Dining with a view at PorterHouse Naarden

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Dining in the harbour of Naarden

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This was my second business trip to Naarden, and PorterHouse was located near the hotel I was staying at the last time, and this time as well. It's actually quite distanced from most other things, so whenever you're staying there from abroad without own transportation, you probably end up dining at this place. My girlfriend pointed out this restaurant before my first trip when she was looking for dining options for me going through the local maps.

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Inside you see boats on the wall, and then there's that stunning view on the harbour. It alsmost looks like a framed picture when you sit on that table and look through the window. Lovely ambiance!

I love a good steak

And it's actually one of the things that I miss at home, as for some reason a good steak is hard to find in Budapest. There are places where you can eat them, don't get me wrong, but it's not as easy to find as it is in Holland. The PorterHouse seems to be proud of the steak they serve and therefore I was actually looking forward eating there during the week.

My order

I ordered the Dry aged runder rib-eye 300 grams. The waiter asked if I wanted to order french fries with that, which I did. I also ordered a pepper sauce. As you can see in the picture below, there's absolutely nothing wrong with their presentation. It looks quite appealing, doesn't it?

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You should know that your order is the meat only, no garnish and no extras like fries. When you order this, it's not included in the price. I wasn't aware of this, so that's something I want to pass on to the readers in case they visit PorterHouse.

How did it taste?

Let's start with the most important part of my diner: the rib-eye. Although it was the most expensive meat on the card, it was good but not nothing as special as you'd expect. Although I asked the waiter what he recommended, he clearly preferred to mention the most expensive thing instead of the best piece of meat available. I understand they run a business, but I appreciate honesty. Sometimes you just don't have the highest quality meat available, and there's nothing wrong with admitting that or just by recommending another steak instead.

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The fries were a huge disappointment, although you can't tell by looking at the picture. Most of the fries were even smaller than shown in the picture, and on top of that fried too long and way too salty. I can handle some salt, but this was off limits. The waiter agreed, and to compensate this the fries weren't charged and I also received 2 free beers to wash away the salt.

Although I can't say this with 100% certainty, I have the feeling the pepper sauce was not homemade. It was very similar to sauces in other restaurants and nothing special, but it was good enough. Just your average pepper sauce.

Rating

Even though I had some comments about the food, they have solved my problems nicely. I received the oversalted fries without charge, as well as the 2 beers. They tried to make sure I left as a satisfied customer, which I appriated. Add to that the ambiance in the restaurant and the stunning view, which is also worth something when visiting a restaurant.

Therefore I will come back the next time I'm in the area and give this restaurant visit a 4 out of 5 star rating and I recommend you to visit the restaurant when you're in the area of Naarden.