Lion Noir

Great restaurant in Ams. The quality of the ingredients were supreme. A dinner to remember for sure. The only drawback was that the portions were quite small and I lest the restaurant hungry. I had to go buy croquettes afterwards at Febo.

We had a wonderful evening at Lion noir. We started with Cava and oysters before enjoying their 4 course tasting menu with wine pairing. Food was exquisite, wines delicious and the service from Lola was both friendly and attentive. I highly recommend this place.

Great upmarket dining in a very beautiful, relaxing atmosphere with excellent, friendly service. Every dish was a great combination of flavours. We went two days in a row for a three and four course dinner respectively, choosing the chef's menu where you don't know upfront what you are getting. Also the wine pairings were great! Staff make you feel very welcome and well taken care of.

Fabulous from start to finish. Great meal and the steak was cooked literally to perfection. The atmosphere was great and the restaurant was so busy which is always a great sign. Good place to eat quality if you are ever in Amsterdam!

Very nice atmosphere on a Friday evening. We did try some appetizers which were very nice together with some drinks. The staff was great and the interior design. The place is also interesting.

Great bar! The only place we visited twice on our trip to Amsterdam. The staff was super friendly and the drinks were absolutely delicious. They have an amazing garden in the back. If you lucky enough, you might get a seat there. We tried probably 3/4 of the cocktails on their list and would happily drink them all again. The 'p.martini' and the 'Lionjito' are must haves. Haven't had dinner here or the bar snacks but will try that for sure the next time we are in Amsterdam.

Fantastic! Cocktails, food, atmosphere..... Read numerous recommendations about Lion Noir before going there and the experience fully lived up to my expectations. We had a reservation for Saturday evening at 21 pm. At arrival we got greeted by the friendliest and smiling staff in the bar area. We ordered some drinks while waiting for our table. We was then shown to our table on the first floor. Restaurant is spacious and tables spread out so you get both privacy and the vibe from other guest. Menu is great and has a good variety of fish and meat. Try the oysters from Ireland - really meaty and tasty. After a fantastic dinner we stayed for some cocktails before heading on. I can fully recommend Lion Noir.

We visited for the Tasting Menu (7 courses). Initially, it was nice with the service and pleasant first courses. Throughout this whole experience, I’d say seafood is their specialty, as it was always prepared so well that I would recommend here for seafood. However, I was quite disappointed by the restaurant’s selection of utensils and cleanliness. My main complaint would be the pairing of eating utensils and plates. The utensils do not sit well on the deep plates and make it burdensome to manoeuvre around for the food. This also means that cutting steaks was problematic since the knives couldn’t cut with full potential. Furthermore, the heavy bottoms of the utensils would constantly slide into the plates and make a mess when it got covered in sauce. Changing the deep plates for flatter plates would eliminate this problem. We had difficulty with the venison, which by nature is a tough meat, but it was extremely difficult to cut with the given knife and likewise hard to chew - the toughest I’ve had at a restaurant. I appreciated that the waitresses and chef offered to replace my knife (which I accepted) and bring a new piece of venison (which I rejected; no other options aside from venison offered), but I was still left unsatisfied due to their prior approach when I called one over to say that I believed the knife I have was dull. “It should not be” and “You should cut along the grain of the meat” were my responses… Obviously my meat showed several attempts at trying to cut it without penetration and I’ve eaten enough meat in my life to notice that there’s a problem beyond my control, which I had to show the waitress my pathetic attempt at trying to cut the meat without success. The comments from the waitresses were not useful and reduced my impression of the quality here. I could literally drag the knife on my thumb and it would not cut it. One waitress arrived with three knives - two of the same steak knives that I had issues with and one butter knife. Guess which knife performed better? The butter knife. Why? Because it at least was a bit serrated. The steak knives offered here were un-serrated, so they get dull easily and need constant maintenance to keep their sharpness. My dinner guest who had the same dish did not bother to cut their venison due to the same complaint and just stabbed the venison with the fork and took bites from it. It also seemed that some of the waitresses (there were 3-4 different ones helping us that night) were not as enthusiastic serving us after that incident, but it could also be dismissed by the busy day they were having. For the cleanliness, I constantly found specs of dried food stuck on the plates, cups, and silverware. Attention to the cleanliness of these before distributing to guests is needed… Other things, which were not as serious were the noise levels, wine service, and butter-less bread. It got very noisy during the evening, so it was difficult to talk to others as if the noise of every visitor bounced off the walls and you could hear almost every conversation. Regarding the wine service, I understand that not every restaurant does this, but we found it unfortunate to buy a bottle without tasting offered, which the wine was subpar with a high markup. Lastly, we were served bread with no butter. This is the first time I’ve dined somewhere that does not offer butter with their bread. Overall, this is a nice restaurant with good potential. As long as you do not find issues with eating your food, you will most likely find the experience pleasant with cheery waitresses.

