Restaurant De Kas was located in a park like setting. The grounds are used for some of the gardens that supply the restaurant and you could watch folks planting while we ate. More of their farms are located about 20 miles away. There is a large interior dining room but the day we were there the weather was nice enough to allow use of outdoor tables. At lunch they offered a tasting menu of 3 or 4 courses with an optional cheese platter. A special that day was oysters which you could add on – priced per piece. Wine pairings were available of 2, 3, or 4 glasses. We chose the 4 course lunch and the wine pairings. Service was friendly and helpful but the pacing of the meal was really slow.
While making your menu choices they brought out tapioca crackers and a celery dip. The crackers were puffy and crispy with a mild flavor; they seemed most about the texture. The dip was a pretty color but also very mild, however it was a nice light snack to munch on while you decided/waited.
Sour dough bread slices were brought out in a paper bag, clipped shut. They make their own bread from Dutch organic grains. The dough is fermented slowly for 26 hours before it’s baked. They vary the type of bread every day based on the grains they can get. It was a moist and doughy bread but did not have a real crispy crust. The wheat bits were very much in evidence.
Baby turnips were in a picadilly sauce dusted with a crumble of cassava and poppy seeds. The tender turnips were not hot at all and the crumbles gave the dish some nice texture, along with tasting good. It was nice.
One more amuse was a purple potato with lovage leaves on a vadouvan sauce. It tasted like potato curry and very yummy.
Roasted eggplant was plated with fenugreek curry, radish, goat’s yogurt and lovage. There was a papadum of chickpeas mixed in. The roasted eggplant was almost caramelized on the edge. It was not a pretty dish but it all worked flavor-wise. A hint of spice and the various textures made it a good one.
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Potato gnocchi was plated with pesto, pine nuts, green beans, peas and basil vinaigrette. The gnocchi were tender and the ground pinenuts in the pesto had a lot of flavor. Some tasty basil leaves added to the mix as did the very fresh and tender peas and beans. I picked up on something pickled in the mix, maybe capers that brought it down a bit. This one was okay.
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Poached Oosterschelde lobster was served with courgette (zucchini), spinach, peanut and coconut bisque. The bisque was really good and flavored well with lobster as well as coconut. The peanuts added a bit of texture to the tasty, tender lobster. This particular lobster is known for being sweeter than most and available only April to mid July. It was excellent.
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Wild peach was the dessert, served with rose curd, almond and vanilla ice cream. Red and white currants were also on the plate and the almonds were the source of some texture. The ice cream had a good strong vanilla flavor but the peaches had only mild flavor. This course took so long to come out they offered us a coffee on the house, which was a nice gesture. They also were willing to top off the wine pours when the food was not out at the same time the wine was poured.
Final treats were seeds that was a bar that reminded me of ‘rice krispies’ with white chocolate, a cookie with almonds and a caramel tart. They were all good with a nice amount of sweetness and a ton of textures.
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