Amsterdam Restaurants

Goign Dutch: The dining scene in Amsterdam, from Dutch pancakes to Indonesian rijsttafel feasts

Amsterdam, as the capital of a trading nation, has a well-rounded arsenal of restaurants boasting all sorts of cuisines, from Dutch to Indonesian. Traditional Dutch cuisine tends to be hearty and rather uninventive, but still good and filling.

Specialties include Hutspot (beef rib stew) and pannekoeken, massive pancakes that can be eaten topped with sugar or fruit as a dessert or with meats and cheeses as a main course.

Consider accompanying your meal with a Dutch beer such as Heineken, Grolsch, or Amstel (all light pils brews) or a dark Belgian beer.

Amsterdam is famous for its excellent Indonesian restaurants. The dish to try in town is not Dutch, but rather the Indonesian feast called rijsttafel. This "rice table" smorgasbord of Southeast Asian specialties consists of 17 to 30 tiny dishes, offering you a taste of all the best food the former Dutch colony has to offer.

Bordewijk [French] €€
De Prins [Dutch/French] €€
Kantjil en de Tiger [Javanese/Indonesian] €€
The Pancake Bakery [Dutch/Pancakes] €
Restaurant d'Vijff Vlieghen [Dutch] €€€€
Speciaal [Indonesian] €€€€

Quick Bites
Brown Cafes
Gin Joints