The foodlover's guide to Amsterdam

[BonVivant]

someone i know way down here who's Mexican recommends Los Pilones. apparently they import many ingredients from the old country. have been meaning to check it out but i somehow always end up at Japan Inn for sashimi and shishamo.

[markemorse]

ja, they get shipments of nopales, poblanos, tomatillos, chiles en such every week. they're nice enough to sell it to customers too if you ask for it.

and wow, bonvivant, just checked out your vietnam pictures. holy ned, that food looks amazing.

Edited July 30, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[BonVivant]

well, Paris is only a few hours away by 2 high speed trains should you have a craving for Pho or other excellent VN dishes [those photos are crap. i have to re do them all over again very soon]

[markemorse]

Hi all, here are #8-10 of my eating in amsterdam recs:

+++

8) Bocadillos at Hollandaluz, Haarlemmerstraat 71. (link)

This shop can do no wrong in my tiny little mind, or at least not much (they could maybe carry some better canned tuna...Ortiz for example). Before Mara took off for Scotland this summer, our Sunny Day Routine went like this:

Her: "OK, see you at the park. Get the one with the membrillo, and something else."

Me: "The artichokes with aioli?"

Her: "Hmm. We just had that one."

Me: "But it was fantastic."

Her: "Right. Get one. And something else."

Me: "That's two humongous sandwiches already. How many days are we going to be at the park?"

Her: (frown, with extended lower lip).

Me: "OK, what else?"

The items in question are bocadillos (sandwiches) from Hollandaluz. We've had all 10 of them (or at least I have), and my favorites in order are....well, it's just easier to list the ones I wasn't bowled over by: both of the roasted red pepper bocadillos might actually be fine (choice of either manchego or anchovies), but compared to everything else they were a bit boring. If I were going right now, I'd get a manchego/membrillo and an artichoke/aioli/anchovy (ed. note: I changed my mind...tuna is now in third place). Their aioli is the best I've ever had, I think, and any sandwich that they put it on is one you're going to want to seriously and repeatedly bite (you can also just buy the aioli itself). But...their albondigas are also the best I've had in years, and the warm chorizo with onions is the bee's knees as well. They also have a morcilla (blood sausage) option that's a bit hard to see on the menu, but it's there, and it's good if you're up for it. Make sure to ask for a little extra olive oil on any of these sandwiches, because the olive oil they use here is out. of. sight.

I haven't even mentioned any of their other homemade stuff: great non-fishy marinated fresh anchovies (should mention that these are not the ones you get on your bocadillos, you get preserved anchovies on the sandwiches); paellla; gazpacho, croquetas, empanadas, pollo en pepitoria. And unflaggingly friendly service, even in the deepest throes of our Summer Deathwave of Heat, even when their oven busted and they couldn't bake bread, etc.

While you're there, pick up some olive oil: I'm currently really enjoying the Grupo Serrano Lopez...ask them for a taste.

9) Gambas and Homemade Ginger-Pear Tart at Van Kerkwijk, Nes 41.

This is my fail-safe "dining out with guests" option in Amsterdam. I've eaten here at least ten times and been thoroughly pleased every time. It's not really "fancy" cooking, but you won't find any hutspot or kroketten here. It's a quietly cool (but not quiet) and classy neighborhood restaurant run by an ever-changing number of Van Kerkwijk sisters that prepares fresh, creative food with a pronounced Spanish influence, but more than that (to me) seems very Dutch in its appropriation of "whatever sounds good".

My most memorable meal there was a beautiful, perfectly cooked filet of beef in a strawberry/balsamic/olive oil sauce, simply plated and delicious (unfortunately I only saw it only on the menu that one time). In fact, the steaks here have always been very very good (for Americans reading this, it's worth mentioning that you will not see a charcoal-grilled steak in Amsterdam very often, they're more often pan-fried in butter). Some nights we'd just go for starters, interesting cheeses and gently modernized pan-European tapas/antipasti. The menu changes often, and there are usually interesting seafood and salad options. We almost always order the gambas, whole shrimp (this means heads too) baked in a clay pot with lots of garlic, good olive oil, and red chile pepper. And for dessert, we order the homemade perentaart (pear tart) when there's still some left (mom makes it for them every day the restaurant is open). Excellent, friendly service and an overall good vibe. OK, the music is occasionally a little...mmm, lounge-y for my tastes, but with cool music Van Kerkwijk would probably be too devastatingly attractive for its own good anyway.

10) Bara at Toko Hangalampoe, Tweede Nassaustraat 7.

I just had one of these this morning, as this is my downstairs Surinaamse toko, and the baras are only 1 euro...how can you not get one when you walk by? A bara is a deep-fried black lentil doughnut (bet you never thought you'd see all those words in the same sentence) of Indian/Nepalese origin. The Indian influence on Surinam cuisine seems surprising for a South American country, until you find out that 37% of the Surinam population is East Indian/Hindustani (the largest ethnic group in the country). I know this is true because Wikipedia told me so.

