Dinner at Café restaurant Floor Rotterdam

With the Albert Heijn supermarket Restaurant deal (I collected many stickers after purchase), I could have the second three course meal for free at selected restaurants in the Netherlands. It took me a while to find the time for it, but I selected the Café restaurant Floor as my first restaurant to try out.






I went in a group of four and I had two AH Restaurantactie sticker booklets with me, so two of the four three-course meals were for free. The price of a three-course meal differs per restaurant and in this restaurant, it is €37.50. Drinks and other supplements aren't included in the deal. I picked this restaurant, because of the good reviews and I like that they let us choose from dishes that are also on the regular menu.

We were seated in a quiet spot in the back of the restaurant, where we were able to chat leisurely. But we were still attended nicely (and not forgotten). I also spotted some famous Dudok cakes in the glass case.
 


Someone ordered this warm brown looking beer from Jopen, which is called "Mooie Nel Ipa" (€5.50). It was awarded as the best beer of the Netherlands in 2015. It a a bitter tasting beer with tropical fruit notes. I can't say much about it, as I just ordered a Lipton Ice Tea green (€2.50, my safe choice). Just like at the Jamie's Italian, it very easily tastes too watery and flavorless, after the ice cubes melt. Besides another Ice Tea green, we also ordered a hot green tea from Peeze Communitea (€2.50), which comes with a small cookie. The tea had a very pretty green color and I almost wished I ordered that one instead.
 

The pictures didn't turn out as good as I had hoped due to the candle-lit surroundings (very romantic and soothing though!). 

First courses

 Bladerdeeg tompouce (translated: puff pastry tompouce)

A tompouce is a Dutch sweet dessert, which consists of a thick custard cream between two rectangular slices of puff pastry covered by a frosting (find a picture here) and this dish is a savory version of that. I really like the concept, but sadly, the puff pastry covered with Italian herbs was a bit old and not crispy anymore. However, I can imagine it to be too much trouble to bake one for every customer and it is easier to make them all at once beforehand.

It is filled with a chickpea pumpkin paste, Dutch buffalo mozzarella, rocket, and pickled pumpkin cubes. I got a small bite of it and the mozzarella had a really nice creamy texture and a subtle flavor. The chickpea pumpkin paste tasted similar to hummus, but with a very tiny hint of pumpkin. The pickled pumpkin cubes had a sweet flavor and the slight crunchiness reminds me a bit of sweetened apple cubes.    

Makreel & biet (translated: Mackerel and beet)

It is two slices of white bread with steamed mackerel fillets, marinated beets (pinks shreds in the picture), thin slices of green apple, lettuce, and a horseradish cream. The bread was a bit too small to put everything on top, but it was nice eating the filling by itself too. The mackerel is on the dry side, but soft and full of flavor. It has a nice sweet seafood flavor and it isn't too fishy. The marinated beet shreds were crunchy and sour, similar to Japanese ginger slices, but then, without the heat. I really like marinated, sour, and crunchy vegetables, so I was glad that this was the dish I got to eat myself instead of only getting small tastes of it. The slices of apple were a bit dry and luckily, not sour at all. I like the crunch that it adds. The horseradish cream had a nice and mild flavor, but there wasn't enough to create enough moisture to balance the other dry ingredients.

 Hollands weiderund (translated: Dutch free range beef)

It is a carpaccio made with thin slices of raw Dutch free range beef, truffle mayonnaise, a handful of rocket, grated old Dutch cheese, and pine nuts. On top, there is a slice of brown and a slice of white bread. You also get a small bottle of olive oil for you to add to the dish. I tasted a slice of the Dutch free range beef and it was tender and full of meat flavor. I did miss a bit of seasoning, but I think you are supposed to do that yourself. I remember seeing some salt and pepper shakers on the table.  

Main courses

 Staartsteak (translated: rump steak)

It is a large piece of rump steak (cooked medium as requested) with porcini butter, two pieces of mini chicory, and a slice of potato pie. I got a small taste of this one too and the meat tasted like a perfectly cooked steak. The meat was tender and full of meat flavor. It tasted good with the soft porcini butter. I think that the chicory were soaked in a sweet and sour citrus (orange?) sauce, which took the bitterness away. It tasted really good: good flavors and a nice crunch from the vegetables (not cooked too soft and not too hard). The slice of potato pie had a thin crust of cheese and a center with grated potato. It tasted similar to a rösti.

