Good Eats in Amsterdam

[peterpumkino]

As I said Macrosan maybe you just don't like the unique taste of Spanish cuisine. Next time you're off to Spain post a request for good restaurants in the area you're visiting on the Spanish site and you will surely get many responses (including mine). As you know I'm a great Italian food fan but I do love Spanish food as well so we've got to get you to a great Spanish place!

And I'm changing my avatar!

Edited April 7, 2003 by peterpumkino (log)

[macrosan]

And I'm changing my avatar!

Well thank goodness for that. I have been living in terror of meeting you and finding out that you really do look like that

I should be going to Torrevieja in the summer, so I will certainly be seeking some recs in the area.

[alacarte]

Anything new on good eats in Amsterdam? Heading there soon. Thanks!

[Shazam]

My initial post had some errors; they've been cleaned up.

My girlfriend and I have been living in Amsterdam since August; our apartment overlooks the Albert Cuypstraat. A few guidelines: the Dutch are largely culinary barbarians and wuss down or sweeten up everything. But there is good food to be had. Really good food actually. Also, don't worry about language barriers. I'd say a larger percentage of the people you'll encounter in Amsterdam speak English than Dutch. Virtually everyone learns English.

Here's a rundown of our favorite spots in Amsterdam:

Albert Cuyp and surrounds:

Haringwinkel: look for the middle aged man with the deep voice (traditional Albert Cuyp Dutch accent) close to Ferdinand Bolstraaat (east end of the market). A tell tale sign is the huge jars of pickles on the counter. You can get it 2 ways: with or without squishy white bread. Diced onions and pickles optional, but definitely get them. I heartily recommend skipping the bread, eating it Dutch sashimi style. €1.80 (regular), €2.50 (broodje).

Stroopwaffle: probably the best native dutch food item, and no surprise, it's sugary as heck. Really great right off the griddle (€.80). These things also make perfect gifts for people at home (buy lots!). Look in the supermarket (Albert Heijn or the Dirk) for "roomboter stroopwaffles" and stock up the day before you fly. Around €1 per pack.

Frites: Both the Bob's Vlaamse Frittur (purple truck at Eerste Sweelinckstraat) and the orange and white truck at Van Woustraat are delicious. Ask for "fritesaus" (mayonaisse), pindasaus (peanut sauce) or both (called oorlog). Awesome stuff! Around €2.

Ice Cream: only open in the summer, Peppino's has delicious gelato just off Albert Cuyp on Eerste Sweelinckstraat. €1.50 cone.

Soup and tartelettes: Soupwinkel on Eerste Sweelinckstraat. Fresh soups daily and monthly. Never had a bad meal here. Get the €6 lunch deal (drink, small soup, tart, bread).

Olives: Chris' Oliven. Everything is good. We get 300 grams of the Garlic marinated green and black mix at least 2 times a week (“Knoflook, groen en zwarte”), and they rarely last the day. The black tapenade is equally delicious. Everything €1-2 per 100 gram.

Cheese: “kaas” vendors abound on the market. There are usually 2-3 a day. Look for “boeren kaas” of any type. That’s the higher grade “farmer’s cheese.” Jong = unaged; belegen = middle aged; oud = old. Dutch cheeses are delicious and go from a soft, elastic swiss cheese style to a very sharp, almost parmesan nuttiness in the oud. All are recommended! Also look for geitenkaas, dutch Goat cheese. Can be with garlic (knoflook). Also good is mostard kaas, cheese with mustard seeds.

Fish: this is the place to buy delicious, cheap fresh fish. If you have access to a kitchen, pamper yourself. Great deals and quality are available here.

Take your items to the Sarphatti Park just south of the market, but make sure to sit on the human side, not in the dog doo laden dog side! Sit near water and be charmed by the families of ducks swimming by.

Thai: White Elephant on Van Woustraat near Stadhouderskade is absolutely delicious. I heartily reccomend this place! Entrees in the low to mid teens. Especially recommended is the Coconut curry souffle, an excellent red curry cooked in a coconut. You'll fight with your friends for the right to scrape the coconut out of the shell.

Indian: Balti House on Albert Cuypstraat at Frans Halstraat (west of the market). Best Indian in Holland. You'd have to fly to London to top it. Entrees €10-18. We always order the off-menu vegetable jahlfrazi and a vegetarian biryani, both stellar. We also had a great appetizer of onion fritters last time. Order a Cobra and sit outside if the weather's nice. Good times!

