A few weeks ago I attended a media lunch at Van Der Linde Restaurant. Van Der Linde, aka VDL Restaurant, is situated in Linden. The restaurant is headed up by Chef Amori Burger who believes in serving up simple food that is well executed and that is exactly what you can expect from VDL.

VDL serves an array of interesting cocktails and they boast an extensive wine list so you’re bound to find something that tickles your fancy. We started off with a vegan dish; ‘fish and chips’. It was deep fried seaweed served with a creamy garlic aioli dipping sauce. When Chef Amori first introduced this dish, I didn’t quite know what to think (in all honesty). I’m not a vegan personally and so I had about zero interest in this dish. My misconceived perception of vegan ‘fish and chips’ all changed with just one bite. Wow, wow, wow! It was absolutely incredible. This dish was tasty beyond my imagination. I certainly have a new found respect for vegan food. We were then served a series of main dishes to share. The mussel and saffron bucatini was a lovely pasta served with mussels, saffron butter and anchovy. One of my favourite dishes was the pork meatballs. The meatballs were served with baked creamy turnips and potatoes in a rich gravy. A simple, homely dish packed with savoury earthy flavours that tasted incredible. Another tasty dish was the lamb chops. They were crusted chops served with red pepper chutney, warm yoghurt, pickled carrot and babaganoush. Being a media lunch, were treated to many desserts at VDL, allowing us to try and taste a number of them. The desserts were absolutely beautifully presented and picture perfect. The lemon meringue was lovely and a real treat for the sweet tooth fans. The crème brûlée is another great choice and a bonus that it’s served with VDL’s homemade short bread. The short bread, too, is fantastic! But the winning dessert dish for me was the definitely the salted caramel cheesecake. The cheesecake was light and tasty and perfect (and I’m salivating just reminiscing about it). It really was phenomenal.

VDL is a stunning restaurant with a beautiful layout. The service was really good. The restaurant also has a bakery and deli portion so you can always pop past and pick up some lovely freshly baked artisan bread (approved by my dad too – a pretty fussy eater at that ;-) haha) or a sweet treat to take home with you. The food was really enjoyable and I look forward to visiting Van Der Linde Restaurant again soon for some meatballs and that incredible cheesecake.