design a meal to your liking from a number of delicious 15 euro options. This restaurant oozes nature with its huge garden, wooden floors, and charming bunches of flowers on the tables. Only the black and white blown-up photos of harbour scenes give away the fact that you are in the middle of Rotterdam. Chef Marco Somers mixes exciting ingredients with traditional flavours; raw lobsters covered with a velvety bisque, with tarragon and tomato for a touch of the Mediterranean, and apple and papaya for a subtle sweet-sour accent. Incredibly delicious.
Westersingel 95
deharmonierotterdam.nl
HMB
HMB is a restaurant for food connoisseurs. Located on the ground floor of The Netherlands’ largest building, De Rotterdam, the restaurant’s philosophy is to make honest meals with the very best of ingredients. While taking in the view of the Maas and the Erasmus Bridge enjoy ‘bites’ such as oyster-cucumber with ginger ale and beef-sashimi with truffle ponzu-vinaigrette. All of Rolph Hensens’ signature dishes are served as side dishes, eventually to be followed by a main like turbot-cauliflower-bergamot if you have room! Guests are as free as a bird to choose what they want to eat and what size portion. The hummingbird-themed wallpaper seems to endorse this concept, and no need to get in a flap about what wine to choose either! HMB’s Chantal de Raaf can offer advice on over 100 wines coming from all around the world.
Holland Amerika Kade 104
hmb-restaurant.nl
Amarone
This Michelin-star restaurant on Rotterdam’s best shopping street is named for Italy’s most heavenly wine. The kitchen is Mediterranean-inspired but also serves traditional Dutch fare. Try Sole Bouillabaisse or Stellendams Shrimps. Pommes Tzarine is an especially delicious dish created by owner/chef Gert Blom; creamy potato mousseline served over mashed potato with Oscietra caviar, and langoustines (Norwegian lobster). Try Gert’s Gin and Tonic icecream, served with a real gin and tonic on the side. You can’t help but notice the restaurant’s mirrored wall and its wine cooler; we counted—684 bottles!
Meent 72a
Restaurantamarone.nl
Editor: Ellen Scholtens
