Ciel Bleu Amsterdam** is a top-level restaurant
Blue sky, the Amsterdam restaurant with two Michelin stars, can still be found in the Okura on Ferdinand Bolstraat. In your best outfit you can whizz up the elevator to the 23rd floor; with each floor a bit more glamour is added. Arriving at the top floor, the doors will open and you will be welcomed royally. The first question is a good one: would we like a glass of bubbles? The choice for a glass of champagne with a spectacular view on the side is quickly made. And round after round there are more culinary surprises.
Ciel Bleu Amsterdam** is a top-level restaurant.
After that glass of delicious champagne (with of course an olive and a divine cracker with dip) you hop to the table with again that beautiful skyline of our city Amsterdam in the background. We fall more in love by the minute (if that is still possible). What awaits you? Of course that depends on the menu you choose. There is the Ciel Bleu Menu, the Prestige Menu or the Caviar Experience (we went for that and it was sublime to say the least!). Of course there is also the possibility to choose à la carte.
Oh oh oh, what a high-level food. We can go on and on about all the dishes that pass by. It is not only too delicious, it is of course also eye-catchingly beautiful. Our favourite that made an impression is the sea bass with oscietra caviar, shrimps and an unusually good sauce of red vanilla (from the Netherlands, how?!) and coffee. Delicious! The craftsmanship in this dish is, not surprisingly, of a bizarrely high level. Great! The taste? Sorry (not sorry), we cannot describe (you have to come and taste it yourself and that is absolutely not a punishment, more like a gift from heaven). An explosion that goes to work. Truly unreal.
Highlight: the butter with home-made bread. Delicious butter (three types, of which the one on the right with onion is a favorite) and various types of bread that are put on the table between courses – which is something to be proud of. Cornbread, brioche, you name it. Because what do you do when your baker stops? Then you bake it yourself. And so Ciel Bleu also plays the role of bakery. You will never get it this good anywhere else, believe us.
In addition to all this deliciousness, the drinks also pass our revue. At Ciel Bleu, an excellent wine menu is served for one, and for the other there is a delicious non-alcoholic juice menu. How nice! Nothing is as unfortunate as having to drink only water because the non-alcoholic drinkers have not been thought of. But at Ciel Bleu, they have the very best alternatives.
The juice menu includes a refined elderflower kombucha and a wonderful iced tea. The iced tea is prepared à la minute at the table: the tea is steeped with fragrant spices and then poured into a beautiful glass with ice-cold pear shoots. Delicious!
What really makes it at Ciel Bleu is the service. At a star restaurant you sometimes run the risk of stiff or arrogant service. Yuck! But at Ciel Bleu, none of that. Here, cheerful (and young!) people work with a good dose of humor, who passionately share their knowledge about wine and food – and give you a wonderful afternoon.
This applies to Executive Chef Arjan Speelman, Chef de Cuisine Mike Klaassen and Maître Francesco Simonelli, but certainly also to all the other nice women and men who work there. Chapeau!
Another little tip: if you book, it is a matter of eating little – or even nothing – beforehand.
Even more fun, even more special, that is really possible. Because you will be received like royalty during the Refined Nights, an exclusive series of evenings dedicated to exceptional ingredients. On selected Thursdays, the menu revolves entirely around one special product: winter truffle, Krug Champagne, caviar or autumn truffle.
Imagine an evening where the most beautiful caviar varieties are in the spotlight. Each dish is an ode to the refinement of caviar, perfectly combined with carefully selected wine arrangements. In November, a truffle evening is planned, one to look forward to.