Other areas:

Falafel makes for a filling and delicious cheap meal. Maoz is the predominant local chain. Eat it at the best Maoz in Holland, Muntplein 1, very close to the flower market and Munt Tower. Very busy which means it’s always fresh out of the fryer. The deal here is to load up on the fresh salad bar! Technique is key. Once the man hands over the sandwich, squash that sucker flat, crushing the balls. That gives you loads of room for toppings. €3.50.

Beer: drink lots of it. If you’re boring or simple minded, get pilseners, but if you like flavor, avoid boring yellow beer. All the great names (Chimay, Westmalle, Leffe, Trappe) are really cheap, and in a good café will run from €2-4. In a supermarket a bottle is about €1. The beer obsessed will want to visit the Bierkoning, Paleisstraat 125, a retail outlet with hundreds of beers run by a friendly and knowledgeable beer obsessive. Hard to find in cafes : Orval, Rochefort and Westvletern (sic).

Indonesian:

I recommend skipping the expense of Tempo Doeloe. We ate there once and only saw other tourists there. Small portions for (what we consider) big money (€25ish+ a person). For a rijstaffel, I’ll send you to a place most gourmands would avoid: Kantjil, Spuistraat 291. Personal preference, but I think this place is a really good deal (€40 for two on a rijstaffel; could legitimately serve most groups of 3) and serves surprisingly spicy and tasty food for Amsterdam. Another cheap option is Bojo, near the Leideseplein. Lange Leidsedwarstraat 49 and 51. Only one of the locations serves alcohol, so look for the crowded spot if this matters (I recommend De Koninck over Amstel, but I prefer dark beer). The menu is the same at both spots. Order your food “lontong” for the sticky rice cubes, in my opinion superior to regular white rice. It's not great but decent for that neighborhood.

Fries:

The best spot in the city is widely held to be the Saus Meesters, off the Spui on Voetboogstraat. There are 2 decent spots on the Damrak just outside of the Centraal Station; at one of them I recently saw the former fryman from the Saus Meester, making me think we could have a new contender for “best of the city.”

Outside Amsterdam:

In Den Haag, New Meyva offers the best Surinamese in Holland. Their roti plates are stellar and very cheap. Definitely worth a stop if you make it to the Hague. Unfortunately I don’t know the address, but take the #2 tram to Grote Markt, step out, look for the chinese restaurant on a corner in near you, and walk towards the restaurant, away from the tram (imperfect directions, sorry -- but the restaurant is a stone's throw, so don't walk far). I love this resaurant!

Edited July 15, 2003 by Shazam (log)

[alacarte]

THANK YOU for that wonderful rundown, Shazam! I am boarding the plane to A'dam tonight, and the printout from this thread will be in my pocket.

[alacarte]

Just returned from Amsterdam -- Shazam, thanks again for your recommendations! My sister & I enjoyed the rijstaffel at Kantjil, and a late-night falafel at Maoz hit the spot. We had a great time, and some great meals!

that said, we had some pretty ordinary meals too. My opinion is that Amsterdam is a lovely city with its canals and carillon bells, but it's not a place to go for serious eating.

one thing surprised me -- the sheer number of South American restaurants -- Argentinian, Chilean, you name it!

[elizabethnathan]

Having lived in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, I second your assessment alacarte. Funny though, that another active thread at the moment is on the Michelin 3-Star Parkheuvel in Rotterdam. Overall, I was consistently disappointed with my dining experiences in Holland, even in some high end restaurants.

Yes, there are lots of Argentine places in Amsterdam, but those are mostly chains catering to tourists. I've never seem them elsewhere.

The place that I most wanted to visit, but never had the chance to, is De Kas in Amsterdam. It's located in a greenhouse and gets much of its produce from the garden.

One hard and fast rule for Holland: always book way in advance. The Dutch love to reserve.

[paulbrussel]

Strange enough, I think Vermeer (2 Michelin stars) hasn't been mentioned here... I consider this restaurant as one of the top-three of the Netherlands (together with de Librije** in Zwolle and Oud Sluis** in Sluis).

Also La Rive** must be very good (very exquisite in the most beautiful hotel of Amsterdam: the Amstel) - but the last time I was there was with the chef Kranenborg who is now chef of Vossius*.

[fifi]

Outside Amsterdam:

In Den Haag, New Meyva offers the best Surinamese in Holland.  Their roti plates are stellar and  very cheap.  Definitely worth a stop if you make it to the Hague.  Unfortunately I don’t know the address, but take the #2 tram to Grote Markt, step out, look for the chinese restaurant on a corner in near you, and walk towards the restaurant, away from the tram (imperfect directions, sorry -- but the restaurant is a stone's throw, so don't walk far).  I love this resaurant!

