I am hoping to get some help with restaurants in Prague, Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam for my father who is heading to Europe in a couple of weeks. He is not necessarily looking for the most expensive, touristy or old fashioned/traditional restaurants - instead he is looking for restaurants that are high-quality and “worth the trip” so to speak. That could be a Michelin *** at the top of its game or a * that is up and coming or a 4 spoon Michelin that is a great lunch spot or more casual dinner place, etc. Rather than merely looking in the Michelin guide or other guidebook, he is hoping to get some advice from people who have been recently as to what stood out to them. If anyone has some helpful suggestions that would be great!!
Particularly in Prague and Amsterdam where he will be for 3-4 nights, he is interested in a variety - maybe one high end and a couple that are more for those in the know/residents who know where to go…
He also had the names of two restaurants he was thinking about - Restaurant De Stove in Bruges and The Augustine in Prague - any thoughts on those?
Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!! Much appreciated.
If you’re talking about fine dining in Bruges you’re talking about De Karmeliet. We stayed a few days in Bruges and enjoyed seeing all the old buildings and the water everywhere. Reading your criteria, though, when you say “not … most expensive” I thought you had kind of ruled out De Karmeliet but then you talk about Michelin stars – and last time I checked De Karmeliet had 3. But A goes with B, if you eat at a Michelin three star, it is going to be significantly expensive. And while we enjoyed the meal, I don’t know that I would say it was worth the trip or worth the money.
I have mixed feelings about Bruges, it is certainly a beautiful and historic place, but I had learned some Dutch (they speak Flemish which is basically the same language with altered pronunciations) and I know some French, and on several occasions I noticed visibly negative attitudes toward Americans. I got the feeling we were being tolerated rather than welcomed, and maybe I felt a little that way about the restaurant.
At any rate there are dozens of unpretentious little restaurants where you can get a hot bowl of Stovery which is kind of the Flemish national dish, (in French, Carbonnade a la Flammande) – a beef stew with onions – and one of the excellent local beers. I hope your father really enjoys his trip.
I was treated warmly in Bruges. The day we arrived on our first visit, my wife went for a nap and I went to a small beer bar. Over the course of three hours there, I was treated to countless beers by other patrons, who would not let me reciprocate as I was a guest in their city. De Karmeliet is a great restaurant; not to be missed if one can pay the tariff. Next door, Rock Fort is a small bistro run by two former De Karmeliet alums. Casual, inexpensive, fun, and very good. Once when we were at Rock Fort, they ran out of a primary ingredient for a dish that we had ordered; I seem to recall it was foie. They nipped over to the kitchen at De Karmeliet and picked some up, explaining that they still had commissary privileges.
I’m not a fan of dining either in Prague or Amsterdam. There are threads in this forum and in the travel forum that are worth a search for those cities.
Glad you had good experiences, Mark. Maybe I’m overly sensitive, but the slights I noticed were never spoken in English, but in the other languages… It’s a great place to walk around, the swans are beautiful, the buildings are very old, and there are windmills etc.
I like Brugge (Dutch/Flemish spelling) a lot. The restaurants mentioned above are great–I’ve found people friendly in Brugge. Sometimes (at least the Dutch feel) the Belgians can throw off a bit of “attitude” but I’ve always found them welcoming.
In Amsterdam, you’re not going to find extraordinary food–the food is much better in the southern part of the country. The north (where Amsterdam is) still has its Calvinist traditions in which food is considered potentially a sin if its too pleasurable. I recommend a Tempo Doeloe on the Utrechtsestraat for Indonesian food.
I didn’t really have a good meal in Prague. Finally I got so desperate I went to a Belgian restaurant and had a fairly good meal.
Artisan Restaurant in Prague is good. (Rošických 603/4, 150 00 Prague 5-Malá Strana, Czech Republic)
Restobieres is a neat little out-of-the-way-not-touristy restaurant in Brussels. (Rue des Renards 9, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)
Food is very good at both of these spots. Restobieres is a humble spot. Artisan is dressier (I’d say a man should at least wear nice shoes, slacks, and a collared shirt to Artisan).
