Tilburg may not be on the top of the list for tourists visiting Holland. However, when in the neighbourhood, it is definitely worth a visit. The city center is a nice place for a walk, with some old churches and nice shops. After the walk, we bet you can use a good meal, either at lunch or dinner. On our last visit to Tilburg (which was two or three months ago), we have had lunch in the 125-year-old monastery “The sacred heart”; Restaurant Monarh.
Where we are normally not a big fan of modern interiors in old characteristic buildings, this restaurant has done it in a very tasteful way that does justice to the building. When entering through the door, you will notice a beautiful (modern) wooden bar. The cash register, cutlery and glasses are all kept behind see-through “walls” that are actually shelves with wine bottles. This keeps everything out of direct sight of guests, while the restaurant staff will have a good view of the restaurant. A very clever and well-designed solution. In the restaurant, the tables are decent in size with beautiful leather seats that are comfortable enough for a lunch or dinner. The floor underneath all this is wooden and really suitable considering the type of building the restaurant is in.
Lunch means you can eat a-la-carte or choose three or four courses. The first course of the four-course meal we had chosen was salmon. The salmon was accompanied by some rettich and dashi in the form of frozen pearls. What we noticed is the beautiful colour of the salmon; bright orange. Normally we are not a big fan of salmon, but combined with the frozen pearls, the soft salmon was delicious. The somewhat unusual taste of the dashi may be an acquired taste but it combines really well with the rest of the dish. Rettich brings a bit of kick to the dish, but with this being frozen it is some freshness at the same time.
What followed was nicely presented and definitely one of the best scallop dished I have ever eaten. The scallop was hidden under some foam combined with different preparations of cauliflower, mushrooms and some truffle. From earlier posts, you may remember that we are not a big fan of mushrooms. Here this was somehow different as the different textures and flavours really complemented each other. Presenting it on the shell of a scallop meant there was no hygiene problem with the wooden board the dish was presented on. None of the flavours was overpowering another one, making this a truly delicious dish that could easily make it into our top ten favourite dishes of the year.
And then there was this one. Isn’t it pretty, once again? Venison from the Dutch area known as the Veluwe, served with some beetroot, potato and very flavourful gravy. What we found most interesting about the dish was the various different textures; From left to right, this was some yellow beetroot, which was nice and crunchy, with next to it a baked potato stuffed with sour cream that was nicely soft. Further to the right was some gel and puree of beetroot. For some reason, we really enjoy the slight sweetness of the beetroot with some venison. Where this dish was not as surprising as the others, it still was excellent and very well balanced and nicely presented dish.
Closing off the meal was a visually stunning dessert. Violet with calamansi and white chocolate. Dessert had a little more sweetness than we were expecting, but we can’t get over the presentation and use of colour. The calamansi was adding some nice acidity to cut through the richness and sweetness of the white chocolate ice cream. After seeing this dish and thinking back to the previous three as well as the service provided and the design of the restaurant made us wonder what it takes to get a Michelin star. Well, a couple of months after our visit, they got one and rightly so!
The prices of Monarh are not the lowest. For the four-course lunch, we paid EUR 64 per person, excluding drinks. Was it worth it? Well, we think so.
Restaurant location: View on Google Maps
Restaurant website: https://www.monarh.nl