Reviews - El Qatarijne
El Qatarijne
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Reviews
Food
Service
Ambience
9-10
7-8
5-6
3-4
1-2
What diners said about this restaurant:
Daniel Y. • 12 reviews
September 16, 2024
2/10The surprise dinner was really a surprise! Basic supermarket food wrapped in fancy gift paper and eatable flowers on your plate. Lot of pre-cooked elements, defrosted pasta and few dog bites of chewy meat. No drink menu card available, prices will be a surprise! Lady waitress didn't smile even once, felt like she didn't even want to be there. Also a free tip, please create a separate space to collect dishes, not right behind customer's chair. Oh and spray painted ceiling and religious picturesque were cherry on the top. I can't believe where the good ratings came from. I guess if you never have experienced any better this might feel glorious dinner place. Just waited to get out there. Never again, sorry!
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Liza C. • 1 review
September 14, 2024
10/10Incredible surprise menu and fantastic wine pairings
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John M. • 1 review
September 6, 2024
9.5/10It was my birthday, everything was perfect! The only point that wasn't perfect was the uncomfortable temperature inside the restaurant. I'm not going to blame the restaurant in any way because, to be brutally honest, the Dutch don't have a clue about dealing with climate change.
Juan J. • 1 review
September 2, 2024
10/10The variety of flavors and balance of each dish was excellent. Loved the quiet but modern ambiance.
Alan M. • 1 review
August 24, 2024
8/10Different experience and lovely food. Would recommend it
Joëlle v. • 4 reviews
July 19, 2024
10/10Everything was a wonderful experience, from how they explain the beautiful wines to the delicious food. I really love it when a restaurant can read the room, serve with grace and make you feel like the queen!
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Andrew M. • 1 review
June 24, 2024
10/10Fantastic food and a great welcome on a quiet Monday lunch time for a business meeting. Thank you
Barbara K. • 1 review
July 1, 2024
10/10We celebrated my son’s graduation from the University of Utrecht and wanted a special place to celebrate. El Qatarijn was phenomenal! We had 13 guests and had a private table upstairs that easily accommodated our guests. We opted for the 6-course surprise menu (everyone had to have the same number of courses) and ordered bottles of wine and drinks separately, not doing the wine pairing (which is available). We had two appetizers that were provided by the restaurant along with our 6-course dinner! Every dish was scrumptious! The service was spot-on. We all appreciated the waitstaff providing explanations of every dish. New cutlery was provided with each course, and the actual plates and dishes were beautiful as they enhanced each delicious course. Water glasses never ran empty. The wine menu was quite extensive and we were able to find excellent whites and reds to go with the meal. It was a wonderful dining experience! I would highly recommend it! (Also close to the train station!)
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Jitin G. • 11 reviews
June 11, 2024
10/10Amazing food with super friendly service. We had the 6 course meal with the accompanied wine pairing and it was worth every penny. I was celebrating my wife's birthday and the team also came in with a fun sparkler during the dessert course. These extra step is that make the whole experience enjoyable. We will definitely come back 😁
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Dh D. • 1 review
June 8, 2024
10/10Very nice food and good wines. Service excellent.
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Cristina O. • 1 review
June 1, 2024
10/10Very tasty food. Timely service. Nice ambiance. We were very impressed. Even our small daughter ate all of her 5 meals.
Kristaps K. • 1 review
April 27, 2024
10/10Top quality food and service. My favourite restaurant in The Netherlands.
Grace W. • 1 review
April 26, 2024
3.5/10The interior is horrid. We sat right under the ‘sun’. Couldn’t understand the colour use and totally no harmony. Food matches with the decor—> messy and too pretentious. All dishes were creamy base and identical in flavour. No variety in all dishes served. All are in cheesy/ creamy and completely repetitive. Fish was not fresh. Sauce was super oily with an obvious layer of oil floating on top. We ordered the 8 dishes course, and left after the fourth or fifth— couldn’t last through the meal. And, the dishes were slow… waited for long in between dishes…. I wonder why it was rated to high, totally not worth the try.
El Qatarijne • Owner
Clearly not everybody has the same taste, almost always we get good reviews and of course we take less reviews serious but this one is ridiculous. There are no dishes with identical flavours here, we always get compliments about our interior aswell as our food. We are a fine dining restaurant so we take our time for presenting our dishes and i never heard that we are too slow. Maybee if you taste your food properly than the time in between the dishes are not so long, Also a tip if you dont like the food mention it to the serving staff you did not metion anything and we assumed it was fine, maybee we could have done something to make your evening better! To bad that the Fork wont take this review off
Mirinda I. • 10 reviews
March 28, 2024
10/10I'm a regular customer who keeps coming back. This is one of the most authentic restaurants in Utrecht.
Anabela E. • 1 review
March 21, 2024
9.5/10Excellent ambiance, excellent food. The service was some how slow
jason w. • 8 reviews
March 14, 2024
7/10Expect 3+ hours for a 5 course meal. No menus or prices given and it is not cheap so be careful with the drinks. It did miss the edge, which you expect at 70+ euro per head.