Many thanks for this tip. I will be in Den Hague in September and will look this one up... if for no other reason than that I have no idea what Surinamese cuisine is about. Any enlightenment here?

[cmling]

I have had some memorable meals at Christophe in Amsterdam. I can recommend it heartily. The cuisine is not Dutch, however; like the chef-proprietor, it comes from the South-West of France.

[paulbrussel]

Perhaps it might be useful to signal that the Gambero Rosso magazine of August 2003 has a special about Amsterdam (in which strange enough La Rive** in the Amstelhotel is not mentioned at all).

[ScorchedPalate]

For a rijstaffel, I’ll send you to a place most gourmands would avoid: Kantjil, Spuistraat 291. Personal preference, but I think this place is a really good deal (€40 for two on a rijstaffel; could legitimately serve most groups of 3) and serves surprisingly spicy and tasty food for Amsterdam. Another cheap option is Bojo, near the Leideseplein.

I second both of these recommendations hearitly. My husband and I went to Kantjil on our first trip to A'dam. Because we had no idea what to expect in terms of how much English would be spoken, we picked a rijstaffel place that was recommended by the guidebooks, figuring that they would at least be used to Americans who knew no Dutch. (Little did we know that almost every A'dammer speaks wonderful English.) At any rate, we had a fabulous introduction to Indonesian food (and, as Shazam says, plenty of it).

Bojo we discovered simply by accident during a later trip with a group of friends who didn't want to pay Kantjil's prices -- which, for the record, are very reasonable... these folks are very cheap! We stumbled in, all 8 of us, and they served us a nice assortment of dishes that they selected. Easily the best cheap-eats of the trip.

Mmm, Indonesian food. I can't wait to go back to A'dam this winter. :)

~Anita

[paulbrussel]

Bojo we discovered simply by accident during a later trip with a group of friends who didn't want to pay Kantjil's prices -- which, for the record, are very reasonable... these folks are very cheap! We stumbled in, all 8 of us, and they served us a nice assortment of dishes that they selected. Easily the best cheap-eats of the trip.

Bojo can be good or bad. It is just very simple and if you don't have luck, it can be horrible. Difficult to recommned in my view, because of the lack of stability in quality...

Anyway, it is very cheap - that remains true.

[anil]

Hello anyone in town next weekend ? Maybe catch a few genevers or beer and late-late-night chow by ouderkerksplien (sp?)

[stevie]

I'd be more than glad to get together with you this weekend.

[anil]

I'd be more than glad to get together with you this weekend.

Sorry ! A day late and a euro short --

Never had a chance to check your posting. Anyway AMS is easier and inexpensive for me to get to than the west Coast Hey !! What's with "Sichuan Food" ???

More later .......

Edited October 26, 2003 by anil (log)

[Schneier]

I had an excellent Indonesian rijsttafel dinner at Kantjil en de Tijger last night. Lots and lots of food, and less than 20 euros a person.

Bruce

[Sweet Willie]

It was my final night in AMS and I was walking back to my hotel and really had no idea what I was going to eat for dinner. I choose to let fate take me where it wanted to. I finally stopped in front of a Japanese restaurant and thought some sushi and a soba dish would be a great meal.

While looking closer at the menu, I noticed a Malaysian section which I have never seen in the states on a Japanese menu. One of the choices was lamb w/black pepper sauce. Sounded yummy.

The lamb dish was almost nirvana. The black pepper sauce was tangy,robust w/o being over powering. For those of you who have dined in Singapore and had the black pepper crabs, this was almost the same delicious sauce used in Singapore. The lamb was actually rack of lamb that had been sliced into chops and stir-fried w/the onions, green pepper and the heavenly sauce. As I mentioned this dish was nirvana served over steamed rice.

I did have some sushi appetizers and they were very good and fresh.

This great restaurant is near the city center.

Hayashi Japanese Restaurant, Nieuwe Nieuwstraat 6, 1012 NH Amsterdam.

phone: 020-528 78 18

Open from 5pm to 11:30pm

[afoodnut]

I want to reopen this topic since I'm going to Amsterdam with my daughter for a week and would appreciate recent recommendations and suggestions for where to eat. I'm not looking for expensive or elegant, rather for a slice of "typical Dutch," what people who live there might eat, including ethnic restaurants and street food. (We will be staying at a B&B near Rembrandtplein. Breakfast is included so I don't need breakfast suggestions.)

I've read through the thread, and know one of the places we'll try based on recommendations here is Kantjil en de Tijger for rijsttafel.

