Harbour

We had a lovely dinner here the other day and we will definitely be back!
To start our meal off I had the fresh goat cheese and beetroot hummus starter which was absolutely delicious! In one word that dish is fantastic, I really loved it.
Le boyfriend started with the steak tartare and the only let-​down for him was the fact that they didn’t serve it with a raw egg yolk but rather with half a boiled egg. I understand the disappointment, but my guess is that most Dutch people would be put off by the raw egg yolk on top of their raw meat. The Dutch mostly fearing Salmonella much more than any bout of food poisoning or disease the raw beef could bring them, but whatever, to each their own.
For our mains le boyfriend ordered the pulled pork sandwich which he described as deliciously smoky. It looked fantastic and the chips (which I of course had to sample) were cooked perfectly as well as perfectly salted.
For my main I had ordered the veggie Wellington of mushrooms and spinach. This dish came with a multitude of problems for me. First off, it was not a Wellington which would imply a stuffing being rolled into puff pastry lined with a mushroom duxelles and a crêpe, it was a pot pie with the filling in a ramekin only topped with puff pastry. The second problem was the flavour and texture of the filling. I like spinach, but mushrooms have to be grilled or roasted very well for me to love them and in this filling it seemed more like they had been steamed. Together with the spinach it just became too much of a rubbery and slimy texture throughout the entire filling, not benefiting the taste of it either. After about three bites I decided I really didn’t want to finish this dish, a decision that came not a moment too soon as I found some blue plastic string in the filling. I mentioned it to one of the servers who quickly brought out the menu again and soon after I was eating a huge salad of lettuce, rocket, tomato and Burrata. I love Burrata, so I was pleased to see it on the menu. The fairly simple salad was not executed as well as the heirloom tomato and Burrata salad I enjoyed at 5A5 Steakhouse in San Francisco, but that’s comparing a high end restaurant to a café so no shock there. It did however taste good, so I have no problem enjoying it again for a healthy lunch or main course at dinner.
Then for dessert we ordered the dessert mix for two which consisted of hazelnut ice cream, mini crème brûlées, fudgy brownies and some New York cheesecake. The hazelnut ice cream was okay, the crème brûlées were super yummy, the brownie itself was delicious but contained too many nuts (fudgy brownies should feel fudgy and don’t need nuts, cake like brownies need nuts) and the cheesecake had a nice hint of lemon but we still prefer baked cheesecake. Overall a good dessert and definitely a good way to explore the dessert menu if you’re a bit indecisive (MUST HAVE ALL THE DESSERTS!) like we are.
Service was great, no charge for the meal swap which is what I expect from a restaurant but you sadly don’t always find. Sometimes we felt that they could turn their heads our way a bit more, but they never seemed to be doing nothing so that’s okay.
There was also ample room for us to sit with our HUGE pram, so that was great. Though the interior design could still be improved on. A lot. The bar in the middle of the front area is beautiful and has a modern design but then the rest of the place feels dated and don’t even get me started on the ceiling: please add one!
To sum up the meal, we loved it, the food was honest and delicious and service was friendly; we’ll be back!

We just moved to Utrecht, and chose the Harbour for our first proper dinner out, because it looked nice and was close to our temporary accomodation. Glad we did it, as it made a great start of our new city life!
The environment, both inside and outside, looks refined but not intimidating. Our server was very nice and helpful in explaining the menu, which was only in Dutch (fair enough).
We had the fish market combination plate, which varies according to the daily available fish, and is a very convenient choice for two people: for ~20 euros each, we had mussels, fancy fish & chips, monkfish and another fish that we weren’t able to identify for sure, but possibly a whole fish sole. Green beans, potatoes and zucchini on the side.
Wine selection is good, we had a very nice prosecco.
We couldn’t taste desserts because we were full. Next time. We’ll definitely go back.