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Elena C. • 3 reviews
February 17, 2024
6/10Food and environment are overall average: intriguing taste combinations but way too many ingredients in each plate, so that nothing really standed out. the pace of the food was also quite fast, and didn't give much possibility to lasnd the flavours properly. In my opinion, atmosphere and music are inconsistent with the concept of middle east, but not annoying. the real plus of the experience is the service: the team is very friendly, very precise and attent.
Patrick D. • 1 review
January 25, 2024
9.5/10High quality food and good service. The ‘surprise’ menu was simply divine. We had the five course options which was pretty much perfect (for an adult male). We spent €115 pp including wine, which isn’t cheap but totally worth it. Will definitely go again.
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Zsofia I. • 1 review
December 22, 2023
9/10The food was mind-blowing, experimental with loadsof flavour and imagination! We took the 6 course and actually it was too much food for usin the end but worth it! Service was also excellent. We will definitely return.
Ling S. • 42 reviews
December 25, 2023
10/10Everything was great. Amazing food.
El Qatarijne • Owner
Thank you so much! it was nice to see you again!
Jim C. • 4 reviews
November 14, 2023
10/10Price is on the higher side, but the food was totally worth it. Amazing flavors and excellent presentation.
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Miguel C. • 10 reviews
October 24, 2023
10/10The best restaurant for quality/price! The 5 course menu was top level.
Menno V. • 32 reviews
October 10, 2023
9.5/10Little gem nearby central train station. Surprise menu that surprises every course. Professional service.
Mirinda I. • 10 reviews
August 29, 2023
10/10I keep coming back because of the fantastic food, ambiance and service.
Daniel Y. • 3 reviews
August 21, 2023
10/10We found this place with an app "the fork" exceeding our expectations by far! Surprisingly variety of dishes and wonderful taste sensations. Very kind personnel. Nice setup with 3 up to 9 courses for fixed priced (that's their "a la carte")
Jeff R. • 11 reviews
August 3, 2023
10/10We have enjoyed every one of our evenings at this place. Very creative blending of cuisines and wines. Definitely recommended for something different!
Youna L. • 1 review
July 19, 2023
8.5/10Good food, very nice staff
Paree k. • 4 reviews
July 13, 2023
8/10It was a really nice outing with super nice food and hosts !!
Paul L. • 6 reviews
July 11, 2023
10/10Great experience. Top notch service and every course was an experience. Pleasing to the eye as well as the combination of flavors. Nice ending to a long working day with colleagues, induction of new starter, getting to know international colleagues better. + food/drink pairing
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Marina O. • 1 review
July 4, 2023
10/10The dishes are surprisingly artistically presented! Compositions made with high skills, eye for detail, a real show of colors, taste and variety in excellent quality! A very nice ambience, friendly service and good taste. Each dish is presented with elegance by a friendly lady. No written menu, a pleasant surprise after the other.
Alexandru P. • 1 review
June 12, 2023
10/10Everything and everybody is set to give you an authentic fine dining experience.
Zaheer S. • 1 review
June 8, 2023
10/10Wonderful restaurant, fantastic service and incredible food.
Frans B. • 1 review
June 1, 2023
10/10The food is excellent. All flavours are in balance. Wine food matching is great and service is excellent! Walking distance from Utrecht Centraal.
Deya H. • 18 reviews
May 19, 2023
7/10We booked a 5pm early dinner on a Friday and arrived about 10min earlier, they accommodated and served drinks for us in the front terrace. As we made our way inside at about 5:15pm we were surprised to find the staff and management busy eating dinner so no service at all for another 20min until they were finished. Why offer a 5pm seating if staff is not ready to start untill 5:30 or even 6:00pm. Luckily, our 3 and 4 course meals were good and our server from Spain, did a very good job for the rest of our meal. Still not quite what we expected and will not be returning.
Linge a. • 39 reviews
April 24, 2023
10/10Very good service, excellent food
Nathalie T. • 1 review
April 9, 2023
10/10marvelous,great experience,never have good food like this before,the service was top ,really the best i"ve ever had.it is the place to be
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Nikolaos D. • 3 reviews
April 7, 2023
8/10Every dish was made with a lot of detail, like true art. The service was also excellent. But taste wise, not even close to a good expensive restaurant, not to me mention that for a 5 course meal (so 5 different dishes) we had to wait more than 4 and a half hours. Unacceptable for their prices. And the restaurant wasn't even that busy. However, the dessert (ruby chocolate) was just excellent.
FH V. • 2 reviews
March 28, 2023
10/10This was an exceptional good dining and wine-pairing experience. Thank you to our hosts for a lovely evening which I would rate 11/10 if I were able to do so.
Mirinda I. • 10 reviews
March 28, 2023
10/10I've eten here on multiple occasions. Never disappoints. Will keep coming back.
Carine Z. • 4 reviews
February 20, 2023
10/10What a wonderful evening, a real treat! The food was carefully and thoughtfully made, with exquisite craftsmanship. The entire restaurant was welcoming and hospitable. We adored every part of it and cannot rate El Qatarijne highly enough. Thank you!
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Tripadvisor reviews
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