Amsterdam Dining
 

Staying at Hotel Estherea for 3 days after a Viking cruise. Looking for 3 good restaurants - 2 with regional food, and one continental menu. Looking to spend no more than $50-100 pp. We will be using UBER as my husband has Parkinsons so distance from the hotel is not an issue. Also, any suggestions for good breakfast spots near our hotel would be welcome. Thanks.

why are you taking an UBER? Taxis in the city are the norm.
https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/plan-y...g-around/taxis
It was the case that UBER could not officially use the airport taxi rank. Someone will confirm if that is still the case.

What dollars are you writing about?

Traditional food. Bistro Bij Ons - Restaurant Amsterdam
De IJ-Keuken
https://pancakes.amsterdam/
http://zwaantje-restaurant.nl/
http://www.moeders.com

You should try a Rijsttafle experience while in Amsterdam, a remnant of the days of Dutch colonialism in the East Indies, now Indonesia. Wonderful experience and food! Small dishes.

Chinese-Indonesian restaurants are amongst the most popular with locals - yes try the Rijstaffel or Rice Table with dozens of edible accouterments served along with main dish - unlimited rice and toppings -for best or most authentic get out of the tourist ghetto - ask hotel or locals for good spots. Few restaurants seem to feature Dutch food and there are not IME many breakfast places - I'd take the hotel breakfast.

Thanks!

Post 4;
We are taking about Amsterdam here.
Given the links, above, I would suggest you do some research as there are loads around of all prices.
The OP has not asked about breakfast.

Also, any suggestions for good breakfast spots near our hotel would be welcome>

OP did ask about breakfast!

for best or most authentic get out of the tourist ghetto
We are taking about Amsterdam here.>

Yes and it is easy to get out of touristy central Amsterdam - Amsterdam has tons of neighborhoods where few tourists go - just get on a tram - I have not been to Amsterdam for several years but I am sure there are lots of neat neighborhoods that I often went to that are not infested with tourists. If you have never been to any you are missing out on a really neat part of Amsterdam.

I am sorry but you are recommending a Rijstaffel and a non tourist "ghetto" in Amsterdam.
Two things that tourist should understand Amsterdam is very touristy. I would never use the nasty word ghetto, only when quoting someone here.
There is more to Dutch cuisine than a Rijstaffel.
To comprehend these points you have to have lived in the country.

There are indeed many normal non-touristy neighborhoods in Amsterdam and all are sure to have a Chinese-Indonesian restaurant - yes I wholeheartedly recommend trying the unique Rijstaffel - what's wrong with that? I spent weeks in Amsterdam yearly for over 30 years and know there is more to Dutch cuisine than Rijstaffel but that dish is very popular with Dutch too in the many Chinese-Indonesian restaurants in normal neighborhoods. The most common type of restaurant seems to be the ubiquitous 'Petit Restaurants'', small restaurants that can serve a variety of foods - I guess they would be called Dutch cuisine - but I admit I rarely went to any of those.

As for ghetto I was using in context of yes an area that few tourists get out of - but I did not and do not think of that as pejorative. Like I often say 'restaurant ghetto' - what do you call American slums in big cities - ghettos - can't see why you would not use the word in that context.

Most of the rijsttaffel places in Amsterdam, as far as I can figure after a dozen visits there, are there for tourists and nothing else. You see few Dutch people there. The food is bland and overpriced, and we went to the ones highly touted on TA and elsewhere. Beh!

I'm not sure we've ever managed to settle down in what I would call an authentic Dutch restaurant with authentic Dutch food in Amsterdam (in Den Bosch and Rotterdam, yes, but not in Amsterdam).

What we did do on our last trip to A'dam was rent an apartment and spend a couple of nights having drinks and once a dinner at MOMO, which could not be described as authentic Dutch at all, and it's expensive and for us was a big treat, but we loved the atmosphere and the food. Authentically Dutch? No. But high-quality food and drinks.