Anyway, Toko Hangalampoe's bara participates in the noble tradition of Indian lentil fritters, but takes it in a totally different direction by adding to it a ridiculously spicy Madame Jeanette (habanero relative) salsa smeared liberally on top (less liberally if you don't speak Dutch, I've heard). This is the spiciest food I've had in Amsterdam, in fact it can be too hot (depending on who is behind the counter), and I'm a man who likes to have smoke coming out of his ears. If you're not a chile-lover, you might want to ask for the peper separate (it comes in a little plastic bag this way) so you can regulate your dosage.

Edited August 1, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[Chufi]

markemorse,

your posts are awesome. You make me feel like going out and explore my own city, and it's been a long time since I've felt that way.

Just fantastic! Tomorrow is my day off and I think one of your recommendations is going to be lunch. Now, I have to decide which

[Chufi]

p.s. I guess I have to go and check out Hollandaluz, because Casa Molero is closing and now I don't have a source for Spanish/ Portuguese hams & chorizo in my neighborhood anymore. Mm, morcilla...

[markemorse]

Thanks Klary....I feel completely the same way about your posts.

Now if I could just get my act together enough to take some pictures of these places, I'd be all set. Feel free to snap a couple if you go to Hollandaluz.

mark

Edited August 1, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[michael_g]

I'm a little surprised to see no mention of Kantjil en de Tiger on Spuistraat. Is this seen as touristy? It's not in the nicest part of town. Or is it not as good as others? I find that hard to believe -- I was floored by their rijstafel.

[Chufi]

Well.. to be honest.. Kantjil & de Tijger is considered a bit touristy I think. Not that that necessarily means the food is bad!

But I have had a couple of not so good dinners there. But, that was about 5 years ago, so maybe it's different now.

I recently recommended Tempo Doeloe (also Indonesian) in the Utrechtsestraat to someone visiting from the US, and he really liked it.

Edited August 1, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[markemorse]

I'd have to second that...I do think of it (and that whole area around the bottom of the Spuistraat and N.Z.) as pretty touristy. The only time I've eaten there (maybe 3 years ago) the food was fine, but pretty tame...my lasting impression is of a certain "same-iness" across the dishes...could've been the result of prepackaged sauces/sambals/boemboe, I don't know.

Anyway, it's been a long time, maybe it's different now....I do know that they've undergone a makeover lately and added a takeaway counter next door, maybe it's time to stop by for some takeout and see what's what.

[Chufi]

Oh btw.. speaking of Indonesian.. I had some fantastic Indonesian take-out last week from Toko Madjoe,

Amsterdamseweg 183, Amstelveen

Telefoon (020) 647 67 40

keuken open 10.00-18.30, za 10.00-17.00, ma 12.00-18.30

It's a bit out of the way, but highly recommended, it's probably the best Indonesian I ever had in Amsterdam*. They have 2 tiny tables in the shop so you can eat at the premises, if you like. Everything is really fresh and with a high turnover, I would recommend to go early in the day, because by closing time they are out of a lot stuff.

* ok Amstelveen is not Amsterdam, but the title of the thread is "Amsterdam and beyond " right?

Edited August 1, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Oh and one more thing.. I love all the traffic on this thread lately

(it's interfering with my work-day though )

[markemorse]

Ha, Klary...I was just going to ask you if you had any hot Indo tips....

Maybe this deserves its own thread (or maybe the Amsterdam Restaurants thread), but I'm wondering if anyone has been to Blue Pepper or Terang Boelan (worlds apart from each other philosophically, I know)...

I've been wary of Blue Pepper b/c of the prices and some wildly mixed reviews, but it looks like they may have ironed things out....

1st edit: "...'a breath of fresh air from the shadow puppet attack' of other Indonesian restaurants..."? WTF? I seem not to have noticed these shadow puppet attacks, unfortunately.

2nd edit: I just realized that Terang Boelan is right around the corner from me, and I happened to be hungry, so I went...it was not your average toko. Exceptionally nice-looking food. Interesting selection: in addition to the rather usual daging bali, I had ayam paniki (chicken with candlenuts and coconut milk) and poki poki (broiled eggplant stuffed with minced pork I believe). It was all very good, but not mind-blowing. Worth a stop if you're in the neighborhood, but not worth traveling across town for (unless you're curious about non-standard Indonesian dishes maybe).

3rd edit: I'm going to post further non-recommendation comments about Amsterdam restaurants in the Amsterdam Restaurants thread, so that this thread remains devoted to "keepers".

Edited August 1, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[paulbrussel]

Strange enough I always found it hard to find top food places in Amsterdam.

