MOS restaurant in Amsterdam has one Michelin star and offers a beautiful view of the river and Central Station from the large windows. The restaurant by chef Egon van Hoof and maître Henry Pattiwael opened in 2015 and has held one Michelin star since 2016.

I took my friend Martijn there to celebrate his birthday. MOS has a fixed tasting menu of 5 courses (115 euros), 6 courses (135 euros) or 7 courses (155 euros). We went for seven courses with wine pairing (93 euros).

As aperitif we had a glass of Biondelli Franciacorta Brut (13 euros), 100% Chardonnay, aged 24 months on the lees.

The first amuses bouches were a miso cake with chestnut and teriyaki and roll of kohlrabi with lentils, coconut, and tamarind.

This was followed by a ‘macaron’ of lovage with yuzu and yoghurt, and potato rösti with chervil and black garlic aioli. The amuses were all vegan and quite elegant. Some chefs peak early in the menu with amuses that are explosions of flavor that make the dishes that come after disappoint in comparison, but at MOS we start with more modest (but good) flavors.

The first wine of the pairing was a Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder) by Markus Prackwieser from Alto Adige in Italy. Nicely fruity but at with a nice mineral backbone.

This was a good pairing for different preparations of tuna with rouille, roasted tomato broth, and bloody mary gel.

The following wine was a 2022 Federspiel Riesling from Ried Bruck by Domäne Wachau from Austria. This was a nice full-bodied Riesling with restrained acidity.

The wine worked well with black cod lightly cured in miso with umeboshi, mushrooms and a miso crème anglaise. The mushrooms and sauce were cool and the fish only slightly warm, so this was a lukewarm dish. The texture and flavor of the fish was perfect and it was a very nice combination with the mushrooms. Umeboshi has a very strong flavor, but I could not really make it out. This was a very nice Japanese-style dish.

The final white wine was a 2022 Viognier from the Rhone valley, nicely aromatic.

It was a good pairing for the white asparagus with braised oxtail, ramps, oxtail broth, and smoked eel. The ‘surf & turf’ element of oxtail and eel was quite nice with the asparagus.

The first red wine of the pairing was a 2022 Sangiovese from Montalcino, made outside of the Rosso di Montalcino DOC or Brunello DOCG, but an IGT Toscana instead. Nice medium bodied with supple tannins and earthy aroma.

This was a very good pairing for what turned out to be my favorite dish of the menu: sweet bread coated in nuts with barbecued corn, tamarillo, mole, and (non-spicy) jalapeño gravy. Clearly a Mexican-inspired dish and very delicious. I am not always a fan of sweetbread, but the crunchy nuts combined with the soft texture of the sweetbread and all the other elements on the plate was wonderful.

The second and final red wine was a 2020 Pitray Les Prairies Côtes de Bordeaux, the ‘second wine’ of Château de Pitray (Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc). Clearly recognizable as Bordeaux, but in a very smooth style.

This was a very good pairing for the fillet of lamb with lamb gravy, cime di rape, roasted bell pepper, eggplant, and parsley root. The lamb was from the UK with a very nice lamb flavor and the combination with the other elements on the plate was wonderful.

The 10-year old “Reserva Velha” Boal Madeira by Barbeito was a good pairing for the wide range of cheeses. It was mildly sweet (to go with hard and blue cheese) with good acidity (to go with goat cheese).

Each cheese was paired with a garnish and all cheeses were served perfectly ripe and at the right temperature. I am not usually a fan of combining stuff with cheese, but these were all nice and everything worked very well with the Madeira as well. Well done.

The dessert wine was a 2017 Késöi Aranay by Grand Tokaj.

It was a good pairing for the dessert with strawberries, rhubarb, lychees, and white chocolate.

We finished the meal with some nice friandises.

This was a very nice meal. Some chefs seem to forget that dishes should not only be creative and beautifully presented, but also delicious. At MOS this is clearly not the case, as everything was very tasty. All dishes were good and some were excellent, especially the sweetbread and the lamb.

All the wines were nice and all the pairings were good. The sommelier has done a very good job of finding ‘budget’ versions of great wines. As a wine lover I would have liked the option to go for a real Condrieu, a real Rosso di Montalcino and a real Saint-Emilion, wines that would be more complex with a longer finish, but also a lot more expensive. But these wines were paired well, very enjoyable, and great value for money.

The service was excellent and very friendly. The meal was perfectly paced and we never had to ask for anything.

MOS certainly deserves its Michelin star. I’ll be back!