Paul van Waarden - Rijswijk

Paul van Waarden / Tollensstraat 10 / 2282 BM Rijswijk
Tel : +31 70 414 08 12
open : Tuesday until Friday - lunch / Tuesday until Saturday - diner
1 star Michelin.

Quiet some while back I've been in a really good restaurant. But this Saturday evening it was time to have a great diner with a great friend cooked by a superb chef. The same chef who helped us out with some 'mise en place' for our x-mas diner. My company this evening told me that my blog was almost all about food .. so I guess one more blog couldn't harm ... :-) -x-

Started of with the amuse platter, green olives (the big ones), beetroot tapenade, toasted garlic herb bread, tomato salsa and lightly caramelized and salted peanuts. Together with the 'best' carbonated water :-) Bru.

Starter :
We both started of with the three way crustaces. Lobster soup, shrimp 'croquette' on a salade of Dutch shrimps with haricots verts, and a fried gamba on a couscous salade.

Perfect dish. Loved the Shrimp Croquette, not a cheap filling that mostly is used but the real flavor you expect. The Shrimp salad was lovely and had a freshness to it. The fried gamba was perfectly fried and maintained the flavor.


Main Course :
We had the grilled Tuna with a foam of Parmesan and the Tournedos of rabbit (my dish) with a tempura of smoked Eel and a smoked Eel sauce with mushrooms.

The Tuna was how it ought to be. Nicely grilled, only the 'skin' was grilled and inside it was perfect, and also a lovely flavor, very good Tuna. Together with the Parmesan foam a delight. My tournedos of rabbit was perfect too, the combination with eel was superb. Very tender, a tickle for your senses ...


Dessert :
Lukewarm Chocolate Mousse, with half whipped cream and cranberries served in a Bourgogne Glass.

What can I say, chocolate lovers, take this one !!!


Wine :
The wine we drank was a white Bordeaux, 2005, Tour de Mirambeau of the Despagne family.

It's a Sauvignon and I just love this grape. It fresh has a certain 'bite' to it, loved it. Just ask for something special and they serve a nice wine with your meal. Also the arrangements are very good, we chose the bottle today ...


Coffee :
Illy espresso - Betjeman and Barton Tea - talking about your brands ...



So again Paul didn't disappointed us, probably it's in the name ... :-) Thanks again for a lovely meal. The menu looked good and some refreshing new dishes on there, also the new pictures on the walls of the restaurant are gorgeous. Food photos like food photos need to be. Compliments for the photographer.

And I seem to 'support' a family somewhere up north in Holland, who deal (among other things) with the Dutch Shrimps. She read this blog, so she knows I mean her and her family. Again Dutch shrimps on the menu. So this one is dedicated, especially at this moment, for you. -x- f.i.t.b.


A lovely evening, good company and a good chef, what more does one need on a Saturday night ...

Website : Tour de Mirembeau, de la Famile Despagne
Website : Paul van Waarden