The 38 best restaurants in Amsterdam

Telegraph

18-04-2025

It's easy to eat your way round Amsterdam. Why not start with lunch at an apothecary shop turned diner, or enjoy a blowout supper at a double-Michelin restaurant with high-rise views? You could swing by a sparsely decorated canalside joint which knocks out some of the city's best sandwiches or head to an upscale food hall with vendors selling everything from Turkish meze to sushi. Foodies should make a beeline for the über-hip eateries in the dining quarter of De Pijp, but just as pleasing is a traditional meal at a classic Dutch restaurant.
Our expert picks out the city's gourmet highlights. Find out more below, or for more Amsterdam inspiration, see our guides devoted to the city's best hotels, bars and cafés, shopping, things to do and things to do for free, plus how to spend a weekend in Amsterdam.
Note: Many Amsterdam restaurants require a deposit when you make a reservation. This is debited to your credit card, and subtracted from your bill at the end of the evening.
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Best all-rounders
Best for families
Best for cheap eats
Best for walk ins
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Best small but mighty spots
Best all-rounders
Jansz.
Through an old apothecary's shop (its original shelving still intact) find a series of rooms, simply decorated with plain wood floors, grey wainscots and bentwood chairs. Shoppers from the Negen Straatjes quarter appear for lunch and young couples and Amsterdam foodies arrive at night to savour cuisine that's robust, big on flavour and full of subtle surprises. A pumpkin salad comes with beech mushrooms, earthy lovage and a buttermilk dressing; classic Dover sole with beurre noisette, capers and lemon. And all this with a canal view – sublime.
De Reiger
Old-fashioned Amsterdam eetcafé ('eating café') dining at its best. With its high ceilings, mahogany bar, wooden wainscoting, Art Deco lamps and old prints, De Reiger dates from the time when De Jordaan was a working-class quarter. The clientele has moved upmarket, but the atmosphere and no-nonsense fare hark back to the Jordaan of old. Daily-changing menus are chalked up on the wall, and might include lamb's shank with rosemary sauce, and a tarte tatin.
Area/neighbourhood: The Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Contact: dereigeramsterdam.nl
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
The Duchess
Housed in the magnificent former counting house of a bank, built in 1906 and complete with enormous, distant, stained-glass roof, The Duchess became the talk-of-the-town the moment it opened, as much for the space and sumptuous décor as for the cuisine (everything from spaghetti with Beluga caviar to good old beef Wellington). You can toy with cocktails, seated in a sofa in the comfy bar section, then repair to the dining hall beneath a wall of portraits (which turn out to be LED screen projections), for a night out with Amsterdam hipsters.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: the-duchess.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Recommended
Koevoet
With its dark wood panelling, Tiffany lampshades, wall clocks and assorted bric-a-brac, Koevoet seems every inch a traditional Jordaan café – until you get the menu. The cooking is by a wildly talented Sicilian family who supply homemade pastas, their own sausages (with a smoky fennel tang), and other fine flavours of the south. The artichoke ravioli ranks easily with the best I've tasted. The restaurant is hugely popular among visitors to town, dating couples, and local Italian expats, though perhaps more expensive than you might expect given the simple style.
Area/neighbourhood: The Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Contact: restaurantkoevoet.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended
Café-Restaurant Pllek
Housed in a gigantic box of converted shipping containers, Pllek was one of the trailblazers in the transformation of the Amsterdam Noord docklands into a hip new city quarter. Just a few steps from the NDSM shipping shed, which now houses around 200 artists' studios, it is the place artists go for grub, long conversations, or to party alongside cool Amsterdammers coming across the water from Central Station. The food (mostly organic, largely vegetarian) is good, DJs rock the place some nights, and the large waterside terrace becomes an outdoor cinema in the summer.
Area/neighbourhood: Amsterdam North
Contact: pllek.nl
Prices: ₤₤
Reservations: Advisable
Miri Mary
The love-child of a New Delhi lawyer and her financial whizz-kid partner, Miri Mary aims to bring the taste of a new India, and something of its artistic flair, to Amsterdam. It is wildly popular, situated on what's easily my favourite city square (almost car-free, tall plane trees, uplighting from between the paving stones), on the quieter edge of the hip De Pijp foodie quarter. You're a world away from flock wallpaper and formulaic menus here, surrounded by bright (sometimes surreal) artwork, quirky contemporary crafts, and handmade fittings, and tucking into a spread that might involve fermented-grain crêpes with lentils and tamarind, or beetroot cutlet and spicy blackeye beans with coconut stew.
