Grand Café Krasnapolsky

Summer’s over. Holidays done and gone. Heart happy. Wallet…confused. Yep, it’s time to stick around Amsterdam for a while. And try some new places, while we’re at it! This week’s visit was at Grand Café Krasnapolsky.

One regret I have about being away for most of September is basically missing most of Amsterdam’s restaurant week. It actually lasts for a month and a half, so I was able to take advantage of at least one good deal. Browsing through the options, I found a 3-course chef’s menu for €28,50. Great – all set for date night, then!

Even after vaguely looking at the map to locate the restaurant, I still haven’t realized that I’ve been there before. Granted, not for dinner, but for birthday cocktails. It’s basically in the absolute middle of Dam square.

Part of the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, you’ll find the café on the ground floor, next to their champagne room (yeah, they’ve got that too; and a cake room!).

We were welcomed by the very friendly staff, chose our drinks, and waited to see what the chef’s got in store for us. Before receiving our first course, our waitress gave us a brief description of the meal, and by the sounds of it…a great match for us.

Course number 1, the starter, consisted of a soft and fluffy burrata on a bed of avocado, with cherry tomatoes. As a massive burrata lover, it’s hard not to like this dish. Although all the flavours and textures were there, I did think it was heavy for a starter. The combination between the cheese and the avocado, both creamy and high in fat, might’ve been a bit much.

Our second course was duck breast, with a tiny duck wellington, berry sauce, and parsnip (?) puree. The duck was cooked well: nice and pink. Hayden’s piece wasn’t very even, with some bites chewier than others. However, the real star here was the little duck wellington! Wish there were 2 of those.

For dessert, we had the panna cotta, with a banana and passion fruit sorbet. It was light and citrusy – a nice way to end a meal with fairly heavy ingredients.

We washed everything down with a beautiful rosé. Overall, we both enjoyed our little date night at Grand Café Krasnapolsky. Hats off the to the staff, who managed to pretend like nothing was going on for all the guests in the restaurant, while the hotel lobby was filled with water, police and firefighters. Turns out, there was a leak caused by rain, which triggered a whole protocol. You learn something new every day.

The food was good, but it didn’t wow us. Given that we went there with a pretty good deal from Amsterdam restaurant week, it was absolutely worth it. I wouldn’t be so sure about the full price version. I think there are better choices out there.

Value for money: 9 (with the deal)

Food Quality: 7

Location: 10 (Dam 9, 1012 JS Amsterdam)

Service: 10

Website: http://grandcafekrasnapolsky.nl