I have been several times to Pascal Jalhaij at Vermeer**, but he has gone there; I don't know about his succesor but I heard good stories about him.

And there is always the excellent La Rive (althought it last his second star this year - didn't understand why!).

And there is Yamazato* in the Okura Hotel.

In the upper middle class, there doesn't seem to be much. I liked Breitner and Le Hollandais. And lately the restaurant Elkaar seems to be good.

No one mentioned the famous Nam Kee restaurant?

Edited August 1, 2006 by paulbrussel (log)

[markemorse]

Hi Paul,

Wish I could help with the * and ** categories, but I really haven't been eating at those kinds of places since I've been here...

As for Nam Kee...maybe it's because there were so many excellent Chinese restaurants where I used to live in the US, but...while I find Nam Kee to be "good Chinese food" (in that the menu offers many dishes that have their own distinct taste, style of preparation, spice level, regional affinities, etc.), and definitely one of the better Chinese places in Amsterdam, I wouldn't make a special trip to eat there. It might just be me. If I was going to go to the Zeedijk, I'd rather eat at Bird (the Thai restaurant not the Thai snackbar) or New King (Chinese).

mem

Edited August 1, 2006 by markemorse (log)

[Chufi]

hey! New King is my favorite as well! Here are their oysters

paulbrussel, unfortunately my budget doesn't allow me to eat at high-end places very often. But I do feel that Amsterdam has something to offer in the what you call middle class or upper middlleclass department. I hear good things about consistent good quality at Bordewijk, Van Vlaanderen, Segugio (Italian) and Le Garage... and many new places are popping up.. although ofcourse those may not be passed the initial hype yet.

I often feel that it is the "lower middleclass" restaurants, where you still pay what I consider quite a lot, where you will be disapppointed. For instance I had dinner at Klokspijs recently.. they had good reviews everywhere.. I think we paid about 90 euro for 2.. I though the food was pretty awful, pretentious, etc. I was wishing we had gone to a nice Indonesian or Turkish or Greek place instead of that so-called inventive and creative blabla.. okay done ranting now...

Edited August 1, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[paulbrussel]

Hi Paul,

Wish I could help with the * and ** categories, but I really haven't been eating at those kinds of places since I've been here...

As for Nam Kee...maybe it's because there were so many excellent Chinese restaurants where I used to live in the US, but...while I find Nam Kee to be "good Chinese food" (in that the menu offers many dishes that have their own distinct taste, style of preparation, spice level, regional affinities, etc.), and definitely one of the better Chinese places in Amsterdam, I wouldn't make a special trip to eat there. It might just be me. If I was going to go to the Zeedijk, I'd rather eat at Bird (the Thai restaurant not the Thai snackbar) or New King (Chinese).

mem

←

Hi Mark,

Well: I won't come from Brussels all the way just to eat at Nam Kee :-). It is just that since the book and the movie, the oysters are so famous... Anyway, I was talking about the Nam Kee place at the Prins hendrikkade, not the other one which seems less good.

I heard indeed good stories about The Bird. New King I didn't know uptill now.

Paul

[paulbrussel]

hey! New King is my favorite as well! Here are their oysters 

paulbrussel, unfortunately my budget doesn't allow me to eat at high-end places very often. But I do feel that Amsterdam has something to offer in the what you call middle class or upper middlleclass department. I hear good things about consistent good quality at Bordewijk, Van Vlaanderen, Segugio (Italian) and Le Garage... and many new places are popping up.. although ofcourse those may not be passed the initial hype yet.

I often feel that it is the "lower middleclass" restaurants, where you still pay what I consider quite a lot, where you will be disapppointed. For instance I had dinner at Klokspijs recently.. they had good reviews everywhere.. I think we paid about 90 euro for 2.. I though the food was pretty awful, pretentious, etc. I was wishing we had gone to a nice Indonesian or Turkish or Greek place instead of that so-called inventive and creative blabla.. okay done ranting now...

 

←

Hi Klary,

Bordewijk I visited too long ago and I wasn't very impressed then although it seems to get still good critics.

Van Vlaanderen has been visited by close culinary friends of mine who were quite disappointed.

Another good culinary friend was indeed impressed by Le Garage, although I am not sure I would like to sit amongst the Dutch VIPs.

Klokspijs I have never heard of, and unfortunately: I am one of those who likes very mich the "cuisine moleculaire", which is only to be found in Holland, till some extent, by Oud Sluis, but well: then we are already talking about the best restaurant of Holland :-), although which doesn' mean the most expensive one...

On the other hand, I do agree that I prefer good "lower middleclass" restaurants then more expensive blabla-restaurants which are not giving what they pretend.

PS: are the New King oysters better then those of Nam Kee then?