We had no problem venturing out in the morning and finding a comfy place to have a coffee and pastry/roll for breakfast,

Most of the rijstaffel places in Amsterdam, as far as I can figure after a dozen visits there, are there for tourists and nothing else. You see few Dutch people there.>

That's why I suggested getting out of the tourist area and into real local neighborhoods - like for years we would eat at several Chinese-Indonesian restaurants (not a 'rijstaffel place' because that is one of the many different meals offered) near our Olympic Stadium campsite which were much different from those we ate at in central Amsterdam - you could call those places 'ristaffel places because that's what most tourists came for. And, there was a big difference between rijstaffels served out there in terms of better quality dishes served with the rijstaffel - in tourist places some of the 'dishes' served may be just a cup of peanuts, etc. Anyway, for an authentic rijstaffel as served in zillions of Dutch Chinese-Indonesian restaurants patronized mainly by the Dutch, hop a tram or taxi and get out of the tourist-infested centrum.

No.

OP, you have to understand that we're a nation of traders. So our "region" is the entire world, with a special role for Indonesia, because that was the major part of our colonial empire. What is touted as "Dutch regional cuisine" is something for tourists. Ok if you like huge pancakes, but eating well is something entirely different.

Check out www.iens.nl, the leading Dutch restaurant review site.


Anything above a score of 9 is good

https://www.iens.nl/search/?idCity=19088&idProductLine=fe67bd60-a1af-4c75-9199-78c26758556c

And people, please. It's not rijstaffel or rijsstaffel or rijsttaffel, but RIJST TaFel. Thank you.

Breakfast: There's a Pain Quotidien on Spuistraat 266, just to the back of your hotel.

Le Pain Quotidien - NL - Bakery & Communal Table

Rijsttafel is a Dutch invention and not Indonesian at all. It is completely not "authentic". Those Chinese-Indonesian restaurants you see are now a dying breed and are being converted into Wok places. There is no such thing as "Chinese-Indonesian" food: they're convenience restaurants from the 1950s that served a bland and acceptable Dutch version of what Indonesian food might taste like. And many dishes were invented in the 1950s for the Dutch market.

There are good Indo restaurants in Amsterdam centre.

Here are the highest scoring Indonesian restaurants

https://www.iens.nl/search/?idCity=19088&idProductLine=fe67bd60-a1af-4c75-9199-78c26758556c#sort=RATE_DESC&filters%5BTAG%5D%5Bres taurant_tag%7C1504%7C12%5D=on&filters%5BPRODUCT_LI NE%5D%5Bfe67bd60-a1af-4c75-9199-78c26758556c%5D=on

If I want to eat Indonesian food in Amsterdam, I usually go to https://www.iens.nl/restaurant/tujuh-maret/220113 mostly because they cook Sulawesi style and that's different from the usual East Java style of cooking you get, "standard Indonesian".
Although I'll go on to say that for very good Indonesian food you need to be in The Hague, not Amsterdam.

Those restaurants are now either going out of business fast, or they're being converted into Wok places, or all you can eat restaurants. They're not at all "popular with locals": locals wouldn't be seen dead in them.

The only rijsttafel we had worth mentioning was in Den Bosch - I forget where it was, but a sort of hole-in-the-wall place.

But if you want a very "happening scene" place in Amsterdam, albeit ingeniously placed where tourists will find it and not inexpensive, try MOMO. Our apartment was right around the corner, so it was all too easy a target, but they did have wonderful food and drink, though nothing I'd call indigenous. More of an "experience" than anything "local."

Yes, MOMO is fun. Most Amsterdam restaurants are, even if they have michelin stars. Dining is very informal in NL and if you follow the scene, there's excellent food to be had.

so whilst Europe has been a sleep I see our resident in Rotterdam has been putting everyone straight.
Good. How you stayed all night up for such an interesting subject I do not know.
However, the spelling issue. Maybe someone should correct wiki whilst they are at it?
English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rijsttafel
Dutch: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rijsttafel
or even this on-line dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rijsttafel

Maybe you should sleep some more Ribeira, it could improve your mood !
For authentic dutch food, I went into some small toxwns where restaurants close at 6 30 pm and where the fodd is uninventive. Best to stick to touristy places in Amsterdam imo.

