Restaurantweek: lunch at Allure in Rotterdam
From 30 March - 10 April, many participating restaurants in the Netherlands held a restaurant week, which meant that you could have lunch or dinner for fixed prices (€22.50 for lunch and €27.50 for dinner, some restaurants may charge supplements). My niece from China who is currently studying at Warwick university, decided to visit me for the weekend, so I thought it was a good opportunity to take her to a nice restaurant.
At the Allure restaurant, they had a surprise menu for lunch, but the waiter did ask if we had any allergies or things that we didn't eat. We also had to go visit some other places afterwards, so I asked him if the dishes could be served at a faster pace.
As appetizers, we received an appetizer made with black olives (olives in 4 ways) and a small wasabi terrine filled with salmon mousse and with salty salmon eggs on top. On the side, there were some Japanese sesame sprinkles, wakame seaweed salad, and a small scoop of curry ice cream. Everything practically melted in the mouth and here and there, there were some interesting crispy and crunchy textures.
After that, we could pick between olive bread and multi-grain bread, and all four of us picked the white bread with olives. Accompanying it, were a mild olive oil with some seasoned sea salt sprinkled in it and a very soft butter with sea salt. The bread was warm and had a crispy outer layer, but I wasn't particularly impressed by its flavor. Maybe it is left a bit bland for the olive oil and butter to shine.
As our first course, we had a lobster bisque with a slow-cooked codfish on top of a bed of parsnip and a layer of white chocolate on top. I was surprised by how well the sweet white chocolate blended with the salty lobster bisque. The white chocolate almost acts like the dot of white cream you sometimes get on your soup, but then a sweet version. The codfish was soft and moist, really perfectly prepared! The lobster bisque had a very subtle flavor and didn't overpower the flavor of the codfish.
As our main course, we got lamb prepared in two ways, white and green asparagus, mashed potatoes, green peas, and crispy vegetable chips. I like the piece of lamb on the left the most as it was as soft as the meat in a stew and totally not dry. It was full of flavor and no trace of the strong flavor that you can get with eating lamb. The piece of lamb on the right tasted a bit like steak, but with a small hint of lamb. Eating a bit of the meat together with some of the mashed potatoes in one bite, made me think of Dutch stamppot, but then a luxurious kind.
As dessert, we got this beautiful strawberry-rhubarb bombe with fresh strawberries, meringue pieces, sorbet ice cream, and spun sugar on top.
At the Allure restaurant, they had a surprise menu for lunch, but the waiter did ask if we had any allergies or things that we didn't eat. We also had to go visit some other places afterwards, so I asked him if the dishes could be served at a faster pace.
As appetizers, we received an appetizer made with black olives (olives in 4 ways) and a small wasabi terrine filled with salmon mousse and with salty salmon eggs on top. On the side, there were some Japanese sesame sprinkles, wakame seaweed salad, and a small scoop of curry ice cream. Everything practically melted in the mouth and here and there, there were some interesting crispy and crunchy textures.
After that, we could pick between olive bread and multi-grain bread, and all four of us picked the white bread with olives. Accompanying it, were a mild olive oil with some seasoned sea salt sprinkled in it and a very soft butter with sea salt. The bread was warm and had a crispy outer layer, but I wasn't particularly impressed by its flavor. Maybe it is left a bit bland for the olive oil and butter to shine.
As our first course, we had a lobster bisque with a slow-cooked codfish on top of a bed of parsnip and a layer of white chocolate on top. I was surprised by how well the sweet white chocolate blended with the salty lobster bisque. The white chocolate almost acts like the dot of white cream you sometimes get on your soup, but then a sweet version. The codfish was soft and moist, really perfectly prepared! The lobster bisque had a very subtle flavor and didn't overpower the flavor of the codfish.
As our main course, we got lamb prepared in two ways, white and green asparagus, mashed potatoes, green peas, and crispy vegetable chips. I like the piece of lamb on the left the most as it was as soft as the meat in a stew and totally not dry. It was full of flavor and no trace of the strong flavor that you can get with eating lamb. The piece of lamb on the right tasted a bit like steak, but with a small hint of lamb. Eating a bit of the meat together with some of the mashed potatoes in one bite, made me think of Dutch stamppot, but then a luxurious kind.
As dessert, we got this beautiful strawberry-rhubarb bombe with fresh strawberries, meringue pieces, sorbet ice cream, and spun sugar on top.