Lovely place to eat in the heart of Amsterdam, on what is locally known as "gay street", near the Bloemenmarkt. Cozy interior with funky decor. I got there fairly early by European standards - a little after 19:00, and had the place mostly to myself. No reservations needed at this time of the evening, and year (early Feb.), and service was great. Nice conversation for this solo diner. Had the Scallop fregola / samphire / beetroot puree / pancetta / champagne beurre blanc appetizer for dinner with a glass of white wine. Delicious combination of flavors that I was hoping to find a recipe for to make back home, but no luck. Aww, shucks, looks like I will need to go back to Amsterdam and visit Lion Noir again!

The place is beautiful but that is about it... the service was very slow and it made us feel "inferior", ignored and as if they were doing us the favor of attending to us. The menu is very limited. The oysters were good, the corn chowder had no flavor and the blinis where just ok. We also had the fish which was ok, but the couscous was salty and the flank stake was also just ok. After waiting more than 30 min and no one even coming to see if we wanted a dessert (which we did), we decided to just leave and go have ice cream instead. Expensive, pretentious and the food is nothing special.

*** 4.5 stars *** We had an amazing time at Lion Noir! It was fancy without being pretentious, the service was great, and all of the food was outstanding. I went with a group of seven, which gave me the chance to try a lot of different things - most of the menu in fact - and nothing disappointed. Major points for having my favorite bottle of Italian wine on the menu (Zenato Amarone) which we splurged on (at 75 EUR a bottle) and ordered several bottles over the course of the evening. Starters (which are generous in size and could really be mains, and are stand outs here): Sautéed scallops with crispy tomato bruschetta, orzo pasta, soy beans and Lardo di Colonnata - rich, savory, flavorful and all those other good adjectives. A great starter that I highly recommend. Roasted quail glazed with soy sauce with poached Canadian lobster, wild mushrooms, pak choi and a duck liver vinaigrette - yep, quail AND lobster in the same appetizer. Not a combination that I've seen before, and one that I highly enjoyed. Mains: Sautéed sea bass with sweet potato, mussels, crayfish tortellini, savoy cabbage and a mild laksa broth - perfectly sauteed to a crisp, this is exactly how I like my fish to be served. Light and flavorful at the same time. Duck breast with roasted parsnip, broccoli,romesco with smoked almonds and a duck jus with kumquat - very good as far as duck goes, and a good option if you are a duck lover, but stood out less to me than the other dishes. Desserts: French toast of sugar loaf with forest fruit, cognac parfait, roasted pecan nuts and a cinnamon meringue - Out of the three that we tried, my favorite and what I would say is a must get. Always love a sweet french toast, and love that this is on their dessert menu. Bread & butter pudding with cranberries, lemongrass, poached nashi pear and white chocolate mousse - I liked being able to take a bite of this, but probably couldn't eat the whole thing. Chocolate fondant with Nutella, salted chestnut praline and vanilla parfait - a must for chocolate lovers. Honestly, I don't think that you can go wrong here. Everything is executed well, beautifully presented, interesting and delicious. They have a bar downstairs where we hung out after dinner, so we made a whole night out of Lion Noir and had a great time!

Ate here while visiting Amsterdam. Small but great service and wonderful food/drink !!

It's weird. You can't knock the outdoor patio setting on a day like June 29, 2019 -- it's all what others have mentioned (e.g., comfortable, sexy, intimate). And the food is photographic for sure. We were there as a 4some to compare wedding venues, so more business than pleasure. But the pork was dry, and the wine overpriced. The staff who I was totally ready to rave about -- in the end, disappointed. Who ever (in Europe) comes to your table at the end of the meal and says "thanks for giving up the table. We have 2 sittings, and the other is in 15 minutes. Shall I bring you the check?" REALLY? And we were there for an hour. That spoiled it for us, and I'm sorry -- if this is the start of AMERICAN ways to wash over the EU, best of luck. The one last EUROPEAN standing ritual of not rushing the patron is gone thanks to those like Lion Noir. They don't even ADVERTISE 2 seatings. Can I get a witness?

