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Etenstijd, Tilburg
Sep. 2nd, 2012 10:15 amA friend from school had said this was a good restaurant to have dinner at so NoKey and I dressed up and went over last night.
The building is rather large and situated near the St. Elisabeth hospital and the park next to it, so we cycled over to Tilburg's South side. I had little idea what to expect, and NoKey didn't have a clue what would be going on.
Etenstijd, Professor van Buchemlaan 4, Tilburg
website, iens.nl review
Food: 6
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 7
The building and its decorations are very nice. They look chique, without being too corny. Dark wood, red panels and carpeting, comfortable seats. The first floor opens up around a walkway with dark iron edging and there's a big red staircase down the middle of the restaurant behind the dark wooden bar. A large clock finishes off this style. It's not quite retro, not quite turn-of-the-century. It's very obviously a stab at the feeling of, but not so much that it's pretentious.
But when you come down to business (eating), Etenstijd is nothing other than a glorified "vreetschuur". It's an all-you-can-eat restaurant, with several areas with different bufffets. The cold entrees are continually restocked, the warm entrees are made while you wait. There's a fruit bar (and I use the term hesitantly), a side dish buffet, free non-alcoholic drinks as much as you want, and of course a soup table, bread table, cheese platter, dessert counter, french fries corner, chocolate fondue, and a fish and meat baking station with long lines.
Because we were visiting on a Saturday night, the place was packed. Lucky for us, and any parents wanting to have a quiet night out, the basement of Etenstijd is dedicated to Kindertijd, where kids can play, have their faces painted etc. Still, many of the buffets were very busy and people gawking at dishes were mostly just standing in the way.
There are a number of choice dishes that we tried, and the best thing I can say about Etenstijd is that there is plenty of choice, even in the more rare meals. Of course there are the standard pork and beef meals, there's plenty of fish (salmon, tilapia, sole) to choose from and there are several courses of shrimp.
And then there's the special items on the menu. Anybody in for "insect trio"? Or perhaps you fancy a skewer of deer medallions? How about a shark fillet or a camel steak? There were crocodile burgers!
The beef skewer I ordered as an entree had far too much salt on it, so I didn't finish it, and by the time I'd had carpaccio, garlicbread, beans, and french fries I really didn't feel like eating a large chunk of meat any more. The potato gratin was lovely, though very greasy, but the stirfried rice was overcooked and tasteless. The things I enjoyed most was the belgian mayonaise to go with my fries and the eco yoghurt (contents: whole milk, powedered whey, live cultures).
If I was to go again, I'd choose a weeknight so I'd have plenty of time to try everything I wanted. We only just made it in our 2-hour time slot.
In short: it's a pretty expensive way to enjoy an exotic dish for a change, at € 29,50 for a 2-hour dinner and € 38,- for a 3-hour dinner (alcoholic beverages not included).
The building is rather large and situated near the St. Elisabeth hospital and the park next to it, so we cycled over to Tilburg's South side. I had little idea what to expect, and NoKey didn't have a clue what would be going on.
Etenstijd, Professor van Buchemlaan 4, Tilburg
website, iens.nl review
Food: 6
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 7
The building and its decorations are very nice. They look chique, without being too corny. Dark wood, red panels and carpeting, comfortable seats. The first floor opens up around a walkway with dark iron edging and there's a big red staircase down the middle of the restaurant behind the dark wooden bar. A large clock finishes off this style. It's not quite retro, not quite turn-of-the-century. It's very obviously a stab at the feeling of, but not so much that it's pretentious.
But when you come down to business (eating), Etenstijd is nothing other than a glorified "vreetschuur". It's an all-you-can-eat restaurant, with several areas with different bufffets. The cold entrees are continually restocked, the warm entrees are made while you wait. There's a fruit bar (and I use the term hesitantly), a side dish buffet, free non-alcoholic drinks as much as you want, and of course a soup table, bread table, cheese platter, dessert counter, french fries corner, chocolate fondue, and a fish and meat baking station with long lines.
Because we were visiting on a Saturday night, the place was packed. Lucky for us, and any parents wanting to have a quiet night out, the basement of Etenstijd is dedicated to Kindertijd, where kids can play, have their faces painted etc. Still, many of the buffets were very busy and people gawking at dishes were mostly just standing in the way.
There are a number of choice dishes that we tried, and the best thing I can say about Etenstijd is that there is plenty of choice, even in the more rare meals. Of course there are the standard pork and beef meals, there's plenty of fish (salmon, tilapia, sole) to choose from and there are several courses of shrimp.
And then there's the special items on the menu. Anybody in for "insect trio"? Or perhaps you fancy a skewer of deer medallions? How about a shark fillet or a camel steak? There were crocodile burgers!
The beef skewer I ordered as an entree had far too much salt on it, so I didn't finish it, and by the time I'd had carpaccio, garlicbread, beans, and french fries I really didn't feel like eating a large chunk of meat any more. The potato gratin was lovely, though very greasy, but the stirfried rice was overcooked and tasteless. The things I enjoyed most was the belgian mayonaise to go with my fries and the eco yoghurt (contents: whole milk, powedered whey, live cultures).
If I was to go again, I'd choose a weeknight so I'd have plenty of time to try everything I wanted. We only just made it in our 2-hour time slot.
In short: it's a pretty expensive way to enjoy an exotic dish for a change, at € 29,50 for a 2-hour dinner and € 38,- for a 3-hour dinner (alcoholic beverages not included).
