Restaurant Review:
The Seafood Bar - Amsterdam
Recently, my husband and I took a trip to Amsterdam for his
birthday. After living in Poland for a year, we desperately wanted
something we couldn't get here - which is seafood. My husband and I have
been to Amsterdam quite a few times and have never been impressed with
the food. So for my husbands birthday I knew I wanted to find not only a
restaurant with good food, but that also had good seafood.
I
ended up researching seafood restaurants online and found The Seafood
Bar. It had high reviews on Yelp and was only a 20 minute walk from our
apartment (it is probably a 10 minute walk from the tourist center of
the city). It is in a quiet residential neighborhood, so it is
definitely more of a "locals" restaurant. I really recommend making a
reservation for this restaurant because it is consistently busy during
the weekend.If you don't make a reservation though, don't worry. They will put you on a list and ask you to come back in about 30 minutes. There was a bar a few blocks down from the restaurant that my husband and I went to while we waited.
The
host and the waitstaff were extremely pleasant and worked to get us a
table as quickly as possible. When you walk in the first thing you
notice is the raw oyster bar where the chef's are opening tons of raw
oysters to serve to the tables. If you are lucky enough to sit in the
back, you will also notice the fresh seafood they have on display. The
atmosphere is definitely beachy-casual. I would expect to see a place
like this in California or Florida.
The Seafood bar has an amazing
selection of french oysters. You can get them in orders of a half dozen,
dozen, or the 16 platter. My husband and I, being avid lovers of
oysters, got the 16 platter which had samples of each type of oysters
they had. The waiter was sure to explain to us where each oyster was
found and how the taste would be different from the others.
For
our entrees I got the "Fruits de mer" platter which was a wonderful
combination of shell fish and other "fruits of the sea". This is for one
person - but could have easily filled up my husband and I. It was some
of the most fresh and delicious seafood I have ever tasted. My husband
had the Plateau Seafood bar which included smoked eel, shrimp, house
crab salad, and smoked salmon. He really enjoyed his as well.
Our
entire experience here was wonderful and it was definitely the best
seafood I've had while we've lived in Europe. We recommended this
restaurant to some friends who are staying in Amsterdam and they have
already been twice! So if you ever travel to Amsterdam, you should
definitely try out this restaurant!
