Lekker is a Dutch magazine that annually publishes a Top 100 Best Restaurants list in their "Lekker 500" magazine. The 2016 edition of that list was unveiled this morning (here's the full list).  The magazine features 500 restaurants, but numbers 101 to 500 are not ranked, they're just mentioned. But honestly, who would care about the position of number 374?
 
This year, Lekker’s top 100 list shows that this guide is becoming increasingly irrelevant and my view is not based on personal preferences but on facts.

Take the top 20 for example. There are a few minor shifts with e.g. restaurant Beluga in Maastricht moving from 11 to 7 and De Kromme Watergang going from 20 to 19, but with the exception of Chapeau in Bloemendaal, who’s now at number 20 (25 last year), the top 20 is occupied by exactly the same restaurants as last year, the year before that, and yes, even the top 20 in the 2013 and 2012 editions featured more or less the same restaurants. Just for the record: I look at this top 20 as a whole, I couldn’t care less who’s at number 14 or at number 8, but I do find De Librije in Zwolle a deserving number 1.

I’m not debating the quality of these restaurants; in fact, with a few exceptions, I have had many a great meal at these restaurants, and undoubtedly a number of them are continuously developing their cuisine. But surely there must be new and exciting restaurants in the Netherlands, that are worthy of a spot in the top 20?

The Dutch restaurant scene is perhaps not as rock-and-roll as the one in London, but obviously in the Netherlands too, there have been changes in the gastronomic landscape. Let us take a look at Amsterdam for example. The dining scene there has changed dramatically over the past 3 years. There’s Moshik Roth’s &samhoud places, Richard van Oostenbrugge’s Bord’eau, and Sidney Schutte’s Librije’s Zusje. These three restaurants have all have been awarded 2 stars by Michelin in the recent editions of the guide. Michelin Netherlands is not particularly known for their dynamic approach, but in this case they were certainly quick to pick up. Furthermore, I know these restaurants well and they consistently deliver a level of quality that is among the very highest in the Netherlands. And it is not just me: all these three restaurants have gained international acclaim too.
 
How are these restaurants ranked in Lekker’s Top 100? Let’s see: &samhoud places is at number 42 (40 last year), Bord’eau is at number 57 (72 last year), and Librije’s Zusje is at 30 (50 last year).  I understand Lekker does not want to come across as “eager” or “biased”, but at this rate these restaurants will probably be closed long before they enter the top 20, let alone the top 10. And these are just examples at the high end.
 
Fine dining restaurants have always been the center of attention in the annual Lekker guide and self-evidently the Top 100 list features mainly Michelin starred restaurants. The Netherlands currently have 100 Michelin starred restaurants, so compiling a list is not really a difficult task, and predictably 80% of the restaurants on this year’s list are Michelin starred.

Surely, the Dutch restaurant scene has more to offer than fine dining, you ask? Correct, the Dutch too have seen a (welcome) change in the dining scene, but this isn’t in any way reflected in Lekker’s Top 100 list.  Where are the new kids on the block? Think Café Rijsel, Rijks, Guts & Glory, Johannes, Gebr. Hartering, and that’s just Amsterdam. I realise that so far I have only mentioned restaurants in Amsterdam, but I’m just a one person army, Lekker has 68 “rapporteurs”.  Other disputable rankings in the 2016 edition are: Chapeau (number 20, now there’s a candidate for the top 10), Aan de Poel in Amstelveen (number 75, really?), Yamazato in Amsterdam (number 47, this is the best Japanese restaurant in the Netherlands ... by a country mile), and De Burgemeester in Linschoten (number 100?).
 
In my opinion an annual restaurant list like Lekker's should reflect the current state of a restaurant scene, but if you look at this list, especially at the top 20, you’d think the Netherlands are at a standstill. 
 
Lekker magazine has had a new publisher since 2013, Pijper Media. The first guide published by Pijper Media was the 2014 guide, and I remember them saying (translated): “we have vigorously stirred things up in Dutch gastronomy”, which by the way wasn’t the case at the time and clearly it still isn’t today. Lekker with their 68 “rapporteurs”, whoever they may be, appear the be wholly out of touch and their restaurant top 20 seems to be set in stone - as fossils are.