Foodstyling at restaurants
I’m sure I am not the only one who judges every single dish we get before our eyes while eating out, right? Ever since I’ve become more and more involved in foodphotograph and food in general I tend to study the food that comes before me. It’s a good thing I am not a restaurant critic! This weekend we went with family to Friesland and ofcourse we went out for dinner as well. Now the area we were in apparently does not have a lot of restaurants. My father in law went to the local tourist office to ask for a good restaurant in the area and they looked at him as if they saw water burning!
Tom’s parents had rented a holiday home for a week and we were just there for one night, so we ended up eating in the restaurant of the resort itself. The weather was awful. Ever since we arrived it had been pouring down with rain.
Anyway, when we arrived at the restaurant, Brasserie de Waegh, there were a few people there. Not busy (certainly not for a friday night) but ok.
We ordered our meals and as a starter I choose salmon tartar. The taste itself was not fantastic. There were a few hard pieces of fish in there and it could have been seasoned a little better but it was reasonable. As you can see from the photo above the styling on the other hand was even worse then the actual food… 
Thankfully our main dish was better. I had a red bass fillet, which was slightly overcooked and also could have better seasoning, but it was better then the starter. Now pay close attention to the “salad” that you can see behind the fish…
Red bass fillet and something called a 'salad'??
I mean, honestly…. why would you even serve that? It was just a few shreds of iceberg lettuce. And not the freshest either judging by the brown leaves on the side. Why not jazz it up a little with tomatoes (a bit of color wouldn’t hurt!!), some herbs, maybe a few bits of chicken or anything really to make it look (and taste) better then what we got here!
I didn’t eat it, but come on people! Even a regular bar serves better looking food then this!
The desserts were the best part of the meal. Also not the best looking but the taste was good. I can never resist chocolate mousse, so I always pick that if it is on the menu. It tasted good, but was a bit too firm. I’m not sure why they put pineapple chunks on top, but that could just have been my personal taste.
Overall certainly not the best experience in terms of food!
The next day the weather cleared up a bit and while it was still very windy, we went to Zeehondencreche in Pieterburen. We have a lot of seals in the area of the Wadden Islands and because of overpopulated areas (people not seals) they get into big trouble every now and then. The “Zeehondencreche” takes care of the wounded or sick animals, nurses them back to health and release them back into the wild.
You can’t really get close to the animals, so this photo was taken through glass and with my compact, so really not the best (apart from it being very green) but still cute right? They have various stages of the animals when they come in. They first go into quarantine to make sure they have no ilnesses and they progress from there to different areas, where they can grow stronger and stronger.
They are such sweet looking animals and I was really not happy with the photos I could take, so I asked the people working there if they sometimes allow photographers in. And they do! So I will go back there after making a proper appointment and – ofcourse – bring my proper camera so I can get close to the animals. They are normally in areas surrounded by fences and then there are ropes around the fences keeping people even further away. So there is really no possibility at all to take a decent photo.
The only unfortunate thing is that they are so far from where I live. It’s about a 2,5 hour drive from my home town to Pieterburen where the creche is, but I will definitely be making the journey sometimes during the summer!
So stay tuned for very, very cuddle inducing photos…
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
O dear, that’s the way food looks in local restaurants some parts of the Netherlands. Even in my birthtown Giethoorn are several restaurants where the presentation of the food is very bad. On the other side, there’s also a place (De Lindenhof) which has two Michelin-stars. I am planning to eat there in the future.
The seal looks a little bit like a matrushka. I took some pictures of seals on Texel (Ecomare). They are swimming in basins and are not behind glass, only the very ill ones. The newborns with the white fur are the most cute young animals.
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I was laughing when I looked at the salad. To mee presentation and flavor is important in restaurants.
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i HAVE HEARD FROM WAITERS HERE IN SA THAT IT IS COMMON PRACTICE TO RECYCLE THE SIDE SALADS…..EUWWWW!
I AM ALSO VERY CRITICAL WHEN IT COMES TO THE SERVING OF FOOD!!
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We’ve gotten so picky, we do hours of research about which restaurants to try in different cities before traveling. Can’t wait to see seal photos!
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bad food presentation spoils the appetite-worse when you are hungry-it will turn to anger!
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