Serre
Serre restaurant has a tree-shaded terrace directly beside a canal serving affordable high-end cuisine – zingy yellow-tail ceviche, with komboecha (sweet fermented tea) and flowers, perhaps, or perfectly cooked red bream.The three-course Bibendum Menu is especially good value, or you can simply drop by for a club sandwich or burger in this pared down setting: muted beige upholstery is offset by a bold blue ceiling; tables are well-spaced and the elegant canalside terrace (with no traffic thundering by) is one of the best in town.
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Best for families
Barracuda
Unlike Scheveningen (in The Hague), or coastal towns in Zeeland, Amsterdam is thin on top-quality, yet no frills, fish restaurants. Barracuda swims in sleekly to fill the gap. No foams, reductions, or surprising spices here: this is fish without flash, just freshness, good ingredients, traditional flavours (garlic, lemon, oregano, thyme) and careful cooking. Try the succulent Zeeland oysters, smoked shrimps and homemade lemon mayo, mouthwatering mix of mussels, clams and other shells in wine, perfect fish a la plancha, the kiddie favourite kibbeling (juicy cod nuggets in a light, crispy batter), and more. Order at the bar, and tuck in at big tables afloat on a bright-blue floor.
Area/neighbourhood: Amsterdam North
Contact: barracuda.amsterdam
Prices: £-££
Reservations: Essential
Foodhallen Amsterdam
A hip, upmarket version of an Asian food hall, with different vendors ranged around a pool of central tables. You can mix and match from healthy wraps and salads, Middle Eastern meze, dim sum, chunky Dutch meat grills, Vietnamese springrolls, Mumbai street food, and much more. Or perhaps have just a drink with Dutch cheeses or charcuterie. It all takes place in a former tram depot, in a hot-and-happening quarter just west of the city centre.
Area/neighbourhood: The Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Contact: foodhallen.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Not possible
A Beautiful Mess
A prime view across the IJ to Renzo Piano's shiplike NEMO building…but your eyes are drawn inside to the happy jumble of tables: long communal ones, and those just for two; low ones with comfy chairs, and ones you perch at on a barstool. Around you are brightly woven textiles, beaming photos, pot plants, and above all chatty, relaxed drinkers and diners. Refugees to Amsterdam from around the world make up the staff and create the cuisine, so you'll find Middle Eastern home cooking: falafel and fattoush, spicy Iraqi chicken and honey-soaked baklava, but also Pakistani dal and Ukrainian beet salad.
Area/neighbourhood: Oosterdok and Amsterdam East
Contact: abeautifulmess.nl
Prices: £ to ££
Reservations: Recommended in the evenings
Rijsel
A trendsetter in the local move towards no-nonsense ruig (literally 'shaggy', or 'rough') cuisine, Rijsel occupies what was the canteen of a former health clinic. In some ways, things have barely changed – bright lights, ceiling fans, noisy conversation, the clink and clash of crockery and cutlery. But there the comparison stops. The food, though hearty and traditional, is subtle, flavourful, perfectly prepared, in dishes such as cod with mussel vinaigrette, and skirt steak with a classic shallot sauce. The rotisserie chicken is superb – and the Anjou pigeon (should it be on the menu) is even better.
't Blauwe Theehuis
Sitting like a cross between a pagoda and a flying saucer in the middle of the Vondlepark, and a prime example of 1930s Nieuw Zakelijkheid architecture, 'The Blue Teahouse' is a popular daytime beer garden, breakfast and lunch spot. This is the place to come for your morning mashed avo on toast, for smoked mackerel or pastrami for lunch, or for passable pizzas and soups. But most come for the excellent artisanal beers from local artisanal brewery 't IJ – to while away an hour or two with a couple of beers and traditional Dutch snacks like bitterbalen (spherical croquettes) and vlammetjes (spicy mini spring rolls).
