Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach

Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach - Bergisch Gladbach

In 1997, young Nils Henkel went to work for legendary German chef, Dieter Muller.  Through hours of hard work and experience, 7 years later, Henkel grabs a chef's position in the kitchen brigade assisting the head chef.  In 2008, the torch is passed from Muller to his protege and Henkel finally becomes Head Chef at this prestigious restaurant. Armed with this knowledge I booked a lavish lunch on Easter Sunday.  There was only one menu at 165 Euros and that was the eight course Easter lunch menu.

FIRST AMUSE BOUCHE: Vegetable Sushi and Mousse of Maize

Julienne vegetable sushi wrapped in nori, topped with jellied aloe.  Adjacent to it, mousse of maize on toasted corn cracker with sweet popcorn.  While the maize mousse with popcorn was ok, the vegetable sushi was plain weird.  It didn't work for me at all.  Not a good way to start a long lunch!

SECOND AMUSE BOUCHE: Listed Below

Left: asparagus jelly with cream cheese and artichoke puree w/ olive oil. 
Center: Asparagus foam and oxtail mousse.
Right: Artichoke tuile with Braised Artichoke and Sea Bass cooked in its own jus.

Technically, all the dishes were very well planned and created.  The artichoke tuile and braised artichoke were divine though.

FIRST DISH:  Deconstructed Millefeuile of Duck Liver With Peas

Every bite brought a smile to my face.  The combination of duck liver and peas were truly outstanding.  The crunch from the toasted bread encasing the duck liver as a sandwich also worked perfectly well.

SECOND DISH: Dandelion Surprise Egg with Brioche

The ingredients consisted of quail egg, duck rillettes, oxtail and dandelion flower mixed into the egg shell for the so called surprise.  It was good but maybe a bit overpowering with the duck rillettes? Surprisingly, the brioche wasn't tasty at all.  I was even expecting the brioche to be cut into 'soldiers' to dip the bread into the egg surprise but as you can see, this was not the case.

THIRD DISH: North Sea Shrimp, Atlantic Char, Marinated Cucumber, Dill and Fish Roe

When I was presented this dish, you had to just take a step back and admire the creativity and the vision of Nils Henkel.  I mean you could visually interpret the dish in so many different ways.  It was very tasty, yes...but I have to say bravo to the chef.  Everytime I see this photo, I just think it's brilliant.

FOURTH DISH: Pike Perch with Spring Morels, Chives and Fried Cauliflower

This was a really superior dish throughout what I had eaten so far.  The cooking of the fish was outstanding.  The fried cauliflower worked fantastically with the strong morel flavors and it was a dish in complete unison with each indiviual ingredient.  The plating of the dish also deserves top marks.

FIFTH DISH: Icelandic Crayfish, Cumin, Purple Carrots, Pistachio Mash

This dish looked amazing.  In fact it almost felt playful and somewhat cartoonish in nature.  When I took my first bite of the Icelandic Crayfish, I knew I had reached the pinnacle of Nils Henkel's reperetoire. All I coud taste was pure bliss.  It was so tender, exquisite and full of flavor.  I have never heard of Icelandic Crayfish and I still haven't been able to find much info about on the web but I have to say, whether it comes down to the taste of this dish or to the key elements like preparing the crayfish - one thing is for sure.  This is one of the best dishes I have ever had in my life.

SIXTH DISH: Asparagus, Violet Flower, Mascarpone, Herbs & Coffee Oil

At last.  At long last.  A subpar dish.  The 3 stalks of asparagus were cooked very well as one might guess by now.  However, in this case it wasn't exactly a problem with the preparation or cooking of the dish - it was the overall taste.  The coffee bean oil mixed with the cream, violet flowers and variations of seeds made the whole dish taste too salty and lacking in finesse.  I didn't want to send it back to the kitchen, but it was really a bit too much and a small let down in the string of fantastic food thus far at the restaurant.

SEVENTH DISH: Muritz Lamb with Radish, Wild Garlic, Lamb Cheek and Fondant Potatoes

Lamb might be one of the few animals that I wouldn't choose to order to eat.  That being said, I told myself I'd make an exception to eat it at this restaurant.  I'd heard that lamb was traditionally served at Easter therefore it had to make an appearance on the eight course menu.  The lamb was great as were the fondant potatoes et al.

There was one odd feature though.  The dish was served with a bowl of tripe (not pictured) which I found lacking in flavour and not exactly neccessary. 

