Part of many Top10 lists, RED is the reference when it comes to meat and lobster. This place is on the list of the most booked restaurant on OpenTable. Searching for a unique dining experience on my last night in Amsterdam, I ended up having a mix of seafood and beef at RED. A lovely place, one big room decorated with mirrors and a large painting on the ceiling. Unfortunately, food is way below average.
The menu is simple; steak tartare, bisque and caviar for the starters and lobster or beef for the mains. I loved the idea of charging a fixed 2,5€ per person for water and 1,5€ for bread.
A lady with green bubble gum in her mouth decorates the ceiling. Green walls, a green carpet, a big green plant and green chairs. Green is the color and red is the name. I loved the mirrors spread all over the place making it look bigger.
Water is served in a special glass bottle, bread on a wooden board, while I waited to be served. By the way, why is the bread served cold? And why the two compartments plate when there is no balsamic vinegar?
Let’s eat!
- Bisque is soup, a soup needing more flavor and a missing kick. I added salt, a sprinkle of pepper for it to become tasty. Pleasant enough, but not something I’ll order again. The plate comes with one single shrimp! Yes, only one.
- Steak tartare is a thick blend of meat, excessively peppered and mixed with onions served with a toast on the side. Good enough but I was not impressed.
- The meat is chewy, bloody and lacks taste and flavor. There no grilling taste, no pepper, no salt and no marination. It leaves an unpleasant after-note in the mouth.
- The fries are too hard, crunchy like biscuits. The salad that comes with the chips is fresh and tasty with crunchy seeds.
- The lobster is good, as good as it should be. It doesn’t take much to boil a lobster anyway.
Two waitresses, wearing black outfits run around for the orders, service, and attention. They were running, exhausted and barely managing in a restaurant requiring at least three persons. I’m sure it was the same back in the kitchen because orders were slow.
Is that what the reviews talk about or is the lobster that makes the restaurant sexy? I left deceived and hungry.
