Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Holland House Beach Hotel, a French-American style delight

Dining with a permanent view on the Great Bay, the start of this culinary trip could have been worse. A warm welcome, on top of the cozy temperature of 28 degrees Celsius made us instantly feel at home. As did a nice glass of a light Pinot Grigio.
The Portobella soup served as an appetizer made us realise that the influence of the American cruise ships lying nearby was immanent. Salt and pepper had to be added. The starter of scallops consisted in fact of two dishes on the same plate. Although both absolutely worth eating, it was too much. The tomato would have combined nicely with the foam of vanilla and the scallops, the supplement of grilled aubergine, green asparagus and tomato sauce with green herbs just wasn't necessary. The Chardonnay made a lovely match with these vegetables though. The main course had a very tender loin, coated with bacon. Medium-rare cooked, without asking, this meat couldn't and shouldn't have been served more done. The Haut-Médoc to finish it all up was brought to us on exactly the right temperature. An effort not to be underestimated in this subtropical climate. The wine glasses were chilled beforehand, which gave the wine it's true appearance throughout the whole course.
As dessert the little mistake made at the start reappeared. So we enjoyed two desserts at the same time. A French toast, fresh fruit to go well with 'm and as a far more than proper finish some coffee ice cream.
The ingredients and the way the chef treated them didn't give us anything to complain about. Perhaps the presence of American tourism gave way to the rather broad manner in which this dinner was served. All said and done, we were quite happy to have enjoyed the warm welcome and the vast amount of good food at this restaurant. The art of knowing what to leave out still has to be learned. We were welcome to make the choice for them, which resulted in a absolutely fine French-American style evening meal.

1 comment:

  1. Ha Just, wat een heerlijke toon of voice. Beetje too much of everything en toch een warm welcome. Met je verhaal zitten we allemaal een beetje bij je aan tafel, super, salut iens

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