Up until 2008, Vermeer was one of the few Amsterdam restaurants to have a Michelin star. As ever, the reasoning and musings of the tasters behind the bubble-jawed, beaming white visage remain a mystery, and some of the city’s restaurateurs were beginning to talk of anti-Dutch bias among the Franco-foodists. But, while Vermeer’s dishes are uniformly excellent, compared to spots like Ciel Bleu and La Rive, it has always felt like it lacks the little something that nudges a place from excellent to astonishing. However, excellent is not to be dismissed. There are a few set menus, (including a ?40 two course lunch), but the pinnacle of these is the ?100 tasting menu (?175 matched with wine), which has a seafood theme, and currently includes European lobster with raw black radish, sweet & sour dressing and Thai spiced coulis, and a dish of John Dory loaded with smoked eel, cauliflower crumb and pure parsley jus.