As French as can be at Le French Café
By Andy Fenner
Javastraat 42, 1094 HJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
BOOK NOWI’m surprised the owners of Le French Café didn’t fly to Paris, rent a few people off the street, scatter them sporadically throughout their restaurant In Amsterdam East and pay them to chain-smoke Gitanes. Honestly, that seems to be the only detail they’ve left unexplored in their effort to create a French Brasserie. The room is dripping in red, white and blue accents. The menus. The plates. The lights. The walls. Everything – everything – is a reminder of the fact that you have arrived in a French brasserie. It’s as subtle as if one of the staff poked you with a baguette upon entering.
Which is all to say, I f-ing loved it.
It’s a branding masterclass. A French bistro would, often, be conceptualised using words like “classic”, or “traditional.” Here, these things have been interpreted in a more playful, laid-back way. The result is a place that announces itself as a fun restaurant. Yes, the food is more than capable of holding its own, but you’re at Le French Café to simply chill out and have a good time. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a restaurant not taking itself too seriously. It’s refreshing to see a group of people just…enjoying themselves and sharing their love of the classic French Brasserie.
The food is surprisingly clean. There are a few sauces throughout the menu but you won’t necessarily find every dish swimming in a bowl of butter or cream. Instead, an entire section is lovingly devoted to seafood, under the guise of Fruits de Mer. To cook and serve seafood cold takes a combination of skill and…well…guts. It’s not for everyone. But the team here will surely convert the haters. How can they not, with perfectly cooked shrimp scooped through a delightfully retro cocktail sauce? How can they not with freshly shucked oysters, dressed with (obviously!) red wine vinegar and shallots? How can they not with grilled octopus, tossed with roasted red pepper and frisée salad leaves?
Of course, if the cold seafood doesn’t hit the spot (it will), there are so many warm options. Grilled dorado. Seared tuna. Bouillabaisse. Not in the mood for seafood? No probs. A poussin cooked on the rotisserie, or even a grilled entrecôte (evenly cooked, great crust, reassuring layer of yellow fat nicely rendered) will more than satisfy.
The menu is one of those where you lean across to your mate, point at something and say “Should we get these too?” You do that a lot. Like with the devilled eggs. And the smoked almonds. And the crazy green olives that are kinda-dry-but-kinda-amazing. Oh, you do that with the wine too. Lots by the glass. Lots of natural, funky ones. Lots of classic Burgundian too.
Lots of stuff. Lots of pointing.
The staff take you through the whole thing with admirable attention. This is not an easy menu to explain, and they manage to make it look easy. There’s no doubt about it – Le French Café brings a big asset to an area that just gets cooler and cooler. The street has a certain X Factor to it, and this venue leans into it. A little bit of Javastraat je ne sais quoi.
Le French Café
The Space: French. Like, mega French. Like, am-I-in-Paris-French. Like there-are-snails-on-this-menu-French.
The Base: €60-75 pp
The Face: Community. It feels like a good, diverse representation of Amsterdam locals, typified by the suburb you’re sitting in.
The Ace: There’s something special about shared dining. The theatre of it. The intimacy of one plate, for two mouths. I love it. Here, you can choose from baked seabass for two, or a hunk of ribeye.
The Veg: Good options, with a highlight being the artichoke (this was always going to feature here!) with lemony mayo. Special mention to the cabbage and hollandaise.
Opening Hours: Mon-Thurs 17:00-00:00, Fri-Sun 11:00-00:00
Images from lefrenchcafe.nl, Le French Café
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