The following is a comprehensive list of restaurants that Damian and I have tried since arriving in Amsterdam in January 2010, with accompanying reviews (with a few from our visit in September 2009).
(+) Denotes a chain (often just a local one with a few locations). The locations listed are the ones we have visited.
If you're looking for dining ideas for other cities, here is our review page for Montreal and a list of our favourites in other places.
Related Links
- We find dutchgrub an extremely useful Amsterdam restaurant review site and have discovered some of our favourites that way.
- I also enjoy reading Amsterdam Foodie.
- Another promising looking resource is Eat Amsterdam.
Legend
| Colour | Meaning |
| A particular favourite. | |
| An outstanding experience. | |
| Good cheap eats. | |
| Closed. | |
| Avoid at all costs. |
| Restaurant | Location | Comments | Date | |
| Bakery & Dessert | ||||
| A.M. de Rond Brood- en Banketbakkerij | Overtoom 496-498 | Delicious cheese pinwheel "croissants". The sausage croissant had a slightly burnt taste to the outside. | July 2010 | |
| Amrâth Grand Hotel | Prins Hendrikkade 108 | A sumptuous high tea. | April 2010 | |
| Bertram & Brood | Tuinstraat & Tweede Tuindwarsstraat | Fantastic cheese croissant. | May 2010 | |
| Patisserie Holtkamp | Vijzelgracht 15 | This tiny patisserie was packed on a Saturday afternoon and with good reason. They have fabulously delicious and reasonably priced cakes and tarts. For less than 12 euro we got 2 slices of cake, a fancy little tart, and 4 chocolates. | February 2011 | |
| Broodbakker Simon Meijssen (+) | Van Baerlestraat 23 | A great bakery with lovely breads, including some nice croissants and foccacia. Some of the cheesy croissants get a bit greasy when they're warmed, but they're still yummy. Their pastries look delicious, but we've yet to try them. | August 2010 | |
| de Taart van m'n Tante | Ferdinand Bolstraat 10 | Kooky cake shop in de Pijp. We had nice desserts and hot chocolate and coffee. Perhaps a bit too cute and kitschy for some, but it was fun and yummy. | September 2010 | |
| Chocolaterie Pompadour | Huidenstraat 12 | A nice little chocolaterie with a few tables. The hot chocolate is especially rich, though on the small/expensive side. The ham/cheese tosti was also skimpy. The cakes are fabulous and about 4,00 for a large slice. They also have a nice selection of chocolates to make up gift boxes. | February 2010 | |
| Gartine | Taksteeg 7 | Cozy and intimate little tea shop. The high tea is lovely, though some of the cakes were a bit too sweet, given that there were 4 slices for just 2 of us. A fantastic place to spend an afternoon with a friend. | November 2010 | |
| Patisserie Arnold Cornelis (+) | Eerste Constantijn Huygensstraat 88 | A bit hit and miss. The chocolate truffle cake was yummy, but the icing on the mocha cake tasted like it was made with shortening, not butter. Prices were reasonable at 2,10 per slice. | February 2010 | |
| Puccini Bomboni | Staalstraat 17 | Delicious, extravagant, and luxurious chocolates. We found the size and appearance quite different from North American chocolates since these are quite big and irregularly shaped. The flavours are mixed in with a chocolate-y mousse filling, as opposed to more neutral cream fillings. Each one is easily big enough to share. The fig-marzipan, mint, and cinnamon flavours are some of our particular favourites. | April 2010 | |
| Screaming Beans | Hartenstraat 12 | Delicious steamed style hot chocolate in a large glass. This hot chocolate is good value at 2,50. Nice apple-raison bread. | April 2010 | |
| Van Avezaath Beune | Johannes Verhulststraat 98 | Wonderful traditional Dutch bakery. The tea fancies are delicious with velvet mousse filling and subtle flavours. The cheesie biscuits are addictive, but very rich. | July 2010 | |
| Ice Cream | ||||
| IJscuypje | Eerste van der Helststraat 27 | Nice artisanal gelato-style ice cream right near the Albert Cuyp street market. | September 2009 | |
| IJssalon Venetië | Scheldestraat 68 | Nice Italian-style ice cream. We tried the lemon and chocolate. | September 2009 | |
| Monte Pelmo ijs fabriek | Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat 17 | Delicious Italian-style ice cream. The blood-orange and spicy strawberry flavours are especially nice. | May 2010 | |
| Café & Pub | ||||
| Bagels & Beans(+) | Ferdinand Bolstraat 70I | Local coffee and sandwich chain. Not too pricey and pretty good. The one we were at had a nice, large square out front to sit outside. | September 2009 | |
| Bar "Saloon" | Lijnbaansgracht 270 E | Good coffee and nice tostis at a reasonable price. | January 2010 | |
