Back for dinner at Restaurant Foer and, again, a superb fine dining experience.

About the restaurant
Restaurant Foer, which opened in November 2019 just outside the city centre at Cruquisweg 9, Eastern Docklands, is confidently owned by Maître and sommelier Juriaan van der Maarel, formerly from Fa. Peekelharing, Restaurant Rijsel in Amsterdam, and Chef Steven Broere, previously working from Fa. Peekelharing, as well as Chambre Séparée* in Ghent, Belgium, and Restaurant Kadeau* in Bornholm, Denmark.

I had the pleasure of visiting them in early February 2020, just weeks before the first lockdowns, concluding a stag night. During the various lockdowns, we picked up a couple of their food boxes but did not come around to visit again. As the groom only recalled that it was a very pleasurable evening (great food, drinks and company, but the details were a bit hazy…), Foer was on top of my mind when booking dinner with the spouses.

It must have been a memorable evening for the staff too, because even though it was more than 3½ years ago, Juriaan recalled our visit, even pointing to where we were seated. More astoundingly, he recalled this blog by name. 😱 He explained later that evening that shortly after opening, Foer hadn’t focussed much on social media, and promotion relied mainly on word of mouth. As it was Foer’s first blog post/review, he still remembered the name. 15 seconds of fame achieved ✅

In any case, the concept and interior haven’t changed much since. The restaurant’s name comes from the Dutch verb ‘Foerageren’, which means ‘to forage’: collect food from nature. Foer still has a seasonal menu with local ingredients and some vegetables and herbs from their gardens. The menu changes every 6-8 weeks, depending on what nature provides (we got to experience 3 new dishes that night). Broere’s fermentation skills are prominent in all the dishes and homemade kombuchas.

About the menu:
The options are still the same: the entirely vegetarian Flora or Fauna menu, the latter predominantly based on the Flora menu but with a couple of meat and seafood dishes. During the week, they serve a 4-course menu. On Fridays and Saturdays, they have options for a 6-course menu (€75) or an 8-course menu (€90). They also have a special option to add a small dish of the day, known as “half a course.” The small dish was poached oysters on the night discussed, but we decided not to choose it.

The drinks selection is still flexible; you can switch between suggested pairings, bottles from the – much expanded – wine list, and no/low alcoholic drinks, but you can skip the pairings for some of the courses if you want.

About the food:
We settled on the 8-course Flora and Fauna menus, and I included one Flora dish on my Fauna menu. We had 5 different kombuchas as aperitifs and pairings, priced at €7 per glass. We also had 3 wine pairings that ranged from €8 to €12 per glass. Although jokingly frowned upon – as quantities were considered inadequate to properly enjoy it with the food – I opted for half glasses of wine priced at €4 to €6 per glass because I still had to drive but didn’t want to miss out on the recommended wine pairing.

As apéritif we had a glass of NV Carte Noire (Pinot Meunier/Pinot Noir) by Thevenet Delouvin from Champagne, France (€14), and 2019 Granit Brut nature (Gamay) by Chateau de Lavernette from Beaujolais, France (€12). There were no huge portions on our plates, but they generally were light, so even with 3 additional nibbles throughout, the 8 courses were very manageable. Most of the wines and broths and sauces were lifting the dishes to new levels (the dessert was astounding!) and left us – before serving bread only halfway – longing for the possibility of returning the dishes squeaky clean. Even the less-than-stellar dishes or pairings were still very good, so we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Once again, we had a wonderful time, thanks to the kitchen and waiting staff and we are looking forward visiting again.

The visuals: