After two years it was time to return to Ciel Bleu, the two Michelin star restaurant at the 23rd floor of the Okura hotel by chef Arjan Speelman with a wonderful view of Amsterdam. My previous visit was in 2023 for my friend Sebas’ birthday, and this year it was my birthday gift to my friend Melvin.

At Ciel Bleu you can make your experience as expensive if you like. It starts with the six course signature menu (225 euros) wine wine pairing (150 euros). We opted for 8 courses (275 euros) with wine wine pairing (200 euros). But you could also change the main course to Waguy A5 (+65 euros), or go for Prestige with not only the Wagyu but also black truffle and some caviar (375 euros, wine pairing 275 euros). Or go all out with caviar on all courses (595 euros). A change compared to two years ago is that there is now only one wine pairing that is at a price point between the previous ‘regular’ and ‘premium’ pairings.

I was pleased to see sommelier Niccolò Benigni again, who took such good care of us with the wines during my last visit. We started with a glass of a very nice sparkling rosé from Sussex, England, a blend of 55% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, and 5% Pinot Meunier, aged 3 years on the lees. Brut but smooth with 10 grams of residual sugar. Very fruity but elegant.

The first snacks were some very crispy crackers with a curried pumpkin mousse and marinated olives stuffed with Pierre Robert cheese.

Next was raw hamachi with elegant and complex Thai flavors.

The bluefin tuna and caviar dish from my previous visit was now turned into an amuse bouche version. Still served in the vertebra of a bluefin tuna, but greatly improved as the tuna was now sliced much smaller and the balance between the tuna and the other components was much better. Outstanding!

The first wine was a very classic pairing, a single vineyard Muscadet from the Loire Valley in France with the typical salinity of this wine, but luckily not with the extreme acidity that Muscadet can sometimes have.

It was an excellent pairing with the “fruits de mer”: a panna cotta of uni (sea urchin), oyster escabeche, mussels, raw scallops, raw shrimp, and crispy seaside leaves. Impeccably fresh seafood and a great combination of flavors and textures.

We continued with a sweet Riesling Spätlese from Mosel, with nice balance and an elegant touch of ‘petrol’.

This was an adequate pairing for my least favorite dish of the menu: lobster with rhubarb, celery, and a sweetish passion berry sauce with lobster oil (oil infused with flavor from the lobster shells). The flavor of the lobster was drowned in the other flavors and the texture of the lobster was not nearly as good as two years ago. Lobster is one of my favorite ingredients, so this was a bit disappointing.

We continued with an oaked Assyrtiko the Greek island of Santorini. A full-bodied white with a lot of flavor, but balanced.

It was an excellent pairing for the red mullet with ‘caponata’, smoked paprika (pimentón), and anchovies. The mullet was reconstructed after the bone had been taken out and had was very tender and juicy (probably cooked sous vide). The mullet with the sauce was delicious, very bold flavors, but very well balanced. A difficult dish to pair a wine, but the pairing was perfect.

Niccolò changed the regular pairing for us to a 2022 Chassagne-Montrachet, which was wonderful. Despite its youth, very well balanced and complex.

It was a great pairing for the sea bass with artichokes, Dutch shrimps, and beurre blanc sauce with red vanilla. I liked everything of this dish but the artichokes were amazing, I have never tasted such delicious sweet artichokes before. The chef promised to e-mail me the recipe — I can’t wait to try making them this way myself.

Another detour from the regular pairing, a 2016 Château Laroze Saint Émilion. A blend of 65% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. Beautiful fruit and very elegant. Tannins still quite present, but with the dish they became velvety smooth.

The dish was breast fillet of a poussin de Bresse, an unexpected pairing with a red Bordeaux wine. But it was a great pairing, due to the elegance of this particular Bordeaux and the accompanying umeboshi, XO sauce, and various preparations of different types of onions. Chicken breast in a two Michelin star restaurant? Well, if you prepare it like this, then it is wonderful. The chicken was stuffed under the skin with umeboshi and (I believe) mushrooms. A very flavorful dish.

The next wine was a 2020 Dominio del Aguila Ribera del Duero (Spain) of 85% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha, 5% Bobal, and 5% Albillo. The addition of the (white) Albillo helped to make this wine quite elegant for a Ribera del Duero. Smooth tannins, nice fruit and oak.

This was a good pairing for the roe deer venison backstrap, morel stuffed with spinach, more spinach, parsnip, peeled walnut, and a roe deer jus. The roe deer was perfectly medium rare and tender. Peeling walnuts is a difficult chore, but they taste great without the astringent skin. The parsnip was still crunchy and therefore had a lighter flavor, not as sweet. It was a great wine and it was a good pairing, but I think a more earthy red (like a Barolo) would have worked even better.

We couldn’t resist having a bit of cheese from the great selection.

We asked for blue cheese only, so it could be paired with a glass of Sauternes. One of the blue cheese was quite extraordinary because it was from Norway.

You can’t go wrong with blue cheese and Sauternes. This 2017 Château Guiraud was elegant and already had some tertiary saffron notes, despite being so young.

The palate cleanser was a goat milk sorbet with violets, cucumbers, and wheat grass.

The dessert wine was a Rivesaltes, fortied Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, and Macabeu, aged for 20 years in barriques. Like a tawny port, but from France and with lower alcohol (16% instead of 20%).

It was a very nice wine, but it was overpowered by the chocolate dessert with dulce de leche, hazelnut, and vanilla. A PX would have been a better choice.

We ended the meal with tea and some nice friandises, especially the strawberry frangipane tart.

This was another wonderful evening at Ciel Bleu. The food was excellent, and it is worth noticing that the portions are quite generous. Sometimes in Michelin star restaurants you seem to get a series of amuse bouche, but here you actually get fed. There is good bread with butter and olive oil as well. The wines and wine pairings were excellent as well. I like that the wine pairing is at the level of the food, which unfortunately is not the case at many other restaurants. The service was excellent as well, very friendly and attentive. Wine was topped up promptly when needed without having to ask for it. The pace was perfect, neither too fast nor too slow. I can’t wait for next time!