Dining in prison on the Wolvenplein

De Vrije Wolf, the former prison on the Wolvenplein, is now a breeding ground for creativity and cool initiatives, ranging from art exhibitions to the escape room ‘Gajes in de Bajes’. The most recent creative experiment is pop-up restaurant ‘De Lik‘. The restaurant is an initiative from the catering company Bakx & Meijer. With their team, they’re organising monthly 5-course dinners in this unusual location.

Cell block B

Every last three days of the month, a pop-up restaurant is organised in cell block B. We enter the prison via the front door and walk through a chilly hall to cell block B, which fortunately looks warm and welcoming. The colourless cell blok is lit up with pink and purple beams of light, which give the room a beautiful glimmer from their reflection on the cold metal. We take a seat at wooden tables with colourful chairs, and are curious about what the evening will bring.

Not just water and bread

At ‘De Lik’ the dinner starts with bread and water, but fortunately that’s followed by a 5-course menu with accompanying wines. The menu changes every time, so every edition is a surprise. We take a glance at the menu, but quickly decide to leave it as is and let ourselves be surprised. The friendly waiter is shortly at our table, explains the menu, and pours us a delicious glass of bubbly. The evening can begin. The first course is out soon: salmon, cucumber, saffron and tomato. A good start!

What else did we taste?

After that delicious dish of salmon, we’re served a mini pizza with rib eye, red onion, pumpkin, tarragon and sugarsnaps. Unfortunately this dish lacks a bit of punch, but we still enthusiastically await the next course. It’s a soup made of cauliflower with parsley, aged cheese, and shiitake mushrooms. We’d like another bowl of that – so tasty. The main course is a good, juicy peace of beef loin with veggies and potato. The accompanying anchovy saus is good but quite strong, and unfortunately we poured it generously over the beef before tasting it. That’s a bit too much, but fortunately the meat is still good. The dessert is a flavour bomb: clafoutis with cherry, chocolate mousse and mango, nice with a cup of tea. The evening is a success; we head home satisfied and an experience richer.

Reservations

Curious about an evening in prison? Head to the De Lik website, where you can reserve a 5-course dinner, including aperitif and coffee or tea – excluding drinks.

De Vrije Wolf | Wolvenplein 27 | De Lik