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: brouwerijhetij.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Not necessary
Little Collins
Australian owner-chefs rev up the dining scene at one of the most popular spots in De Pijp. It's brisk and busy and emanates no pretensions with a 'it's the food that matters' atmosphere: plain walls, scrubbed wood, jars of home-made pickles. Top-quality ingredients and imagination and style go into dishes such as grilled stilton bruschetta with pears, and saffron-pickled mackerel. The idea is to share dishes tapas-style. Brunch (highly hip in Amsterdam) is big at Little Collins, with such stalwarts as kedgeree and eggs hollandaise joined by the likes of oysters with tequila-lime granita.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: littlecollins.nl
Prices: £-££
Reservations: Recommended
De Plantage
Spreading with elegant nonchalance between two 19th-century pavilions and their high-girdered, glass-lined linking gallery, De Plantage once murmured genteelly with the conversations of privileged members and officials of the Royal Artis Zoo. Today it's a busy, friendly restaurant and café, more popular with local Amsterdammers than tourists, with a view onto a public terrace that offers glimpses of the animals. Pop in whenever you like from breakfast (poached eggs, ham and brioche; smoothies), through lunch (delicious bacalao tartine; beet and goat-cheese ravioli), to dinner (roast duck with celeriac; parsnip gnocchi with trompette de la mort). Or just come for the coffee and prize-winning apple tart.
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Best for cheap eats
Annavilaas
Annavilaas is a down-to-earth vegetarian (and vegan) Indian restaurant among the hipster frippery in De Pijp. Orange walls and geometric-design screens keep the atmosphere at once cheerful and intimate. Staff are quietly charming, and there's a steady come-and-go of custom (the restaurant is a favourite among the South Asian expat community). Tuck into spicy rasam soup (tangy with tamarind, pepper and tomato), paper-thin dosas, soul-lifting dals and so much more. The menu can seem overwhelmingly long, but everything tastes freshly cooked, and there are a couple of thali-style 'menus' that deftly remove the need to choose.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: 00 31 20 786 4739; facebook.com/annavilaasamsterdam
Prices: £
Reservations: Not usually necessary
Maydanoz
Splendidly patterned Turkish tiles line the walls, light glints through the coloured glass of lamps and lanterns, and from the kitchen come prime grills and Turkish cuisine. The old favourites are there – baba ganoush, homemade with smoky, wood-grilled aubergine and crisp filo börek stuffed with feta. But there are more adventurous dishes, too, such as rocket salad with pomegranate dressing. The grilled fish, fresh from the nearby market, and a real treat. There's a mixed crowd – Maydanoz gets its share of hip De Pijp diners, but it is also a popular neighbourhood hangout.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: maydanoz-amsterdam.nl
Prices: ££
Reservations: Not necessary
Bird
Crush up at the window counter or grab one of the handful of small tables for tangy Thai food, cooked while you wait. Dishes are basic, and turnover is quick – this is really just a snack bar – but for authenticity and flavour, the cooking is hard to beat. I especially love the squid with basil and chilli. Though Bird restaurant across the road, run by the same people, is more comfortable and has a more sedate ambience, I've always found the food disappointing in comparison to a lively meal at the snack bar.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: thai-bird.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Not possible
La Perla
A prime corner spot, neighbourhood conviviality, and wholesome Italian food – La Perla is a favourite hangout in the Jordaan quarter. It's on a bustling alley of galleries, quirky shops and eateries, and is open all day – great for lunch after the Saturday farmer's market, or for one of those chatty afternoon coffees that becomes a drink, then dinner. Wood-oven pizzas lead the way (with adventurous toppings such as fennel-seed salami with artichokes), but at lunchtime there are bulging, crusty baguettes and salads, and in the evening charcuterie platters, other antipasti and pasta. The homemade ravioli is a treat.
