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Amsterdam restaurants we enjoyed

Cheap eats:
The Original California Burrito Co. - The taco dinner and beef burrito are very good but the chicken burrito is awesome!!! The only problem was our second visit included waiting for Uber drivers to pick up their orders before ours could be made. I'd still go there again.
Winkel's 43 - Snack foods and apple pie. On Monday or Saturday mornings you can also enjoy the Noordermarkt across the street.
Cafe Wheels in Nine Streets on Wolvenstraat - nice bar for beer and a fantastic hamburger!
Greenwoods on Singel Canal - good English breakfast. Last year we ate at Greenwoods on the Keizergracht canal and it had a very nice lunch menu.

Mid range -
Loetje at Centraal downstairs below the Visitor's Center - slow service but worth the wait. A 200g steak is sufficient for most people. I LOVED the spicy Bali sauce on my steak while hubby had his with chicken livers and bacon. We split an order of fries and were too full for dessert.
Reynder's in Leidseplein - great Guinness beef stew and fish and chips. Servings were more than generous.
Haesje Claes near Dam Square - very good menu. We opted for choosing from three pre-set menus at 25E each. This included soup, main, and dessert. I enjoyed tomato soup, kale stampott, and a delicious lemony dessert with raspberry sauce. Hubby loved his pea soup, salmon with bernaise, and apple pie.
Cafe Bern in Nieuwmarkt - My favorite restaurant as I love, love, love cheese fondue! We also ordered steaks to go with the fondue and they were excellent. You really need a reservation here if you want a table. We ate at the bar. I didn't hear anyone else in the bar speaking English other than ourselves and our bartender.

Posted by
1162 posts

Thanks for sharing this, Nance! I'll be there for a couple of days in April and will keep your recommendations in mind.

Posted by
21140 posts

Ate at the Loetje Sunday night, and had the Bali Steak as well. Yummy. Even the waiter suggested splitting orders of fries and salads. They're huge.

Posted by
4255 posts

We had gotten a recommendation on this forum for The Pantry, traditional Dutch food. It was great, we even ate there twice. Try the smoked eel as an appetizer, it was pretty good.

Posted by
985 posts

Barbara - there were fresh smoked eels at many of the markets we went to but I didn't want to buy a whole one since I have never eaten it. Although they had samples of other fish, sadly no samples of the eel. I've got a great pic of a pile of smoked eel with their eyes all picked out! I'm sort of squeamish about food like that but I would have tried it.

Posted by
4255 posts

I agree, notice I said, appetizer. We were 4 people so it was just sample. The same with Haggis In Scotland. We were 4 people and tried it as an app. Wasn't as horrible as I heard, but wouldn't want it for my main course. I like TRYING A TASTE of new foods, not necessarily chowing down.

Posted by
21 posts

Will be in Amsterdam for just one day (two nights) so loved these suggestions and your post about your whole 5 week Holland adventure. For lunch can one put together a light meal at Noordemarket then top it off with the pie at Winkle 43? Could it all be done in an hour and a half. We are planning the Rijksmuseum in the morning and Anne Frank House about 2:00 in the afternoon, leaving two hours for lunch and transportation.

Our first night is still aboard our rivership. We will want a real meal that second night, but want more of an experience for our only full day in this wonderful city.

Posted by
2393 posts

Thanks for this - we will be there in late August - looking forward to trying a few of these.