I loved it. The atmosphere and the service were wonderful. If you are adventurous, try the French Kiss aperitif. Served with a Szechuan flower that you pop in your mouth prior to drinking (shooting or sipping), this is unlike any drink I've ever tasted. ps. The catch is the day was great. Get the octopus for a starter.

Very good food and wine. Scallops with white asparagus and the Norway prawn is good. Love this place

Great place. Super central. Great service and very very welcoming atmosphere. Relaxed and nice decor on two floor. Bar is at the ground one. Super nice cocktails. Menu is short as the wine list but all I tried was very good. Starter of scallops and potatoes pancakes. Mmmmm!!! Small potion but very well presented and super tasty. My main was duck breast on a pees and sweet potatoes bed with wine sauce. Perfectly cooked and super nice. White Hungarian whine. Nicely fruity and not too light. Super lemon cheese cake with berries as dessert.... Great!! Not too cheap but worth every €!!!

Lion Noir is a great restaurant that I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a place to get a nice dinner in Amsterdam. On the ground floor is a bar area, with a nice fireplace, and a very special interior. It's modern but old-fashioned at the same time. You'll see weird objects, kinda like a freak cabinet but not in a spooky way, more in a fancy way. It's actually funny how they managed to achieve a confortable and cosy atmosphere. Nice place to get a nice cocktail or a glass of wine - perfect to chill out or on a date ;) The actual restaurant is upstairs. Same kind of atmosphere but now with white tablecloth and nice cutlery. The service is kind. The menu is small, which for me is always a good sign. I had the perch; it was prepared with italian influences and it was really delicious, perfectly cooked, perfectly paired with crunchy romanesco, a savoury lobster sauce, a few heaven-on-earth-gnocchi and, on top of all that, a lobster ravioli. Very nice dish. As a dessert, I had the chocolate fondant which was really "fondant", actually "coulant" would be more appropriate! Again it was a perfect pairing of the sweetness and warmness of the cake, with cold ice cream, fresh fruit, and crunchy almonds bites. Heavenly, I'm telling you! The wine menu offers a good choice as well, with a french dominance (of course) but quite international. The house wine was actually good. Overall I think it's a great restaurant, and the prices are totally reasonable considering what you get.

I had a very nice early solo dinner her. I sat in the bar area. The staff was friendly but could have been a bit more attentive. I started with the caviar and blinis and crème fraiche which was very good. I ordered the duck with the foie gras and it was absolutely outstanding. One of the best things I have eaten this year. I would highly recommend it. With a glass of wine, bottled water and tip, the total came to €65. I consider that pretty reasonable for a fabulous dinner in Amsterdam.

I was pleasantly surprised. A colleague dragged me here on a random Monday evening. We had a foie gras and sweetbreads appetizer that was pretty good, followed by a pretty solid steak preparation. We finished the meal with an interesting coconut panna cotta. Service was awkward, but attentive throughout the meal. I just wish the portions were larger. Might come back for a slightly fancier date night next time.

Make sure to make a reservation! The sea bass was delicious!!! It looks like a lot of food, but it was light and perfect. The waiter suggested a delicious bottle of wine. Make sure to sit outside on the patio- it's beautiful!

We had a lovely dining experience here about a week ago. The food was delectable, even for a discerning foodie, and the courtyard in the back was just beautiful. Of note, the soy ginger oysters were utterly delicious and the Plaice filet (ordered by a friend) was one of the best fish dishes I've eaten in some time. Oh, and for an extra 4.50, they'll add fois gras to any meat dish. Yes, please! One star off only for the extremely slow service (it took our server over 45 minutes just to come by and take our order).

I ordered sea bass as main course and scallop as starter. Both were good. Lion Noir has relatively large portion of French style food compared with other French restaurants so you will be full after the meal. The seafood is fresh and tasty. I also like sugar peas which is marinated well.

Aukje was amazing, polite and extremely friendly, this made our Christmas eve dinner more special. Obviously the 5 course meal and the delicious cocktails were to thank as well, so, merçi to the chef and all the staff. Merry Christmas.