Area/neighbourhood: The Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Contact: pizzaperla.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended
Couscous Club
Just couscous, and only three types to choose from, but made with fine ingredients, in the traditional manner (with the couscous being steamed over the bubbling vegetable stock), and served in convivial surrounds. The Couscous Club does indeed have a clubby feel – a relaxed, neighbourhood place, full of regulars, popular with groups of friends getting together to chat, grab a bite, and enjoy a couple of bottles of wine. The vegetarian couscous is varied, subtle in flavour, and hard to beat. The couscous 'Royal' with succulent lamb and a touch of spicy merguez is what most people come for.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: couscousclub.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended
Elements
A training restaurant for students in their final year at hotel school, diners might expect to encounter the odd wobble, but most will never be disappointed here. The dishes are refined, well-presented and a real treat – not to mention easy on the pocket. Menus change every few weeks, and may include adventures such as mussels with coconut and Franco-Indian vadouvan spices, or more down-to-earth farm-kitchen veal with aubergine and Marsala sauce. The kitchen closes early (7pm), but the restaurant is only a short walk from the Concertgebouw, making it an ideal for a pre-concert meal.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: heerlijkamsterdam.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Essential
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Best for walk ins
Lion Noir
Dimly lit, with dark wood, deep-green walls, bright prints, flashes of foliage, and the odd bit of surreal bric-a-brac such as a stuffed peacock. Staff are friendly and efficient, and without a bristle of pretentiousness that such a venue seems normally to inspire. The chef is unafraid of big, unfussy flavours – duck with pumpkin cream, polenta, chicory and madeira; and sauteed sea bream with lemon risotto, purslane and crayfish tortellini. Vegetarian dishes aren't wimpy either: Jerusalem artichoke risotto with forest mushrooms, chestnuts and hazelnuts. Try for a table in the courtyard garden, beside the building's supremely elegant rear façade.
Area/neighbourhood: Canal Belt – East
Contact: lionnoir.nl
Prices: ££
Reservations: Recommended, especially for the garden courtyard.
Arca
A hidden – literally, you can't see it from the street) gem near Centraal Station – an area otherwise arid of good eateries, Arca sits between an open kitchen and a large open hearth, in the depths of the designer-savvy art'otel. Under the guiding hand of Portuguese culinary supremo Henrique Sà Pessoa, chef Rodrigo Silva comes up with fine renditions of classic Portuguese fare, such as bacalao with potatoes, parsley and olives, but also branches out into the wilder worlds of kimchi-marinated pumpkin, and fig-leaf ice cream with horseradish sauce.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: arcaamsterdam.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Advisable
The Lobby
A long bar, lots of space, comfy leather chairs, and witty designer quirks such as an open hearth suspended mid-air from its own chimney – all these facets make The Lobby at once hip and cosy. Dishes are hearty, healthy and superbly done – try the flat iron steak with chanterelles, artichoke, and porcini gravy. The wine list includes some intriguing, lesser-known bottles, with a good range by the glass. The Flammkuchen – thin, pizza-like Alsace bread, spread with crème fraiche and savoury toppings such as nduja, olives and artichoke – are a must. If you're very hungry, you could manage one as a starter.
De Laatste Kruimel
Homemade is trending in Amsterdam, and De Laatste Kruimel's forest-fruit bread puddings, dangerous chocolate cake and comfy scones (like Granny made, with home-made jam and lashes of cream) top the lot. Some of the wilder experiments (courgette and lemon-curd tart) don't quite do it for me, but this remains one of my favourite afternoon sugar-fix pit stops. It's small and usually crowded, but the upended wooden fruit-box seats ensure a quick turnover. They do a variety of quiches and other savouries, too, plus good coffee and smoothies to go with it all.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: delaatstekruimel.com
Prices: £
Reservations: Not necessary
Spirit
Large windows let in floods of light and a view of one of Amsterdam's last remaining windmills. Pale wood, white walls and high ceilings add to the air of brightness and well-being. In the midst of it all, a long buffet table is spread with hot and cold delights – 100 per cent organic, all vegetarian. Flavours venture away from the norm (wild carrot salad with yacon root, hazel nuts and tahini), but there are also old favourites and delicious veg curries. They also do a great chocolate mousse and a wicked range of cakes and pastries.
