BAK is located in a commercial building on the waterfront. There is a bell you need to ring to get buzzed in and then you have the option of walking up multiple flights of stairs or taking the elevator to the top floor. As you turn right out of the elevators you will find the restrooms that you’ll use while dining right around the corner. The view is wonderful with all the boats coming and going as well as a couple of docked boats, one of which I understand is a bed and breakfast. Music plays in the background, tables are well spaced but small and there is an open kitchen at the end of the long room. However it is not the only kitchen as evidenced by a dumbwaiter that moves things up and down between the other kitchen.
Chef Benny Blisto was in the kitchen (they were prepping for an event the following day where they were serving white asparagus) but did not choose to visit with diners. DAK offers tasting menus of 4 or 6 courses with two optional courses to add. During our visit turbot was one additional course as was cheese. They offer wine pairings at 26 euros for the 4 courses in the small menu and you add on a variable per glass price for each extra course. We chose the 6 course menu and added the turbot as well as wine pairings.
To start the meal they bring out yummy hot sour dough bread that was soft and chewy in the center while the crust was crisp and crunchy. With it came a bowl of whipped brown butter.
Vegetables and herbs included a variety of Dutch vegetables both raw and pickled, flowers, wild garlic oil and cream of cheese (Pierre Robert). The cheese had a strong flavor but the vegetables worked well with it. On top of the cheese was a crispy cracker that added more texture.
Lettuce was grilled and served with sliced portobello. The dressing was a sauce of sauerkraut and oyster that sat below the greens and botarga was sprinkled on top. It was a tasty dressing and the grilling brought out the flavor of the lettuce. A nice course.
White asparagus were plated with kelp, sea lavender and a glaze of yeast. Kelp was the darker bits, crisp and blending well, it also combined with the buttery sauce which was very good.
Turbot was plated with endive and grains. The fish was grilled and coated with a sourdough glaze. The sauce was made from fish bones and grains. Escarole completed the nice plate along with some buttery mashed potatoes hidden under the fish. The turbot was firm and excellent and the sauce fantastic. The greens were grilled and were rich and smokey tasting. A wonderful course.
Roe deer with turnip and onion was quite good. The deer was cooked on a Green Egg and had a sauce of coffee and sour dough. An onion compote was under the turnip pieces and a grilled turnip leaf was in the middle of the plate. The deer was tender and nicely rare. Another wonderful course.
The first dessert was rhubarb with sorrel, pine and raspberry sorbet. The sauce was from red sorrel mixed with tarragon and kelp. The sorbet was nice and some grains on top of it added a bit of crunch. The leaves on top I found to be too tart to enjoy and overall the dish needed a heavier hit of sweet to work with the tart components.
The last dessert was angelica ice cream, strawberries and nasturtium and oats crumble. The strawberries were nice as were the oats but overall it didn’t seems as tasty as the ingredients would lend it to be. Desserts don’t seem to measure up to the savories here.