Cozy and special ambient with nice and plenty of food considering it's french. Make me love ams and the girl in front of me more and more

Great restaurant In the gay village. Came with my partner for an early dinner. :D downstairs was a bar. We ordered the seafood salad, caviar (starter), vega, Salman (entree), and lemond custard (dessert). Everything tastes perfect, except the service was a bit slow lol

One of my favorite places in Amsterdam. Food is great and the ambiance and crowd are rad. I could have the caviar and blinis everyday of the week. Just simply delish!!! Tip: sit by the fireplace on a cold night or on a date. Free WIFI

If this was just based on the sea bass I ordered, I would give lion noir an outstanding 5 star review. It was so delicious...one of the best sea food dishes I have ever had. On a bed of lemon risotto and spinach, topped with a white wine sauce and octopus. Blah. Now I'm sad I'm not eating that tonight. My husbands steak was a solid 4 star. Our appetizer of chicken and lobster was a bit boring and in need of a sauce or something. 2 star. Cool ambiance, really great service, perfect for a fancy date. I'd absolutely recommend this place...just please have the sea bass for me!

I will start by saying that the only reason Lion Noir received 3 stars was due to the bartender Katie who was just finishing up her day shift when I came in and could not have been more helpful and pleasant. On to the real review. If you are going to host 70 people in the main dining room, which should not be a problem for the team at Lion Noir, and yet still have a problem/attitude serving the lounge area, DO NOT KEEP THE LOUNGE OPEN. The food was good, but not incredible considering the €15 appetizers and €23 main dishes. The manager/waiter was beyond rude and after not writing down our order, brought out an extra main dish which he hastily walked away with as if this was our mistake.

Very night restaurant to go on the weekend! In the ground floor they have the bar, you can have a drink and then go for dinner. They have really nice cocktails! I had a vegetarian plate for dinner and it was really nice. They have also fish and meat and very nice desserts. I also took the creme brûlée, excellent. The service is really good for the Dutch standards, they are fast, paying attention and also into small details.

Undoubtedly the best meal of our trip! Delicious from top to tail. We started in the bar with the Lion Nicer & the Veuve Belleni - both satisfying and beautifully presented. The decor was cozy and eclectic. Upstairs in the dining room, we had scallops and duck as starters - amazing. Then sea bass with chorizo and lamb with asparagus. Its hard to say what the best dish was since they were all pretty much perfectly done and beautifully presented.

Very interesting location for a great restaurants is fun and the dining room upstairs well appointed. The menu is not very big but the choices are very varied. The food was excellently prepared and all the ingredients were very well paired. We had a very nice dinner with good service.

The quintessential fine dining establishment! The food was delicious the service even better. I encourage you to sit outside. This is not a place to try to save money. Go for the full experience and have every course you can. You won't regret it!

Great spot for a drink before or after dinner. Awesome courtyard at the back if it's a nice night. Cocktail menu looks awesome but unfortunately they didn't taste as awesome. My whiskey and ginger beer cocktail was way too sweet and my friends strawberry daiquiri was too strong and not well balanced. Will be back though for a gin and tonic ! Looking forward to trying the dinner menu also, looks well put together.

Had such high hopes from several recommendations. Sadly the service is seriously lacking. 25 minutes to bring us a drink on arrival, yet repeatedly threatening us with our table being ready. Starters came amazingly quick, as did our neighbours desserts.... Yours mains however may take an hour or more of promises. By which point you won't care.

Really good food, portions "American" size, if that's your thing... service a bit lacking unfortunately, even for Dutch standards

Wonderful food and wonderful outside atmosphere. I would suggest making a reservation only because it seems necessary at most places in Amsterdam. The food portions are on the smaller side but the quality is so wonderful you leave feeling very satisfied.

Really special place. The decor, staff, and food are all top notch. Our table had the date carpaccio, the guinea fowl polenta, the bream, a bottle of wine and cocktails - every one left happy. The service was great, the timing and presentation what you would expect from a top notch dining experience. Nice spot. Good for dates or group dinners.

My #1 dining recommendation in Amsterdam. Ate here 3 times of my 8 days in Amsterdam we could not get enough!! Every entree is a great choice. Good vibes, decor, music and amazing servers. The bartender made me a special drink with a sparkler in it for my birthday!

Fancy, stylish place with a great food for a date or girls night out. Downstairs you can grab a drink and have delicious dinner with super ambience upstairs.

Fantastic place. Excellent food. Excellent service. Beautiful lodge like decor! Very sexy and romantic. Cozy fireplace burning in the main dining area downstairs and if weather permits a really beautiful patio allows for outdoor dining. In summers the outdoors are packed with lunchers. Business casual attire.

Some of the worst service I have ever had in any country that I have ever been to. And food is mediocre at best. Skip it!