 Kalf en selderij (translated: veal and celery)

It is my second choice, as I heard that the Staartsteak is one of their best dishes, but they only had two of that left in the kitchen, so I had to switch to this dish. I wasn't too disappointed as this dish was actually more to my liking. The rump steak has a thicker slice of meat and a bit firmer bite to it. The veal has a thinner slice of meat and more fatty parts in between (not just one solid piece of meat), and the flavor and texture reminded me a bit of grilled chicken. I told them to cook it well-done and they were still able to make it very tender and tasty. On the bottom, there are thin sticks of celery, green beans, and carrot. I like that the vegetables still had a slight crunch, but they were seasoned a bit too salty. Correction: I suddenly remember putting some salt over the potatoes and it could have ended up in the watery sauce on the bottom of the plate and the vegetables - I ate the last - might have gotten too salty that way. The roasted red potatoes with skin were spot on: a velvety soft core and rich potato flavor. I only miss a thick gravy to dip them in.

Luckily, we also ordered two sides of homemade fries (€3 per portion) with Zaanse mayonnaise. The mayonnaise tasted really good: not too sour, very creamy, and you could really taste the egg yolk. I added some on the red potatoes and they were perfect together. The fries were also really crunchy and delicious. Almost like a bag of Bram Ladage fries on a good day (I had some bad days, when I got really burned fries). The portions of the fries were really generous and I almost got too full for dessert. But girls can never be too full for desserts, so I didn't skip on that.        

Desserts

There was also a sorbet ice in the flavors: green apple, pear, raspberry-tarragon, but we decided on the chef's special dessert and the coffee and chocolate dessert. The desserts came on a black piece of tile and I really like how they plated it.

 Daily changing chef's dessert: Mint and hazelnut

It is made of two pieces of hazelnut cake (similar to gingerbread cake, but without the ginger), a scoop of vanilla ice cream with crunchy nuts, two quinelles of mint mousse, and two pieces of mint meringue. The hazelnut cake was very dense, but not too dry. It has a flavor I never tasted before, but it was very tasty. The ice cream was delicious: a good vanilla flavor and crunchy sugared nuts. I wish there was more. The quenelles of mint mouse melted in my mouth and it tasted like you are chewing green leaves of mint in your mouth (a really natural mint flavor and not artificial). I like that they weren't too sweet. The pieces of mint meringue tasted like sweet macarons with a light hint of mint as an end taste.

Sadly, this is not on the regular menu and the chef's dessert changes every day. But it is kind of fun to go there regularly to test your luck or be surprised with something new instead. 

 Koffie en chocola (translated: coffee and chocolate)

This is the dessert I had and it has two small slices of white chocolate cheese cake, a quenelle of dark chocolate mousse, a scoop of coffee ice cream, and a grainy caramel sauce. I couldn't taste the white chocolate, but it is a good, firm cheesecake with a thick, crunchy cookie bottom. The dark chocolate mouse was a bit thicker than the mint mousse I got a taste of, but I like that it isn't too sweet and the chocolate flavor is quite good. The coffee ice cream was really nice too. I expected something like a mocha ice cream or an espresso ice cream, but it is like a cappuccino ice cream. It was milky sweet with a hint of coffee. The sweet and salty caramel sauce with a thick and grainy texture was so good that I scraped it off the tile with a spoon.

What do I think?

With the AH Restaurantactie, it was an absolute bargain to eat here. We ordered some drinks and some sides, which added to the bill, but it was still very affordable for what we got. I never felt that we were pushed to order more drinks nor did we have disappointing sides. The service was great, as the waitress was very attentive to our needs. She was around whenever we needed her and she gave us enough space to enjoy our meal undisturbed. I can really recommend this restaurant, if you still have some AH restaurantactie sticker booklets left. I myself still have several left, so I need to plan where to go next before they expire.