Best Restaurants in Amsterdam

With local ingredients taking pride of place amongst Amsterdam’s vibrant restaurant scene, it’s no surprise the city has earned global culinary acclaim. Whether your city break is purely food-focused or you’re looking for a scenic spot for a romantic meal, Amsterdam’s eateries won’t disappoint. You can eat out at high-rise dining rooms or aboard luxury cruises, or go all out with avant-garde menus in unexpected environments. Traditional or trailblazing, familiar or far-flung, Amsterdam’s restaurant roster guarantees unforgettable dinner-time experiences. Read on to discover some of our favourite city spots.

• Restaurant Flore: You’ll want to dress to impress for your table at the intimate Restaurant Flore, located within the iconic De L’Europe Hotel. Delivering a 2-Michelin-starred experience beside the Amstel River, head chef Joris Bijdendijk crafts seasonally changing veg-forward menus bursting with bold flavours and elegant plating for the restaurant's 11 tables. Locally and sustainably sourced ingredients pair perfectly with Flore’s award-winning wine list, as well as the restaurant’s non-alcoholic drink selection of fresh homemade juices.
• Restaurant De Kas: Set inside a greenhouse dating back to 1926, Green Michelin Star-awarded De Kas pioneers farm-to-table dining, with much of its produce harvested daily right on the premises. In order to celebrate the essence of nature’s seasons, the 5 and 6-course set menus change daily based on the organic bounty from their nursery – meaning whatever veggie, herb or fruit is picked each morning, is on diners’ plates come evening.
• Vermeer: Hidden inside the prestigious NH Collection Amsterdam Barbizon Palace Hotel, Vermeer pays homage to iconic Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer, through artful and innovative cuisine. The elegant dining room provides a refined backdrop for seasonal tasting menus, prepared by British head chef, Chris Naylor, in his culinary laboratory. Begin an evening at this avant-garde eatery by priming your palate with experimental cocktails and bar bites before embarking on a boundary-pushing gastronomic journey.
• RIJKS: After exploring the masterpieces inside Amsterdam’s iconic Rijksmuseum, continue your artistic immersion at in-house RIJKS restaurant. Dutch ingredients are the star of the show here, creating a menu that draws inspiration from the surrounding canvases. Graze on Dutch cheese and charcuterie plates or indulge in the 6-course RIJKS NEXT tasting menu. The latter’s dishes showcase products from native soils and sea, like chicory paired with tahini and orange sabayon or turbot served alongside sea urchin, cauliflower and lardo.

• Restaurant Moon: Perched on the 19th floor of the A’DAM Tower, Restaurant Moon’s revolving floor gives you the opportunity to soak up panoramic vistas of the city while savouring a selection of delectable eats. The contemporary tasting menu evolves every 2 weeks, allowing the chefs to figuratively and literally spin new surprises with each visit. As with many Amsterdam institutions, ingredients are sourced locally – creating diverse flavours and textures that sync not only with this venue’s wine pairings but its rotating scenery, too.
• Ciel Bleu: Michelin-starred Ciel Bleu, found on the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura, is the prime place for panoramic views over Amsterdam’s vibrant De Pijp neighbourhood. Here, you’re greeted personally by the head chef on arrival, before indulging in refined French cuisine with a spotlight on seafood. Everything, from amuse-bouche to post-meal sweets, is paired with expert wines from the sommelier’s cellar. And for an even more intimate experience, you can opt for the Chef’s Table to witness all of the delicate prep work behind the gourmet fare.
• Pllek: Hop on a ferry from Amsterdam Centraal to NDSM Island and you’ll find Pllek, a restaurant constructed entirely from stacked shipping containers. Overlooking the IJ River, this urban beach bar pairs lounge chairs sunk in the sand with picnic tables perfect for sharing plates of veg-forward fare. At least 75% of the menu is vegetarian here – think poached pear and grilled radicchio salad or salt-crusted celeriac – but carnivorous cravings are satisfied, too, with dishes like the wild boar stew. Wine, cocktails, tempting desserts and Insta-worthy views round off this laidback riverside spot.
• Canal dinner cruises: The ultimate way to combine dinners with vistas is by gliding on Amsterdam’s UNESCO-protected canal belt aboard an indulgent food cruise. While you weave between old-brick townhouses and beneath glittering bridges, you’ll be tucking into Dutch delicacies, freshly baked pizza pies or full-on multi-course meals. Amsterdam Boats’ luxury dinner cruise, Eating Europe’s Food & Canals Tour and Stromma’s Cheese & Wine cruise are some of our favourites.

