Pont 13

Well I finally made it to Pont 13... And it's another one for the list of mediocre restaurants which blight this city, choosing style over substance. To its benefit, however, it's done so without resorting to the standard minimalist designer look so common here. For starters, the location is perfect: perched at the end of a long pier after a row of houseboats languishing at what seems to be the last outpost of civilization. Pont 13 served as a ferry boat before its current role, and it has been loving remodeled for its new purpose, retaining the original wooden floorboards and adding a broadly arching ceiling dotted with skylights. The wood burning stove and the decks along either side of the restaurant along the water give it great atmosphere any season. Inviting and yet remote, wild but secure, bohemian without being heavy or overly dressed.

Now the food. Basically it suffers from what I call 'Caterer's Syndrome'. It's a very common ailment here with the following symptoms are:

• The same ingredients turning up in one to many dishes on the menu (See: Restaurant Hotel de Goudfasant - roasted fennel adorning the spring lamb with fava beans, roasted fennel steamed (?!) in the Provencal mussels, roasted fennel as part of the veggie accompanying the roast chicken)
• Different dishes on the menu but identical to the customer except for the chicken/meat/fish in the middle (See: Restaurant Open - "special of the day" dorade vs. the menu's skate wing)
• A dish designed so that it could be plated up easily for a 300 person reception. (See: Restaurant Pont 13)

The last symptom is subtle, but its major evidence of a restaurant's lack of creativity and unwillingness to cater to a customer's individual experience.

The Point 13 fish soup people were raving about on Iens wasn't the rich, deep seafood broth that the fresh crab deserved. The cut of beef my companion and I both ordered was chewy and thoroughly unenjoyable. On the other hand, the fries were delicious, brown and crispy in all the right places, but by then was sensitive to having to pay on top of our mains 4.50 eur for what anyone would consider a staple food here, that after being charged for the bread (2.00 eur) and having someone double check if I actually wanted tap-water, after I just said I did. Luckily I was in the company of a school friend from a long long time ago whom I hadn't seen for 17 or 18 years. The magic of Facebook! Pont 13 was a wonderful background to reconnect, it would equally lend itself as a background to a romantic dinner, or adventure, fantasy, a long walk, a conversation... but the food doesn't do it any justice. Which is a shame. I'll probably return for one of those other reasons sooner than later, but next time I'll stick to a bottle of wine on the terrace.