Author: Carolien Coenen (Page 26 of 41)

This place is ideal to take a little break when hiking or biking through the beautiful countryside of Malle. This cafè is owned by the famous Abbey of Westmalle and is situated right across the abbey. You can enjoy the draft beer of Westmalle double or triple or even go for a mixture of both of them. The café also serves the cheese made by the Abbey, which can only be bought at the Abbey itself.

Staff is very friendly en efficient, which is needed, because I can imagine this place can get very crowded. I find it a bit of a shame that the architecture of the place is so uninspirational. It is clearly built to serve as many people as possible. It is nice though to relax on the comfy terrace. There is also a playground for the kids.

We ordered the Westmalle cheese, a sangría (sorry, no beer lover here) and a Westmalle half/half. I found 9 euro for a plate of cheese rather expensive, but the cheese accompanied with good mustard sure was nice.

I can understand why they ask a fee for going to the toilet (30 cents), but nevertheless in my opinion toilet use should be free for customers. Toilets were very clean though.

Cafe’ Trappisten, Antwerpsesteenweg 487 Westmalle, Malle 2390, Belgium
http://www.trappisten.be/
+32 3 312 05 02

Visited June 2015. You can find my review about Cafe’ Trappisten also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 3/5, service 4/5, food 4/5.

We (four grown ups and three children) had lunch and dinner at the Strand Cafe DOK. The Cafe is great, nice atmophere, a large bar, a big playroom and a theater room for the children. While the chilren played we could enjoy our drinks and have a nice chat. Also loved that the toilets were very clean.

The food at the cafe was really excellent. Enjoyed my carpaccio at lunch very much, but when we asked the waiter to bring some bread, it never came. A shame for sure.

Our dinner started out fine. The children got their food very quickly, but the prosecco we ordered was really terrible. We sent it back, because we thought the bottle had been open too long, because the prosecco did not contain any bubbles. The new glasses we received had exactly the same problem. Our friend went back to the bar to get new ones, but even when straight from a new bottle the prosecco was awful. We drank it, but not with pleasure. After the prosecco we ordered a carafe of wine. The wine was ok, but the glasses really weren’t clean, a turnoff, for sure. I went back to the bar to switch the glasses and it was apparent to me the girl at the bar was stressing out and couldn’t keep up with orders at all. She even broke the glass I returned.

All in all, I loved the food, but I found the service lacking. Some waiters were clearly better trained than others. I got the feeling the staff was mostly inexperienced. It is a real shame, that the service isn’t up to par with the great food.

Strand Cafe DOK, Helleweg 8, 4326 LJ Renesse, The Netherlands
https://www.strandcafedok.nl/
+31 111 463 850

Visited May 2015. You can find my review about Strand Cafe DOK also on TripAdvisor. My scores: value 4/5, service 2/5, food 4/5.

We had the pleasure of staying in this beautiful hotel not long after it opened. Everything was brand new and clean. We really enjoyed our rooms, which were large and full of light. Really loved that the room was decorated with a gorgeous photograph of the surrounding nature.

The room also had a small kitchen to prepare food and a separate small bedroom with a bunk bed for the children. We stayed at the ground floor, which was very convenient. You could go outsight trough the door or though the nice big window at the other side of the room. Bathroom was excellent, with a fantastic rain shower. Really loved it!

Breakfast in the main building of the Park was excellent. Lots of choice (English and continental breakfast) and fresh squeezed orange juice! Loved the ‘poffertjes’, a Dutch specialty, the fresh fruit and the scrambled eggs.

The grounds of the hotel were great too. Beautiful (and safe) playgrounds with wooden constructions for the children to play on. The hotel is just a short walk away from the beach and offers the possibility to hire bikes, a great way to explore the beauty of this lovely island.

Only remark I’ve got: the changing facilities for the pool were small and not very clean. I also found the pool itself not that great, but to be fair: the children loved it.

Highly recommend this hotel for families with children. Would definitely stay here again.

Hotel De Zeeuwse Kust, Helleweg 8, 4326 LJ Renesse, The Netherlands

Stayed May 2015. You can find my review about Hotel De Zeeuwse Kust also on TripAdvisor. My scores: sleep quality 5/5, rooms 5/5, service 3/5.