Area/neighbourhood: The Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Contact: spiritrestaurants.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended
Wing Kee
Everyone has their favourite restaurant in China Town, and I will fight Wing Kee's corner till I drop. We're talking neon lights, plastic chairs, and sometimes gruff service, but the roast suckling pig (crispy crackling and meltingly succulent meat), and the noodle dishes (delicate stock and subtle, distinct flavours) are unsurpassed. The suckling pig is usually only available over weekends (it is worth checking before you sit down), but then the duck is pretty good, too. Note that there's no alcohol licence, and that the 'Bring Your Own Booze' concept does not hold in Amsterdam.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: wingkee-amsterdam.nl
Prices: £
Reservations: Not necessary
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Best for fine dining
Bougainville
Quietly detached from the hectic life on the Dam, in a cocoon of rich fabrics and sumptuously soft upholstery, at convivial round tables you can succumb to a succession of delicate, finely tuned dishes from executive chef Tim Golsteijn. Local products and unalloyed natural flavours predominate, with a nod to the Netherlands' trading past: pork belly and langoustine, with different preparations of pumpkin and just a waft of vadouvan spices. Skilled sommelier Ronald Opten employs his extensive knowledge and subtle imagination to alight on wine matchings with finesse.
Area/neighbourhood: Central Amsterdam
Contact: restaurantbougainville.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
Ciel Bleu
Arjan Speelman, long part of the duo that has won Ciel Bleu two Michelin stars, now steers the ship with Mike Klaassen as chef de cuisine, and comes up with delightfully wayward creations such as oysters with elderflower, green apple and celery, or pigeon with pistachio cream and smoked beetroot, in a full silver service, classical setting. Well-heeled, well-dressed epicures rub shoulders with business folk on fat expense accounts. There's an excellent wine list, worth exploring for its odder corners. The restaurant, on the 23rd floor of one of the tallest buildings in town, offers a rare unrestricted view across the entire city.
Van Oost
In a 1908 former medical school dissecting theatre, surrounded by two-storey-high windows overlooking the Oosterpark, Van Oost is one of the most exciting restaurants to hit Amsterdam in years. Chef Floris van Straalen takes you on a dance that pirouettes from comfort food to the exotic, with leaps into the unexpected: velvety Dutch potato marinated in brown butter and pine-smoked salt, with a dust of shitake powder; quail's leg glazed in vadouvan spices; perfectly cooked halibut with smoky oxtail ravioli on the side. Adventurous wine pairings both harmonize and cheekily contrast. You could linger for hours in chic comfort, with a zip of hip.
Area/neighbourhood: Oosterdok and Amsterdam East
Contact: vanoostrestaurant.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
Rijks
Star chef Joris Bijdendijk glitters in a restaurant tucked beneath the Rijksmuseum. There is a delicate, sophisticated touch given to his dishes: wild duck with sweet-and-sour fennel; pumpkin, aromatic with fresh porcini and hazelnut. This is by far the best cuisine to be had near the big museums, and well worth a special lunchtime treat. As befitting a restaurant at the national museum, Bijdendijk sources mainly local and traditional products. Try one of the Dutch white wines such as Apostelhoeve Riesling – they are surprisingly good.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: rijksrestaurant.nl
Prices: ££-£££
Reservations: Recommended
Spectrum
Amsterdam's Waldorf Astoria Hotel occupies a stretch of six of the city's grandest 17th-century canal mansions. The hotel has lured one of the Netherlands' top chefs into town to establish a restaurant looking out into the garden at the back. From the langoustines with kimchi, magnolia and tulip bulbs, through carrots with fermented garlic, caraway and morels, to duck with bergamot-flavoured yoghurt, and then nori nougat, Sidney Schutte's cooking represents all that is inspired and adventurous in Dutch cuisine. Try his cheeky take on the classic Waldorf salad: the same ingredients (walnuts, apples, celery) transformed into a surprisingly scrumptious dessert.
Vinkeles
In a 19th-century former almshouse bakery, complete with fairy-tale cast-iron oven doors set into rough brick walls, and overlooking a secluded garden courtyard, comes cuisine that transports you to another realm. Chef Jurgen van der Zalm combines pure ingredients with poise and flair: Dover sole with fennel, white grapes and roast onion, perhaps, or Anjou pigeon with a flutter of flavours: duck liver, sour cherry, and the purest Chuncho chocolate from the slopes of Machu Pichu. Vegetarian options are just as sublime. You sit in comfortably padded chairs, at widely spaced tables, and are treated with relaxed, friendly attentiveness: high-end without hauteur.
