Het Hof van Charlois

It’s Restaurantweek, so I decided to try out some restaurants that are yet unknown to me. This time I tried my luck on the Southside of the river (later this week I will go to a restaurant on the Northside), in a district called Charlois. (pronounce: Sjaarloos) I chose Het Hof van Charlois, because it looks rather chique and the reviews about the food, the ambiance and the waiters were very promising.

Het Hof is situated in and old, stately building on the Charloisse Kerksingel 2. (free parking!)Before it was turned into a restaurant is used to be City Hall of Charlois as well as a police station.

On entering the establishment, we were warmly welcomed by the owner, who shook our hands and introduced himself to us. His name is Aart.
As we waited for the aperitif, we looked around and admired the ornaments on the ceiling, the panelling, the fireplaces and the enormous chandeliers.
The ambience in the restaurant is really nice; it looks very classy, but not in a cold way. Of course this has also to do with the staff and the owner, who are very warm and friendly.

We enjoyed our aperitif, and talked about our day at the office. No rush! I like that. Only when both our glasses were empty, we were provided with a new glass of wine, to accompany the starter dish.

I will describe the food and wines later. First it’s good to mention that we ordered a wine arrangement to go with the menu. If you go for tasting, you have to do it right. So if you have a surprise menu, why not let yourself be surprised too with wines, that are selected, because they go so well with the food that is served?

The aperitif was Prosecco with a drop of Limoncello and a leaf of basil. I’m not too keen on Prosecco, but spiked with a little lemon liqueur… it was just what I needed after a long day at the office!
As a starter we had veal pastrami, stuffed with guacamole and skinned cherry tomatoes and a thousand island dressing. This course was accompanied by a nice Chardonnay Semillion from ‘Down Under’, which was rich and fruity and with a little sweetness to it.
The main course was Duck Filet stuffed with mushrooms and thyme and a traditional orange sauce (Cointreau) with baby corn, snow peas and delicious (I couldn’t say ‘no’ to a refill) Rosemary potatoes. The wine with this course was a nice round Rioja Crianza. As Rioja is one of my favourite wine regions of Spain, I had no complaints!
For dessert we had a chocolate mousse cake, stuffed with frozen berries, topped with delicious white chocolate and with some maracuja on the side. With it we drank a nice south african desert wine.

While we were enjoying a good cup of coffee to round the evening off, the chef came to our table and asked if we had enjoyed our dinner. We talked a while and I asked whether the dishes we just had were also on the menu. He told me this was not the case, because he wanted to use the Restaurantweek as a try out period. So I complemented him for his boldness in choosing for Duck, because this is not everyone’s favourite. So far he had no complaints.
I can understand this, because the food was very good. This goes also for the ambience and the staff. Both me and my table lady would like to recommend Het Hof van Charlois to everyone.
We will certainly go back sometimes. Usually I’m not a  fan of Winter, but I can hardly wait for it to begin, so I can enjoy a good meal in a fine restaurant where they light the fire when it’s cold outside.

http://www.hofvancharlois.nl