| Baton Brasserie | Herengracht 82 | A nice corner café with good sandwiches and great lattes. The hot chocolate is nice and the apple pie and truffle tart are both a real treat. | April 2010 | |
| Brasserie de Joffers | Willemsparkweg 163 | Nice gourmet sandwiches, yummy "mini burgers" and good hot chocolate. There's a great terrace out front, but it has an unfortunate tendency to get quite smoky (especially if you're sitting near the back). | July 2010 | |
| Brasserie Zuivere Koffie | Utrechtsestraat 39 | Nice hot chocolate in a small ceramic glass with a ginger thin. The bagel sandwiches were delicious and made-to-order. Great atmosphere and a nice-looking back terrace. | July 2010 | |
| Buffet van Odette | Herengracht 309 | Organic restaurant with good sandwiches, but slow service. | September 2009 | |
| café De Groene Vlinder | Albert Cuypstraat 130 | Nice hot chocolate and cookies and a pleasant upstairs area. Didn't try the food. | January 2011 | |
| Café George B.V. | Leidsegracht 84 | Snotty service, expensive, ok food. | September 2009 | |
| Café de Jaren | Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20 | Great canal-side terraces and nice food both in the café and restaurant. The desserts in the restaurant (upstairs after 5:30) are super yummy. | February 2011 | |
| Café Mankind | Weteringstraat 60 | Nice coffee, hot chocolate, and fries. Quiet place to sit in the afternoon and gets busy after 5pm. | March 2010 | |
| Caffé Oslo | Sloterkade 1A | Really nice bread, soups, and tosties. | January 2011 | |
| Café Parck | Overtoom 428 | Fantastic burgers at a neighbourhood pub. Only downside is it's quite loud right on the Overtoom. | August 2010 | |
| Café de Tuin | Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 13 | Nice sandwiches. We had the smoked salmon with horseradish and a tuna melt. The buttermilk-orange juice blend is surprisingly nice. | May 2010 | |
| Café Vertigo | Vondelpark | Good sandwiches and coffee, though it's near impossible to get water or get the attention of the red-shirts to order. | May 2010 | |
| Dwazezaken | Prins Hendrikkade 50 | Nice open-face sandwiches and coffee in relaxed atmosphere. 20 euro for 4 coffees and 2 sandwiches. | January 2010 | |
| Eetcafé De Zagerij | Westerstraat 182 | Reasonable tostis and coffee. | April 2010 | |
| Grand Café Blom | Eerste Oosterparkstraat 251-B | The sandwiches and hot chocolate were fine, but the cigarette smoke spoiled it for me. | February 2010 | |
| Lunchroom Hannibal | Ferdinand Bolstraat 92 | Nice hot chocolate and OJ, but the mains weren't as successful. The fried eggs were served on bread, rather than toast, which meant that there wasn't much texture contrast and the eggs got cold fast. The apple-bacon pancake was WAY too salty. | February 2010 | |
| Lunchroom Wilhelmina | Eerste Helmersstraat 83-A | A lovely corner cafe for breakfast or lunch. We had the cheese pannenkoeken and coffee and hot chocolate. Nice sandwiches and cakes too. | September 2010 | |
| Museum Café Mokum | Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 357 | The café in the Amsterdam Historical museum has surprisingly good prices and an attractive looking lunch menu. We only had coffee and hot chocolate, though, but both were good. | April 2010 | |
| Small Talk Coffee Corner | Van Baerlestraat 52 | Close to the Museumplein, this restaurant is unsurprisingly tourist-oriented. The food was ok, but a bit overpriced compared to other cafés. The cafeteria-style salads seem very dated. The place has a large warren of little rooms upstairs and we felt rather isolated from the servers. | September 2010 | |
| WG cafe | Marius van Bouwdijk Bastiaansestraat 52 | This cafe is tucked away on a little sidestreet. They have a unique style of hot chocolate where you get a glass of steamed milk with your choice of type of chocolate in bits in it. You stir it up to make your drink. The menu looks simple and affordable. | February 2010 | |
| Delis, Diners, & Fast Food | ||||
| Burgermeester (+) | Elandsgracht 130 | Excellent burgers with a variety of creative fillings (including a couple vegetarian options). We recommend ordering the trio of mini-burgers (your choice of any three on the menu) the first time you go. | July 2010 | |
| Vleminckx Sausmeesters | Voetboogstraat 31 | Excellent Belgian-style frites with many sauce choices. Just a window in the wall down a side street off the Spui. We found the regular mayo sweet, rather than tart. The citroen (lemon) mayo sauce is my favourite and Damian likes the knoflook (garlic) sauce. | September 2010 | |
| Steakhouse | ||||
| Café Loetje | Johannes Vermeerstraat 52 | Amazing steak frites in a bustling bistro. So delicious and worth the lengthy wait for a table. | September 2010 | |
| Steakhouse "Piet de Leeuw" B.V. | Noorderstraat 11 | Another great steak house with an real neighbourhood feel. Almost on par with Cafe Loetje | November 2010 | |
