Restaurant De Paddestoel, Hollandsche Rading

I’m happy TripAdvisor agreed to add this hidden gem to the database for review. I was so eager to give this place a good rating after my visit but was disappointed to find the restaurant was not on TripAdvisor. My request took about a month to process and now it’s here! OK, so, here we go: I was born and raised in The Netherlands and am living in Singapore now for a couple of years. We went back to visit family during Christmas and we wanted to sample all the good stuff we have been missing and you just can’t get in Singapore: decent traditional food, nature, tranquillity, non-Mall family outings, the smell of winter, etc. etc. Our bucket list was looooong and included several traditional culinary items such as ’raw herring’ and ’Old Amsterdam cheese’. And it sure included ’boerenkool met worst’. I don’t think you can translate that but the dictionary comes out with ’curly kale hotchpotch with traditional smoked sausage’. So, imagine it’s Jan. 1st, a national holiday on which 95% of the country is closed, it’s way past lunch time and we have a craving for eating ’boerenkool met worst’ in the authentic Dutch ambiance we have been missing so much. Kind of a Mission: Impossible. We set of in the car, knowing it’s probably not going to work out and just drive around through villages to get confirmation that all is closed. Until all of sudden, on a small tortuous road deep in the woods, we see an Amstel Beer flag hanging out and a signboard on the road, indicating there is a restaurant open just around the bend. And like a gift from heaven, the signboard says in fresh chalk handwriting that today’s daily traditional special is ’boerenkool met worst’! So, we hit the brakes, park the car and walk into this warm traditional family-owned and well-cherished cosy restaurant that is more than we could have hoped to find. The menu offers plenty of choice, with several traditional meals you hope to find on a visit to the woods, and at a very affordable price. Living in Singapore, we know we’d pay at least 4 times more over here for the same meal. Service was prompt, friendly and good. Coffee was good. Tea was good. It was not too warm and not too cold. The candle light and fading winter light shining through the many windows all around emphasized the ambiance. And then the ’boerenkool met worst’ arrived which was just spot-on. We finished our plates within minutes because we were so hungry and I immediately made reservations to come back that same day for dinner, just hours later. It was that good. So, we carry our full belly back to the car, drive home through the woods, explain to my mum that we’ll be eating out tonight with the entire family in a cosy hidden traditional restaurant and a few hours later we drive there again. Dinner was even better. Outside it’s now dark, insight it’s super-cosy and we get to order starters, mains and deserts. It was all very good. I had hunter’s deer stake which was prepared absolutely excellent. The salads were perfect with good dressing, the french fries we spot on and service was good and professional throughout. I paid the bill with a huge smirk on my face and even my mum (who hates eating out) was impressed. My 2-year old was happy, wife was happy, it could not have been better. Really. Read my other reviews and note I’m not easily impressed and won’t shy away from disliking something. But this place, I could live there. So, you should also know that these woods around, are really worth visiting for family trips, romantic get-aways, silent single escapes, photo-shooting trips, or whatever. You can just go trekking around or do pony rides with kids. It’s an all-season thing when it doesn’t rain. It was winter this time around, but I already hope the summer day will come that we can return to De Paddestoel and have a cold beer in the sunset outside after a day of fresh woodland air.