De Lepelaar in Noord

Plopped down here after an afternoon at the zoo. Not very inspiring. Especially the fries and paninis. Outside, the seagulls came and stole the food off your plate. Not enthusiastic.

Ate fries plus snacks. Fries weren't cooked enough. Meatballs super small and deep-fried?! Burnt peanut sauce. No healthy options left like a salad. What is going on!

What a disappointment. The staff stood behind the counter uninterested, and they couldn't even manage a simple "hello" or "good day." Hospitality seems to be hard to find here. After this experience, I understand better why visitors bring their own food and drinks. A friendly welcome costs nothing, but makes a world of difference.

Uninterested and unmotivated staff (touching up her lipstick while working the cash register), old, tough flame toastie that had probably been sitting there for half a day. Loaded Fries satay was ok. Large, reasonably clean terrace.

I didn't expect the restaurant to also have an animal experience! Three pigeons displaying themselves. The food is priced like you'd expect at a zoo: expensive.

Desserts are ok. Regular food is just awful. Nothing to eat ☹️ Better take food with you

Far too expensive for what you get. The staff seemed disinterested and there were no healthier options available today, such as freshly made sandwiches. The children's menu had to be purchased with vegetarian nuggets. An alternative for these nuggets was not possible, even if it was a replacement product of equal value. The fries were also far too salty.

Unbelievable that in this day and age you can do such a bad job on all fronts in such a great place. I think the staff is quite nice, but probably not managed. The food is bad, unhealthy and expensive. My 10 year old son even calls it ‘rancid’. I have never experienced anything worse than this in the Netherlands. The petrol station is 3 to 4 times better than the Lepelaar in Blijdorp.

They close at 5:00 PM, but by 4:40 PM you can't get coffee anymore. The machine was already clean.

Not a very diverse selection. Lots of unhealthy snacks, and many with cheese. A healthier option is freshly made sandwiches. But we were out of them. We asked about them, but they weren't making them that day, despite the sign outside advertising the freshly made sandwiches. We actually wanted to eat vegan, but that's not possible at De Lepelaar, except for fries. For lack of anything better, we went for fries and a vegetarian chicken burger. We ate it reluctantly. It really wasn't tasty. And 10 minutes later, other customers were walking around with freshly made sandwiches... even though they told us they were out of them and weren't being made anymore. In short, bad food, bad service, a junkyard-like interior, poor selection (much was gone), and expensive.

A healthy sandwich costs 7.50. I'd expect a more luxurious one. What do you get? A white roll... with one small slice of tomato. That's a bit disappointing. The coffee, however, is very good.

The food was disappointing and very expensive. The atmosphere was not pleasant, and the lady at the counter was very surly.

Nice location and quiet for a bite to eat around noon. You can bring your own food, which we recommend. Prices are quite high. Soft drink €3.40 Panini €4.50

Very friendly and helpful employees. Unfortunately, it is a dark hole where everything is made vegan, there is not a piece of meat to be seen with vegetarian filet americain and vegetarian sausage rolls. Very sad.

Gluten free bread and fries. No lactose feee milk alternative for the coffee.

Large restaurant at the (new) entrance of Diergaarde Blijdorp. The restaurant is well maintained, but quite dark. It is a self-service restaurant with a fairly extensive range.