EIGHTH DISH: Strawberry, Rhubarb, Buckwheat, Ivory Chocolate and Chervil Ice cream

After finishing the lamb dish, I wasn't sure I could stomach anymore.  I mean the menu could have been six courses and I would have been a happy camper.  Alas, there obviously had to be a dessert dish.  The chevril ice cream was nicely done, not too overpowering and not too sweet either.  It provided an excellent contrast to the sour rhubarb which I found positively delightful.  The amount of technique that went into this dish is amazing.  Notice the tiny rhubarb like spaghetti on top of the strawberry cake followed by the rhubarb tuiles.  It was just the right amount of sourness I was looking for to tie the dessert all together.  I kept force feeding myself just to show the 'kitchen' that I didn't want to waste any of the food. 

PETIT FOURS: Apple with Salted Caramel Crumble and Assorted Chocolates

It took real courage to eat this last plate of crumble.  The crumble was just so-so.  In fact, I don't really remember much about it.  We asked for the remaining petit fours to be boxed up so we could give them to a friend of ours as a thank you for watching our dogs while we were on our Easter vacation.

Lunch at Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach was a welcomed experience.  Mr. Henkel even came out to greet us during the meal to ask if everything had been pleasant.  I had remarked that his technical skills were outstanding.  He politely thanked my wife and I for dining at the restaurant and quickly made a bee line back to the kitchen.  Although the lunch was great, I wasn't prepared for an astronomical bill.  The accompanying beverages that were not included in the lunch menu were so expensive that we could have fit in two of the regular four course lunch menu including aperitif, water and coffee for the same price.

The Schloss Lerbach hotel is a Relais & Chateaux member and part of the Althoff Hotel Group. 

Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach

http://www.schlosshotel-lerbach.com/en/cuisine/gourmet-restaurant-lerbach.html

Schloss Lerbach - Revisited

Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach ( A Different Approach To Two Michelin Star Cuisine For Vegetarians)

There are times when I do agree that vegetarians are short changed on their choices at a well reputed restaurant.  My wife, I suppose you can say, is a pescatarian.  She does eat fish on ocassion, but not daily.  So for all the times she's had to eat fish just to compensate for a lack of vegetarian options, I especially chose Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach because they had eight dishes all without meat or fish of the highest culinary standards.

I should say that since I did not take this menu, I can only post photographs of the dishes with brief comments on the few morsels that I ate.

AMUSE BOUCHED: Jellied, Mousse and Braised: A Trilogy of Artichoke

FIRST COURSE: Spring Vegetables, Garden Herbs, Vegetables and Mushrooms

What a beautiful way to start an eight course meal!  The dish looked so beautiful and each selected vegetable was delicately prepared and full of individual flavour.  It was as if eating a vegetable salad only more carefully prepared.

SECOND COURSE: Provence Asparagus w/ Butternut Foam and Pointed Morels

A medley of aspargus with a mellow buttnerut foam.  The morels provided the earthiness and salt to accentuate the dish.

THIRD COURSE: Confied Borettane Onions, Grilled Leeks, Tapioca of Roasted Onions

A foray into using onions in different ways.  The tapioca of roasted onions was delightful.

FOURTH COURSE: Ricotta Gnocchi w/Wild Garlic

I had a taste of this Ricotta gnocchi and it was excellent.  The rich wild garlic reduction actually looked like ceremonial Japanese green tea.  To our surprise, the dish was served with brewed wild garlic tea to balance out the rich flavours of the ricotta in its reduction sauce.

FIFTH COURSE: Purple Potatoes, Quail Eggs and Perigord Truffles

There was something completely wrong with this dish.  My wife took one spoonful of it and looked utterly dissapointed.  I tasted it and realized it had been drenched in salt.  We weren't sure if we wanted to send it back but she decided to let it slide. 

SIXTH COURSE: Braised Wild Cabbage, Yellow Root Vegetables & Almond Milk

SEVENTH COURSE: Fourme d'Ambert Cheese with Peanut Yoghurt, Sorrel and Port Jelly

Fourme d'Ambert is a blue veined cheese from the Auvergne region in France.  It was rich in flavour and the peanut yoghurt combined with the port jelly gave the impression of almost having foie gras on jellied port due to the cheese's smooth and creamy texture.

EIGHTH COURSE: Celery Stalks w/ Kefir Mousse and Marinated Pineapple

We were quite happy with the level of detail on many of the dishes.  It wasn't a last minute planned menu because we could tell there were many different elements of detail that was essential to each individual plate of food.  Nils Henkel should be commended for his exploration of vegetarian dishes so that any diner could enjoy a multitude of cooking styles.