• Vuurtoreneiland: For brief seasonal stints in the summer and winter months, you can take a boat over to Vuurtoreneiland – an uninhabited island once occupied by troops fending off Prussian attacks. Once you arrive at ‘Lighthouse Island’, settle in for a multi-course menu staged in a scenic greenhouse or ambient fort, depending on the season. Ingredients are fermented, pickled, preserved, smoked or roasted to create dazzling dishes worthy of a chef’s kiss. Seen the film, The Menu? This place is very similar, but with fewer murders.
• REM Eiland: This defunct pirate radio station in Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Houthaven Harbour delivers a new broadcasting experience in its fine-dining menus. Pair 360-degree views from one of the REM Eiland’s 3 platforms with 4 to 7 indulgent courses punctuated by cocktails with a twist. You don’t have to miss out if you’re not up for a full-blown meal, though – veg out in a hammock on the roof terrace or bust some moves in the below-deck dance bar.
• Pesca: Bringing pescatarian showmanship to Amsterdam’s Jordaan district, seafood hotspot Pesca bills itself as the ‘theatre of fish’, where the daily catch takes the stage. At this kinetic, counter-service eatery, you can select your favourite fish from iced market-style displays – think sea bream, soft-shell crab or even oysters – before letting the chefs get to work in transforming it into a head-turning delight. The best part? The price of each fish fluctuates to help avoid food waste.
• Bellezza: Tucked inside a 400-year-old passageway in Amsterdam’s Red Light District is Bellezza, a former spice warehouse transformed into an eclectic sensory dining experience. The 140-minute journey guides you through a myriad of ethereal rooms where you’ll dine on 7 courses surrounded by audio-visual displays. Once the dinner carousel concludes, you can continue the party at the in-house speakeasy Bar Bellezza.

• MOEDERS: For nearly 30 years, MOEDERS has dished out heaping plates of nostalgic home cooking from its kitschy dining room adorned with photos of mammies everywhere. True to its name, which means ‘mothers’ in Dutch, the eatery mimics a hearty family meal, where diners sit elbow-to-elbow at long tables. Dig into home-cooked creations like slow-roasted meats, fried fish or saucy stamppot – mashed potatoes served with veg, a sausage, meatball and bacon – served on a mish-mash of crockery donated by the restaurant’s first-ever patrons.
• Hap-Hmm: This unfussy neighbourhood eatery has been filling Amsterdammers’ bellies with old-school Dutch fare since 1935. Steps from Leidseplein, Hap-Hmm remains a no-frills comfort food haven serving up hearty helpings of nostalgia. Pick from à la carte specials like beer-simmered chicken, crispy wiener schnitzel or the like-Grandma-made meatballs – all at affordable prices. Then round off your meal with some satisfyingly sweet Dutch pancakes or stewed rhubarb.
• Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs: This pint-sized, 4-table café, secreted away inside a 16th-century canalhouse on the edge of the Red Light District, is the prime place for proper pancakes. As teapots dangle overhead and portraits of the Dutch Royal Family adorn the walls, Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs whips up sweet and savoury Dutch pannenkoeken – crepe-like pancakes cooked extra slim. The signature Kai stacks bacon, brie and honey, while other toothsome combinations feature banana and chocolate sauce, or apple, raisins and currents. Book a table well in advance or prepare to queue.
• Wilde Zwijnen: Amsterdam East’s Wild Boar brings snout-to-tail Dutch dining to the emerging Javaplein dining scene. Shabby-chic interiors set an inviting stage for Chef Gert Brink’s imaginative cooking, which stars seasonal ingredients from the region’s fields and pastures in its beautifully plated, daily changing multi-course menu. When the weather allows, ask for a table on the outdoor terrace.

• Foodhallen: Housed in a converted tram depot in buzzing De Hallen, trendy Foodhallen serves up a smorgasbord of fast-casual global eats, with 21 food stalls slinging everything from Vietnamese banh mi to Mexican street tacos. If those don’t take your fancy, why not graze on pizzas, burgers or delicate French patisserie? Or satisfy late-night munchies with sushi rolls, crispy fried chicken or made-to-order dim sum. Taking centre stage is Beerbar, whose 60-plus craft brew lineup provides thirst-quenching tipples to accompany your gourmet feast.
• Febo: Amsterdam’s fast-food phenomenon, Febo, has tantalised hungry passersby with its snack-filled vending machines since 1941. Pick from fluffy chips, burgers, crispy croquettes and even Indonesian-style noodles for bargain-basement prices, or opt for the signature frikandel sausage out of one of the chain’s novelty automat windows.
• Vleminckx Sausmeesters: Since 1957, Vleminckx Sausmeesters has perfected the art of Flemish frites (fries) from its hole-in-the-wall pitstop. Freshly fried cones of chips come with a choice of 25 mouthwatering sauces – from creamy mayo classics to sambal, satay or even the famed ‘Hannibal’, which marries spicy harissa with cooling yoghurt. Daring diners can even pick from piccalilli or apple sauce for a salty-meets-sweet taste sensation.
• Stubbe’s Haring: For centuries, Amsterdam’s bridges brimmed with haringhuizen (herring houses) selling the Netherlands’ ubiquitous salty seafood snack – brine-cured herring served with diced onion and sweet pickles. While the old stalls have mostly vanished from the canalsides, historic Stubbe’s Haring keeps tradition alive beside Centraal Station, doling out the chopped herring fillets cured to tender perfection.