"Its going to rain around 8pm", said the hostess as my mom suggested we sit outside at dinner last night. We were then moved upstairs as we moved up the rather daunting spiral staircase. We were seated and handed menus about 5 minutes later. Deciding to order caviar was my idea and it was worth it. For roughly €17 we received less than an ounce of caviar plus 6 small blinis and creme fresh. The caviar was delicious, while my main course was not that special. The suckling pig sounded great on paper, but did not translate well to the plate. My moms monkfish was incredible. It came on the bone and was moist and tender. The pig was dry, but came with fresh peas and sauce, plus some little herbed gnocchi. That made it alright! This is a fancy restaurant, don't be surprised if you see small children here. I for sure was.

Although the service was a bit slow for set menus (and somewhat unfriendly), the food and the drinks were absolutely delicious. The quaint atmosphere and the lovely decor are pretty awesome, but the food is what will keep you coming back: delicious with a great presentation, you'll actually feel like you're in a super-expensive Michelin-starred restaurant.

This this one of the best restaurants I happen to eat in Amsterdam. Their French style cooking is tasteful and delicious. First floor decor is amazing. We ordered Dutch lamb and Angus Steak.

Great french cuisine, delicious meat offers. I was there for a business dinner so didnt pay much attention to the prices but its sure you have delicious food at your dinner..

Been here so many times for lunch as it is down the street from my work. The service is terrible. I mean the servers talk back to you and do not bring menus to your table after you've been waiting 20 mins. The portion is sooooo small. I either starve at the office later or go to ah for more food. Not recommended for lunch. Hopefully dinner is better

Stumbled across this place just wandering around looking for dinner on our first night in town. Didn't have reservation but the hostess was gracious and there was space available for dinner. The meal upstairs was great (enjoyed appetizers, fish and the vegetarian dish). We decided to stay late and moved to the downstairs bar - beautifully crafted cocktails (I could watch them all night). I thought the bartenders were very friendly and we had good conversation with other patrons. Left around midnight - tons of beautiful people were piling in. Very cool place in the middle of town.

Horrible service, staff is confused and disrespectful. We were a group of 9, treated us very badly. Never will come back.

Amazing food, service, and atmosphere. Everyone (including reservations & the host) went out of their way to accommodate our requests, and for dinner on New Years Eve, no less. We would love to go back to try their regular menu, the food was outstanding.

Love this place for a cocktail in front of the fire in winter. I've only eaten here once, but the food was very good- the only disappointing part is that dining is upstairs, which has a more formal atmosphere. I prefer the downstairs cozy/trendy ambiance.

We decided to have dinner here with a bunch of colleagues. The location is cool, really downtown with edgy furniture and decoration. The concierge at the entrance is nice and willing to help. The disappointment has started as soon as we had a seat at the table upstairs. The waitress was really annoying and ill-mannered, like she wanted to be anywhere else, but there and the food was mediocre. We had a full menu with a starter, main course and dessert, consisting of venision carpaccio with duck liver profiterole, truffle and cranberry compote, black angus steak with cauliflower cream as a main and lemon custard with lemon parfait an balsamico meringue. The Starter: The quality of carpaccio was okay, but unfortunately I cannot say the same for the rest of the ingredients. The dough of the profiterole tasted like carton and it had also the same consistance; the truffle was obviously an extract and it smelled super industrial, but the worst was the sauce, which really tasted like ketchup. The Main course: The steak was good and the cream as well. Bummer for the potatoes, which seemed to be taken from a random supermarket and overcooked in the oven so much that they were almost impossible to bite. The dessert: NO COMMENT. The lemon parfait was barely eatable, tasting like chemical. The sable breton I can personally make it better (and I am not a cook), the lemon custard didn't have any taste. The only passable component of the plate was the meringue. Despite of that, even if I find the prices really exaggerated for the quality they offer, I wouldn't never complain so much about it, if the attitude of the staff was different. This attitude, combined with the questionable quality of the ingredients, makes the Lion Noir a pretentious, gourmet-wannabe place, definitely not worth the 67 eu each we spent. Never again!

Great place for affordable and fun French food and drinks! Beautiful interiors, I believe they even won an award for that. Two floors with different characteristics, bar downstairs and a restaurant upstairs. Very attentive staff going out of their way to accommodate your special dietary needs. Delicious food!

Once you enter, you're far away from the scene on the street. Gorgeous courtyard/terrace, very nice (and helpful, flexible) staff, creative menu, very good food. We had a large group and they made the evening perfect.