Ron Blaauw is a famous Dutch chef who used to have a two Michelin star restaurant, but now has four branches of “Ron Gastrobar“, of which the original one near the Vondelpark in Amsterdam has held a single Michelin star since 2014. The philosophy of the gastrobars is to get high quality food in an informal setting. As a party of 2 the seating is literally at the bar (the tables around the bar are for 3 or 4). I had not been to Ron Gastrobar since 2013 (read about that here). Because I really liked the food back then, I decided to take my friend Robert there for his birthday. Since then the formula has changed: you can now pick 3 courses (49.50 euros) or 4 courses (69.50 euros) from the menu. That sounds like a very good deal for a Michelin star and it is, but everything is separate on your bill, like bread for 7.50 euros or snacks (amuse bouche) for 8-12 euros. There are also some specials, like the Tournedos Rossini (59 euros) that we ordered.

As we were there to celebrate, I decided to splurge on the wine, and ordered a nice bottle of Meursault to start with. It was nice and rich, as one would expect from Meursault.

As a snack to start we had a salted herring, wrapped in nori, lackered with miso, and shiso. The herring was perfect and the combination with the shiso, nori, and miso very nice.

As a first course we had the “à la minute” smoked salmon with horseradish cream and sourdough toast, and a salad on the side.

The salmon had perfect flavor and texture, with just the right amount of salt.

As a second course we had chosen the sole, fried in beurre noisette, with green asparagus and Lardo di Colonnata. We had picked this course to go with the Meursault and it did work very well. The technical execution of the dish could be better, as the sole was a bit overcooked, and the tough fibrous end of the asparagus had not been removed completely.

The Italian bartender (who was blond and spoke Dutch so fluently that we only noticed he was Italian after he had told us) recommended a 2000 Chianti Classico Riserva Badia a Passignano by Antinori, which was a very good choice. The wine had aged perfectly with wonderful aromas of truffle and velvet tannins.

We had ordered the Tournedos Rossini, as it is a favorite dish for both Robert and myself. I thought it was peculiar that the beef was sliced. The foie gras was slightly overcooked for my taste, the beef slightly underseasoned, and the Australian truffle not very fragrant. The mushrooms were outstanding though. It was good, but I prefer my own rendition to be honest. The pairing with the Chianti was wonderful.

We liked to have so cheese to finish the wine, and asked whether it would be possible to get cheeses that would work with the Chianti. This is what we got: Brie de Meaux, a red washed rind cheese, and an aged hard cheese. I commented right away when noticing the Brie that we had asked for cheeses that would go with the Chianti, but the waitress said they had understood and this is what the kitchen had come up with. The cheeses came straight from the refrigerator rather than being at room temperature, and both the Brie and the washed rind did not work with the wine. The sommelier stopped by and asked us how we were doing. He offered to get us another wine (we had finished the Chianti by then anyway, but not the cheese). He first came up with a German Spätburgunder that was too astringent to work with any cheese, but then with a white Burgundy that was nice with the cheese. I was wondering whether this wine would end up on the bill or not, but it did (15 euros per glass).

A nice gesture of the bartender was to get us a taste of the 2016 Dominus that apparently had been refused by another table, a very expensive Cabernet from Napa Valley.

Another nice gesture was that Robert got a birthday treat from the restaurant.

Instead of a dessert, I ordered the chocolate bitterballen. I was expecting them to be hot and deep fried, but they were cold and more like chocolate truffles with a soft center.

We paired the chocolate bitterballen with a glass of Pedro Ximénez to finish our meal.

We had a very evening at Ron Gastrobar. The service and atmosphere are not at all like a typical fine dining restaurant, and more like, well, a bar. The wine list is quite extensive. The food has the quality of fine dining but with more generous portions. Despite some small glitches like cheese from the refrigerator it is certainly better than most other restaurants in Amsterdam at this price point, so excellent value for money.