Area/neighbourhood: Canal Belt – West
Contact: vinkeles.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
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Best small but mighty spots
até
Step through a door hidden in the oak panelling of a grand old canalside building to an intimate chef's-table restaurant for just six diners. A single, organically shaped table, like a lava lamp bubble, means that you don't have to talk to the others if you prefer à dieux. But the evening is about sociability and stories. Rising-star chef Filip Hanlo weaves childhood memories, his mixed heritage, travels and training into a tale of France, Japan, Mexico and the Netherlands, blending flavours from each with delight and exhilarating invention.
Area/neighbourhood: Canal Belt – East
Contact: ate-amsterdam.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential
Batoni Khinkali
A cosy spot behind the Concertgebouw serving heart-warming Georgian cuisine (that's Georgia as in the Caucasus, not USA). Fat, steaming khinkali (dumplings) come from the tiny kitchen, juicily stuffed with meat or mushrooms; glistening grilled kupati (spicy sausages) pop at the prick of a fork; grandma-style brown-bean stews appear, as well as delicate guinea fowl braised in milk and garlic. Some intriguing Georgian wines, a relaxed, family-run atmosphere, an open kitchen run with verve, and affordable prices all help make this a good choice for a meal à deux before a concert, or a longer, more gregarious feast.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: 00 31 20 358 5491; facebook.com
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended
Sinne
Small tables within just-squeeze-by distance of each other; bare bricks, white walls – and a nightly crowd of food enthusiasts in the know. Sinne is in the thick of De Pijp hip dining quarter and has an unpretentious atmosphere. All energies hone in on the food: marinated oysters in a smoky citrus dressing, with lime and radish and other startling turns of flavour that shoot across your palate; roast cuttlefish, with chorizo, olives, and a paprika kick; a fine meringue tart made with yuzu, rather than lemon to finish. Dishes are exquisitely presented, and the price tag is not quite as big as you might expect.
Area/neighbourhood: Museum District and De Pijp
Contact: restaurantsinne.nl
Prices: ££
Reservations: Essential
Bouchon du Centre
A tiny restaurant, where Hanneke Schouten runs the show entirely on her own. You sit on bentwood chairs at one of a handful of tables covered with cheerful checked cloths, as if you were in her home kitchen, and take pot luck – from the breads and saucisson, to pork-neck confit and coq au vin. By Hanneke's own admission, it is food that is not for picky eaters, or vegetarians. This is a spot for long, luscious weekday lunches. Hanneke likes evenings to herself, and the restaurant is not open at night.
Area/neighbourhood: Canal Belt – East
Contact: bouchonducentreamsterdam.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Essential
De Juwelier
Two of Amsterdam's top chefs, Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot, come up with no-fuss dishes with a firm classic backbone, but with inspired touches, in an atmosphere poised between traditional 'brown café' and no-nonsense brasserie (wooden wainscotting, crisp white tablecloths, padded banquettes and bentwood chairs). Their aim of providing a more affordable, accessible counterpart to their exquisite, multi-Michelin-starred (but credit-card-melting) restaurant 212 nearby is achieved with aplomb. Marrowbones come with the bones stuffed with marrow and chanterelle mushrooms, served with bread smokily toasted over an open fire; hearth roasted wild duck, glazed with blackcurrants, comes with a classic sauce royale.
Area/neighbourhood: Canal Belt – East
Contact: restaurant-dejuwelier.nl
Prices: ££
Reservations: Essential
Tujuh Maret
A favourite spot for an Indonesian rijsttafel – a feast of tiny, spicy dishes served with rice and relishes. The restaurant is simple and homely, and the service has delightful, personal touches (such as a basket of reading glasses, for those who have forgotten theirs at home.) Elsewhere, rijsttafel dishes can be a set of barely distinguishable curries, but here each is subtle and different. You can order courses individually, but the Rijsttafel Minahasa is recommended for its bounty, and subtlety of flavours. You'll end up stuffed: consider skipping lunch if you're coming for dinner.
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How we choose
Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.