traditional dutch food?

There is a long established restaurant serving Dutch cuisine on Damrak Street right off Dam Square. More info via this blind hot link:

http://tinyurl.com/oqsnbxm

I ate at the restaurant suggested above last week. Food and service were good, liked the atmosphere, and if you sit toward the front, you can watch the people walking by.

The “I amsterdam” website gives a lot of information about eating and drinking, this link specific about traditionally Dutch food.
http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/visiting/what-to-do/eating-and-drinking/dining-out-amsterdam/traditionally-dutch/top-10-dutch-restaurants

Supermarkets like Albert Hein sell “stamppot” (stew type) meals for the micro-wave, like “boerenkool met worst” (kale and sausage).

Try also street stalls selling fish like Dutch style hearing “Hollandse Nieuwe” , however not really sure during winterperiod, but certainly during summer. Or those selling “stroopwafels” (biscuits with syrup) and “poffertjes” (small thick pancakes with butter and sugar). Very popular around New Year are “oliebollen” (deep-fried solid doughnuts) with icing sugar.

Very Dutch is liquorice candy, with several tastes and.....you will like it or totally not!

Correct, it´s herring instead of hearing. The fishing season starts officially with “Vlaggetjesdag” in Scheveningen, nowadays a more symbolic festivity. The date is usually somewhere in June depending the herring is ready for consumption. But to be qualified as “Hollandse Nieuwe” (literally Dutch New) they can be fished only for a short period of time till Juli. Due to modern conserving techniques they can be sold all year around, anyway in supermarkets in little transparant plastic boxes and still be qualified as “Hollandse Nieuwe” I guess. Fresh as possible is always best, but the conserved ones are tastefull too, to my experience.

Definitely poffertjeis pancakes. I had them in 1976 on my first trip to Europe and can remember very distinctly how good they were. Oh to be a teenager again. we will be in Amsterdam next summer and can't wait to have them again. My husband and I are foodies (he is a chef) so most of our travel revolves around food and wine, along with traditional sightseeing. I don't remember any other standouts from that trip food wise. If you have time after your January trip, maybe you can let us know any recommendations for a great meal.

Wonderfull, you´re welcome, I have already noticed you used the Dutch word Haring in your post and with mentioning Herring I discovered my “hearing” mistake. Reading your posts I have the idea you have been in The Netherlands more than once and can speak our language I guess.

Haring, herring ... for me it's always Matjes! LOVE them!!! I remember an Amazing Race episode where the racers had to eat half a dozen of them or so. That was my favourite challenge ever :-)))

Like them too. Little remark: Matjes (Herring), that´s English and I think German too for Maatjes(haring). Matjes in Dutch are however somethings else, actually little floor or door-mats. :)

What I found odd, while staying in The Netherlands, was the extraordinary lack of Dutch restaurants. When I asked the host of my B&B why this is, he said that it's probably because Dutch people eat Dutch food at home, so why would they go out to a restaurant and order the same thing? Interesting! My mom's side of the family is Dutch, so I grew up in the US with a lot of Dutch influences. That being said, I will say one thing (please don't everyone hate me): Dutch food is "okay." Very peasanty, and meat and potatoes fair. Boerenkool is one of my favorites from the selection which is essentially a mash of potatoes/onions/kale, served with sausage and gravy. My favorite is kroketten!!!! Oh. My. Gawd. It's a sandwich that has a meaty cheesy potatoey fried patty!

Indonesian is to the Dutch what Indian is to UK, Turkish is to Germany, and Mexican is to Americans. It's their secondary national food, and it's stellar. Try the Rijsttafel (rice table) which is basically 7 or more courses of different stuff that you each with a fresh scoop of rice.

On the flip side, Dutch pastries are some of the best in the world. Ollie bollen, stroop waffles, and poffertjes are top of the list. Also sukerbole (sugar bread) is amazing with butter and cheese! Dutch cheese is great...don't stop at just the Gouda, and Dutch butter has the highest fat content in the world which makes it the best tasting.

There are only two food items that drastically reduce my "Dutch-ness". The first is haring...not interested. No thank you! The second (and maybe even more damning) is that I DESPISE the dropjes (licorice candy). Someone mentioned that you'll either love them or hate them, but 9 times out of 10, you will most likely want to spit it out unless you were raised on them and have this weird affinity towards them.

Don't forget the Dutch beer!!

Arie, nice to hear you have not completely forgotten your roots. Food at home here in The Netherlands is more about nutritional value, basically functional, no bells and whisles and easy to prepare. So for enjoying a meal we go outdoors, nowadays there are all kinds of restaurants to choose from.

Nations with their sofisticated food cultures look often down upon us, but the excellent results of the last Olympic Games (5th place medal table after the US!) proves there must be something good with our “fuel”. However fastfood and other forms of bad nutricion causes nowadays too much health problems.

I can't stress this enough - STROOPWAFFEL

Too late with the stroopwaffel .....the OP went to Amsterdam in January.

De Roode Leeuw ( red lion ) restaurant is almost on Dam Square across from a large upscale department store with a beehive silhouette on it . Roode Leeuw specializes in dutch food but some other things as well . Nice and and good service. All restaurants have a menu and the prices posted outside .