| Chinese | ||||
| Hoi Tin | Zeedijk 122-124 | The starter soups we tried (hot and sour and won ton) were fine, though not great. The beef in oyster sauce had a flavourless, corn-starchy sauce. The bakery part of the restaurant seems more successful with delicious egg tarts and buns. | January 2010 | |
| Oriental City | Oudezijds Voorburgwal 177 | Opens at 11:30 for dim sum by menu. It was overall tasty with a nice selection, but there is definitely no dumpling master here. The dumpling wrappers were thick and gummy and mostly fell off the various stuffings. The char sui bao (steamed bbq pork buns) were very good though. | August 2010 | |
| Japanese & Sushi | ||||
| Umi Sushi & Grill | Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 71A | Reasonable sushi for the price point. The eel in the unagi don was not well de-boned and some of the nigiri sushi was a bit flavourless. The maki seems like the best choice here. | March 2010 | |
| Sazanka | Ferdinand Bolstraat 333 | Top quality Teppanyaki food in a really nice location. It doesn't have the theatrical element (although he did flambé a couple things with big flames). | June 2010 | |
| Other Asian | ||||
| Momo | Hobbemastraat 1 | (Asian fusion) Expensive, trendy, modern Asian-fusion menu. The food is good, but not exciting enough to warrant the price (85 euro for 2 people sharing a main: 2 apps, 1 main, 2 desserts, 1 glass wine, 1 bottle sparkling water). The most innovative part of the menu seems to be the desserts, which were very modern/minimalist in presentation and super yummy. | September 2010 | |
| Wellcome Vietnamese Restaurant | Zeedijk 57 | (Vietnamese) I was desperately craving a Bùn dish and found satisfaction here. The spring rolls have a pleasantly crispy and thin wrapper and the Pho Gà (chicken) was yummy. | August 2010 | |
| French & Bistro | ||||
| De Kas | Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3 | A really lovely meal in a slightly unusual setting. The greenhouse dining room is beautifully airy. The set-menu was delicious, and they were gracious about accommodating food restrictions. The service was very classy and the food was beautiful as well as yummy. | September 2010 | |
| De Witte Uyl | Frans Halsstraat 26 | A unique style of menu where you choose two items and the order you want them in, as there are no specific "starters" and "mains". The chocolate board dessert was insane! A subsequent visit was rather disappointing. | April 2010 | |
| Restaurant Vermeer | Prins Hendrikkade 59-72 | Delicious food and outstanding service. We had a truly memorable meal here. The restaurant has a Michelin Star. | February 2011 | |
| Italian & Pizza | ||||
| Restaurant Fiorentino | Overtoom 125 | Fantastic, simple Italian. My initial reaction to the menu was that it was slightly expensive for simple dishes, but it was so, so worth it. | July 2010 | |
| De Peppino | Leidsekruisstraat 32 | Touristy Italian place, but better than I expected given the location. | October 2010 | |
| La Perla | Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 14 | We had the fabulous Italian sandwiches they were making on Queen's Day. | April 2010 | |
| Portugese & Spanish | ||||
| Other European | ||||
| Balthazar's Keuken | Elandsgracht 108B | (Dutch?) Great lively atmosphere and a yummy set menu that varies weekly. | April 2010 | |
| Middle Eastern & Mediterranean | ||||
| Dionysos | Overtoom 176 | (Greek) The platter meals to share seem like the best choice. The lamb kleftiko was not that great and the hummus was insanely salty. | May 2010 | |
| Mykonos Grieks Restaurant | Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 45 | (Greek) The food was average, with small starters and mains that were bulked out with cheap, forgettable side-dishes. The service was insincere, with a server who acted jolly, but not helpful. In particular, they refused to let our group split the bill. | March 2010 | |
| Vegetarian | ||||
| African | ||||
| Indian | ||||
| South American, & Caribbean | ||||
| Samba Kitchen | Ceintuurbaan 63 | (Brazilian) Lots of delicious meat, brought to your table. | February 2010 | |
| Market Food | ||||
| Sterk Staaltje | Staalstraat 12 | A small food market with a yummy selection of salads and build-your-own cheese and meat sandwiches. | September 2009 | |
| International | ||||
| Restaurant De Ondeugd | Ferdinand Bolstraat 13 - 15 | Pricey French/Italian food with Asian influence. The menu was a bit muddled. Nothing remarkable. | November 2010 | |
1 comments:
Hi Allison,
Thanks for recommending www.eat-amsterdam.com on your site. I have been drooling over your food photos!
Congratulations on becoming a mum.
Cecily
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