Het Ketelhuis, fine dining along the Vaartsche Rijn

Explore UtrechtOnze stad, Jouw avontuur

The former industrial terrain Rotsoord is evolving into a culinary hub. The offer varies from German breakfast at Klein Berlijn, to Asian bites at LE:EN, and designer-worthy culinary creations from the new acquisition ‘Het Ketelhuis’, among others.

The HKU and two restaurants have now settled down in the old Pastoe factory, where for yeasrs award-winning furniture was made. The business has admittedly moved from design to art and cooking, but creativity is still the norm.

An evening of tasting at Het Ketelhuis

On a Wednesday evening, we are warmly received and led to our table, where we have a good view of the kitchen, and we can also look outside through the large window. Nice place to nest and to look at the party that’s arriving. We can look at the menu, but as often happens we choose to be surprised instead. While the kitchen diligently works on the first course, we enjoy our surroundings with a glass of bubbles.

The eye-catcher in the room is the big blue boiler at the top of the metal stairs. Or is it the enormous windows? The big wooden lookout above the kitchen also gets our attention. In short: there’s lots to see. Everywhere you look, you still see details that belong to the old Pastoe factory. Het Ketelhuis is named after the blue boiler (Dutch: ‘ketel’) that was used to warm the factory in the past.

The feast

Our host pours two glasses of bubbly (I already noted the bubbles above, it was so cosy) and serves up a trio of amuse-bouches. And this sets the tone! The first entrée is a party for the taste buds. The thinly sliced, pickled pollock is neutral in taste, so the avocado crème with wasabi and the tapioca pearls marinated in Cordial Lime ensure a little taste fight that’s eventually settled by the pea bouillon.

Dining at Het Ketelhuis is a feast for your taste buds

Next is the second entrée, Bouchot mussels, followed by a dish of slowly cooked pork belly with a Caribbean twist. We can call this dish delicious spicy, not Dutch spicy. Bam, the way it should be.

Explore Utrecht Het Ketelhuis 11 — Bouchot mosselen (griet), gele biet, safraan mayo, groene tomaat, spicy tomaten crème, haringkuit, lijnzaadkrokant > Bouchot mussels, yellow beet, saffron mayonnaise, green tomato, spicy tomato crème, herring roe, flax seed crunch

Explore Utrecht Het Ketelhuis 12 — Langzaam gegaard buikspek, witte ui, Pom van wortel, gebakken gamba’s (zalmeitjes) met limoen, pinda/kerrie kruim > Slowly cooked pork belly, white onion, carrot Pom, fried shrimp (salmon eggs) with lime, peanut/curry crumb

The fourth dish is buttermilk stamper. (Yeah, we hadn’t heard of it before.) The smoked eel with mashed potatoes comes at the right moment, after the spicy Pom, and neutralizes everything. Next is the main: deliciously tender veal with almost creamy bulgur.

Explore Utrecht Het Ketelhuis 13 — Karnemelkstamper, Gerookte paling, gefermenteerde rettich, krokant zuudresem, snijboon, dressing karnemelk, bieslook > Buttermilk stamper, smoked eel, fermented radish, crunchy sourdough, string beans, buttermilk dressing, chives

Explore Utrecht Het Ketelhuis 14 — Gebarbecuede kalfs lende, reductie van room, bulgur aangemaakt met Sobrasada, zilver ui, gebakken cantharellen, eigen jus > Barbecued veal, cream reduction, bulgur made with Sobrasada, silver onion, fried chanterelles, own jus

The cherry on top

We know the end of the evening is near when cheeses are served at the table. To match we get to taste a special beer that is brewed especially to enjoy with cheese. The beer was a light but very flavorful taste. The closer, a fantastic cherry dessert, is the highlight of this delicious evening at Het Ketelhuis. Entirely unexpectedly, we devour the creamy hibiscus meringue through to the cold center of cherry parfait. We would have liked a few more of these! But alas, the evening has come to an end. After a tour of the unique building, we happily get on our bikes to head home, already musing about the next time we’ll be dining at Het Ketelhuis.