Edited August 2, 2006 by paulbrussel (log)

[Chufi]

A nice place for a quick lunch is snackbar/lunchroom Dolores, it's on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opposite nr. 289 (between Dam and Spui). It looks like a doll's house from a fairy tale, but it actually used to be a public restroom, don't worry I'm sure they scrubbed it pretty well before opening the restaurant. Not that it smells of desinfectant, no it smells of wonderful food

It's something between a snackbar and a lunchroom, which means they do have a lot of the deep-fried stuff Dutch people love so much, but also lots of (healthy) sandwiches, juice etc. My favorite used to be the tarragon chicken sandwich. inside is tiny, but when the weather is nice you can sit on one of the large tables outside.

I think when you're shopping in the city centre this is one of the nicer places for a simple lunch, not touristy or fancy, just simple good food.

Edited August 11, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Nino Bergese]

Hello I just found this thread and must say that it is great!

In my view Amsterdam has ok restaurants for a city it´s size, but not exceptional. What I do find very exceptional in Amsterdam is the excellent supply of cooking raw material from all parts of the world. The meat, fish vegetables and wine in Amsterdam is really excellent. Here are some of my favourite places where you can find great food products.

http://www.vishandeltel.nl/

Next to Nieuwmarkt. An excellent place to find all sorts of sea creatures including live lobster all year round. Be aware of the staff at this place. Stay out of their way when they are carrying fish or you might become sliced into a file your self.

http://www.fishes.nl/

On Utrechtsestraat. Very refined seafood products. Not very big selection, but perfect items of very high quality for sashimi or sushi. Be there early in the day to pick the best and freshest fishes.

Fred de Leeuw

Butcher next to fishes on Utrecthsestraat. An incredibly small shop, but with a great selection of meats of all kind and friendly and helpful people.

Nord Wijn (Not exactly sure about the name)

In a small cellar in the middle of bloemenmarkt, right across from the flower stands. Wine with spectacular price/quality ratio. I have never bought a wine there that I wasn't happy with. A somewhat quirky, but knowledgeable owner. I have seen him scare of tourists a couple of times by insulting them, but don't let your self be intimidated because the wines here are well worth their price.

http://www.hanos.nl/

Only for those lucky enough to be registered at the Dutch chamber of commerce or happens to be the professional buyer of their company. An awesome place with more food than I have ever seen at one place before.

Eet smakelijk!

[markemorse]

Hey Nino,

Welcome to eGullet! And this thread!

I'll agree with you, Amsterdam has some exceptional food, but very very few exceptional restaurants. There are more than a few good restaurants though...I'd love to hear about any that you're on to....

I'll completely agree with your vishandeltel recommendation: I used to live right around the corner, and that was my fish shop. The only negative is that it's a small place (bigger than Fishes, though), and the selection isn't, say, what you can find at some of the markets. Go before noon if you want to see everything they've got. Very fresh stuff and prices are usually very reasonable.

Can you explain a little more about Hanos? I'm registered at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, but my business has nothing to do with food. Can I still shop there?

thanks,

mark

[Chufi]

Hello Nino and welcome!

Like markemorse, I would love to hear more about your culinary thoughts on Amsterdam.

I haven't been eating/drinking out much lately, and pretty soon I'll be gone for a whole month!

you guys hold down the fort here please!

[Nino Bergese]

Hi and thanks for welcoming me to eGullet.

Some of my favourite restaurants in Amsterdam are

Oriental City

I think their seafood and relaxed atmosphere makes this place a winner. I can't get enough of their scallops with green asparagus while I watch the crazy mix of people in the red-light outside their window.

Cafe Roux

I always leave this place with a smile. The food is very good and so is their wine selection. I can especially recommend their cheese selection coupled with one type of wine for each cheese. Life simply doesn't get much better than that.

Cinema Paradiso

The food there is good, but I mostly go there for the busy atmosphere and because it is somewhat different.

Regarding Hanos. I used to borrow a friends company card and go there. It was a small plastic card with a magnetic strip on it that gave me access. My friends company did not have anything to do with the food business so I think you will be ok. Call them up and asked before you go if you are not sure. It is definitely an experience to go there.

[etalanian]

I am delighted to have found this thread! My husband and I are going to Amsgterdam in early November (hope it's not too cold then) and now we have a source for dining recommendations.

Thanks!

Eileen

[markemorse]

Hi Eileen!

I'm glad you found this thread too...that's exactly what it's here for.

November isn't usually too bad...at least it shouldn't be any worse than Philadelphia (I lived in Harleysville, PA for a few years as a teenager)!

Chufi should have lots of bakery-oriented recommendations for you...hopefully you've checked out the Dutch Cooking thread as well, lots of beautiful photos of some (but not yet all) of the tastiest morsels in the book.

The next time I indulge in some extended procrastination I'll collect the recommendations here on my external blog, since we don't really have anywhere to pin anything....

Holler if you have any specific questions!

mark