The menu cost 155 Euro but like the Easter Menu that I had on my related post, there was way too much food and it was hard to eat any more by the time the fifth dish was presented to us.

Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Lerbach

http://www.schlosshotel-lerbach.com/en/cuisine/gourmet-restaurant-lerbach.html

Lindehof

Restaurant de Lindehof - Nuenen

Suriname was once a colony of the Dutch and the English in South America.  Suriname's most famous export?  Try these world class football greats: Ryan Babel, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, among many others. 

Soenil Bahadoer runs Restaurant de Lindehof in sleepy Neunen, a village not far Eindhoven in the Netherlands.  While the exterior facade of the restaurant resembles a residence, the interiors showcase a modest but comfortable dining room and a sneak peak at a semi open kitchen behind glass doors.

Introductions were warm and curteous from restaurant staff and aperitif orders were taken swiftly.  Moments later, the glass doors opened once again to reveal a tall figure with a dark complexion.  He was none other than head chef, Soenil Bahadoer.  Dressed in his chef whites and Diesel Jeans, he personally greeted my wife and I to welcome us to his restaraunt.  A moment later he excused himself to attend to his duties.

AMUSE BOUCHE: Left: Various Vegetable Crisps Right: White Chocolate, Mascarpone, Basil with Chocolate Pearls

APPETIZER: Braised Octopus, Sole Sous Vide, Red Shiso, Oxtail, Shaved Beetroot

A pretty looking dish indeed.  The star of the dish for me was the shaved beetroot (only because I'm extremely partial to it).  The fish was fine too however lacking in that extra oomph to bring everything together.  What is it with chefs and oxtail???  I don't think I have been to one high end restaurant that doesn't have oxtail in a dish or on its menu!

MAIN COURSE: Caged 'Wild' Duck with Foie Gras, Port Jelly, Asparagus and Green Onion

When I was presented this dish, the waiter asked me to start with the foie gras 'bombe' atop of the jellied port biscuit.  Pure bliss.  The combination of the foie gras and port jelly was just a perfect match of gelatin and creaminess.  I was then instructed to eat the duck breast covered in a dry rub of five spice with spring onion and finally the duck with asparagus.  The version on the left, I suspect was Badahoer's interpretation of Peking Duck sans the hoisin sauce and the pancakes.  On the right, the meat was packed with flavour and well seasoned.  I'm positive the use of asparagus was to showcase the fact that it was a seasonal item.  Tasty as it was, I didn't get the combination of all the elements on the plate.  There was no sense of belonging other than the fact that the key of this dish was the delicious duck.

DESSERT: Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Cake, Carrot, and Garam Marsala and Cardamom

Be it the presentation or the taste of the dessert, there was something clearly lacking.  It seemed to have all the right ideas alas, it's a dish I wouldn't order again.  It's obvious that Chef Badahoer wanted to mold European and Surinamese tastes together but it just failed to work.

PETIT FOURS: Assorted Chocolates, Rum Sponge, Marshmallows, and Brownie

The last word:

Lunch at Restaurant de Lindehof was a pleasant experience to say the least.  There were two reasons we wanted to try de Lindehof. 1.) It was exactly half way from our home in Belgium enroute to Dusseldorf so it would have been a welcomed lunch break.  2.) I found the idea that of a Surinamese-Dutch chef with Hindustani roots would have put a cultural spin on a Michelin Star restaurant.  True, many of Chef Badahoer's dishes had elements of Indian herbs and spices and I think it's what makes his dishes standout whether they were perfect or mediocre.  Our time was well spent and I have to say that all the staff were very amicable.

Restaurant de Lindehof has a two course lunch meal at 32.50 Euro including coffee and petit fours or you could try the Soenil's Signature Menu (which I had) at 42.50 Euro including three of de Lindehof's favorite dishes.

*Side note: Towards the end of lunch service, we saw a truck pullling up to deliver some new plants for the restaurant.  None other than Chef Badahoer ran out to help the guy unload the plants and carry each heavy stump himself to his domain.  Kudos-not only is he a gastronomic chef but also a well rounded guy.  He could have asked any one of his staff to do it for him, but he chose to undertake the task himself. 

My Score: 16/20


Food: 4
Presentation: 4
Ambiance: 4
Staff: 4

Restaurant de Lindehof - Beekstraat 1, Nuenen CS 5671

http://www.restaurant-delindehof.nl/Dutch/Welkom-de-lindehof.html