Does anybody have current recommendations? I'd appreciate any other hints/tips you might have for enjoying our stay. (I was last in Amsterdam in the early '70s and this will be the first time for my food loving adventurous 17 year old daughter)

Thanks.

Edited January 12, 2004 by afoodnut (log)

[gidon]

Typical Dutch food?! Ohoh

Well, if you're really want some Dutch fare you could try Piet de Leeuw, Noorderstraat 11, small steaks with fried potatoes. People from the States might not call this a steak. Stay well clear of D'Vijff Vlieghen as hardly any local will venture near this place.

The better options are:

For excellent fries with mayonnaise go to the Vlaamse Friettent in the Voetboogstraat. 100% Streetfood. Since you're in the neighbourhood pop into the drugstore Cleban (Heiligeweg 42) for the best liquorice in town. You might not like it... To complete the experience try some herring on the Koningsplein (those in the know eat them without onions).

For diner my favourites would be:

Tempo Doeloe in the Utrechtsestraat, probably the best Indonesian restaurant in town. The rijsttafel of Kantjil is a mere shadow (though not bad at all) compared to theirs. More delux, less tourists, less groups. Don't forget to reserve a table.

Try some cheap but very chearful Surinames food at Riaz Bilderdijkstraat 193 or at Warung Spang Makandra Gerard Doustraat 39, both very local. Try roti chicken, a chicken curry (massala) with a dry roti. Or gado gado. Or pom with chicken. And fried bananas with peanut sauce. If you walk there and back, you might feel less guilty.

Last choice would be Lof Haarlemmerstraat 62, change their 3 course menu every day, choice is limited to fish/meat/veg. Good cooking, popular with trendy 30-somethings.

Many other places come to my mind, will try to get back on this. There's so much to eat and so little time.

Hope this little list will help you out,

Gidon

Edited January 13, 2004 by gidon (log)

[afoodnut]

Thanks so much for your reply Gidon. Your recommendations are exactly the kind I was hoping for. Your recommendations for Fries with mayonnaise, liquorice, and herring without onions will certainly lead us to food very different from what we eat at home (and that's precisely what we're looking for.)

Many other places come to my mind, will try to get back on this. There's so much to eat and so little time.

Hope this little list will help you out

Your list is a great help, and I hope you will be able to come back with more info as well.

How far in advance do I need to make a reservation for Tempo Doeloe in the Utrechtsestraat?

[anil]

Do try some of the herring stands - There is one outside Centraal Station. There are a few cafes by the flower market we like to sit out in the Spring or the Fall (to crowded and expensive during the summer )

[gidon]

For Tempo Doeloe a reservations a few days in advance should be enough, although I don't know how busy they are during the weekend.

After the short list above, I'll try to compile another short list for lunch.

Lunch in Amsterdam and Holland in particular can be a dismal affair. The majority of Dutch office-workers uphold the tradition of eating homemade sandwiches for lunch and thereby preclude serious luncheons. There are, however, some good and typical places to have lunch. In Amsterdam at least.

There's no escaping the Dutch kroket. A beef/veal/shrimp salpicon breaded and deep fried. It oozes from its crispy casing when cut or eaten out of your hand. Although you can find these in the ubiquitous snackbars, the best are those of Holtkamp, a well known patisserie which you can find on the Vijzelgracht. The veal and shrimp kroketten are out of this world. Luxembourg on the Spui also serves them.

Jewish sandwiches can be found at Sal Meijer in the Scheldestraat. Local specialities are salt beef, half om (half liver half saltbeef), osseworst (an Amsterdam speciality of 'cured' raw beef) and fish cookies.

Many of these sandwiches can also be found at a place I forgot the name of in the Rozenboomsteeg near the Spui (it's a very small street though). These won't be kosher.

Not typical Dutch, but nice anyway is Dolores Snackbar on the Nieuwezijdsvoorburgwal also near the Spui.

There are many other places which serve lunch, such as trendy and less trendy cafes, some not bad at all. These, and many other restaurants can be found at http://www.specialbite.com. It's not an extensive list, nor is it foolproof, but they do have an decent selection of places in town.

Gidon

Edited January 14, 2004 by gidon (log)

[afoodnut]

Thank you Gidon and Anil. We're so looking forward to our trip.

Have you any suggestions as to "don't miss" experiences, food or otherwise?

[paulbrussel]

Perhaps interesting will be "Le Hollandais": a chef who likes to cook the old fashioned, Dutch cuisine. Very good though, not out of date classical but good quality and a nice wine list too. Not too expensive.