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Restaurants that serve "Dutch" food can sometimes be a bit of a hit and miss affair in The Netherlands. The Dutch are not well known for their culinary culture... and when they eat out, they seem to prefer food from different countries anyway, other wise what is the point of eating Dutch food if you can eat that at home anyway!

This particular day, I was between rehearsals... and it was a nice warm and sunny day... which meant that all the restaurants were pretty packed as everyone was out and about enjoying the "lekker weer"!

The Space

Graaf Floris has a large outdoor seating space across the road from the main entrance. It would be quite nice to sit there, but as you can see, on this day it was particularly busy out there! Also, there is a distinct lack of shade... not a problem for me, but if you get burnt easily, then it is something to keep in mind!

On the inside, the restaurant is comfortable if a bit old fashioned! It does remind me of a old fashioned tavern or restaurant. It is a nice change from the self-consiously "hip" decor of some other places....

A well stocked bar completes the picture... it really is a small town tavern in a big big city!

The Menu

The menu is full of pretty stock standard Dutch menu items.... mostly they are oven or fried dishes with a side of potatoes (chips) and salad. Decent hearty winter food, but perhaps not for all occasions!

Likewise, the drinks menu is pretty ordinary. Coffee, tea... beers and so forth. Like the Lunch menu, there is nothing terribly exciting... however, no hidden terrible surprises either!

The Food

I ended up order the Old Dutch Beef Stew in Beer and Apple Stroop... it did catch my eye as I had never considered using the Apple and Pear Stroop for stews... I had always thought that they were more a thing to spread on toast instead...

Let's just say that the initial presentations was... a bit strange! It was quite weird to have everything served up seperately and not together... I have to say, it doesn't look that great either... however, it shouldn't affect the taste!

Combining all the various parts together made me feel like I had a hand in preparing the meal... but jokes aside, it was really quite good! I am tempted to try out using stroop in my stews nows... it does add a nice sweetness to the stew, and it was really something that I wouldn't have considered!

The Experience

Graaf Floris is unashamedly old fashioned, from the decor to the age of the wait staff! However, there is something quite comforting about a place that doesn't try to be too cool and hip....

It has a nice relaxed atmostphere, the wait staff are friendly and not intrustive... so it is also a great place to hole up and pass some time...

The food was unexpectedly good... however, the coffee was expectedly bad. So, if you have the chance, I woujld recommend a beer with lunch/dinner instead of the stuff that they call coffee... unfortunately, I was on a break between rehearsals and that wasn't really an option for me!