Yes, rijsttafel, just like Menachem said. It means rice table: Rijst Tafel.

My mother's in hospital with a severe stroke, that's why I was awake. After a few days of frantic activity, we found her a good place in a nursing home in Middelburg. Also, yesterday, we buried my father in law, so it was a full day, a full week. And lots of things to think about. Hence the insomnia.

The best restaurants are those where tourists never go because they don't know that they exist and what they offer. That's why I keep pointing to iens.nl. But please let go of notions of Dutch "regional" or "local" cuisine. We've never had the concept of "terroir", because we're traders, and if we farm, we trade that as well.

menachem
Ik wens je Sterkte: Kracht, moed en wanhoop.
Met een overlijden van een familielid een leegte zonder einde.
I think that is correct my Dutch is not 100% and the wife is not around to help me.

The restaurants I enjoyed in Amsterdam are mentioned in my trip report

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...trips-1657023/

Heel veel dank, ribereisca. Ik stel het zeer op prijs. Dank!

FEBO anyone? Not for a meal but a neat snack when walking around - they also have Indonesian food - bamis and nasi goreng snacks and really good ice cream or whatever sundaes. The automats are unique anywhere I've been - put a euro or two in slot and open door and take your treat.

Febo has croquettes, and they're pretty good, but the best croquettes can be had at Holtkamp on Vijzelstraat. One of those and you'll never go to Febo again.

Van Dobben, on Reguliersbreestraat sell their own brand and it is widely known that the "croquette sandwich" that is a Dutch exclusive for McD is also from the Van Dobben factory.

I don't think I have been to a Rijst Tafel ( no mater how it is spelt.
I have been reliably informed that the best one are to be found in Den Haag.
Moving on to the comment
There is no English word "uninventive". What do you mean?

Sorry I don't know where your hotel is, but these are the restaurants we liked about 10 years ago. From my trip notes:

"Two cafes on the same block as the Hotel Residence le Coin were wonderful: Café Katoen for a university atmosphere, and Café le Jarden, for great table seating on the canal.
Amazing dinners at two restaurants in particular:
“Stout!”, at Haarlemmerstraat 73 (www.restaurantstout.nl). Fabulous ‘foamy asparagus’ soup with shrimp, chateaubriande, fresh fish, dessert course, wine list. Very trendy lighting. Great service. We’d gone to the neighborhood in search of a restaurant called “Lof” which we’d seen written up. We didn’t like its atmosphere, but were lucky that Stout! was just across the street.
Also at “Restaurant Dining Eleven” we had a great dinner. It’s at Reestraat 11. Also trendy and contempory, well-presented and beautifully-served meal.
Another nice dinner at “frenzi”, at Swanenburgwal 232. Very simple and contemporary. We arrived shortly before 10:00p.m., when most restaurants close in Amsterdam, and persuaded the owner to sell us any left-overs they had in the kitchen! They put together a nice Caesar salad with cooked-in-the-shell shrimp and mango. Very nice.
Also a good brunch at a place across the street from frenzi—called “Puccini”. Creative salads and sandwiches. Very nice also."

We happened by a restaurant called "The Pantry" and it was very good authentic Dutch food. Smaller and not the best decor, but delicious!

- deleted -

Deleted? Never seen that. You certainly couldn’t call that uninventive:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uninventive

Keuken van 1870 was also a mainstay of authentic Dutch cuisine for years but closed - it was known for very cheap prices too but closed several years ago and never reopened I think.

That was a soupkitchen. Not "authentic Dutch cuisine", but cheap food for Dutch pensioners who otherwise had not much opportunity to eat out. Hence the cheap prices. Shaking my head. Really!

There IS no authentic Dutch food. Or rather: the authenticity is how we adapted international styles of cooking to our palate.

Boring as hell and badly prepared with cheap ingredients, for which you pay too much.

It's called Cafe De Jaren and I don't consider its food to be any good. Nice for coffee and drinking, but not to eat something
Lof has closed
Reestraat 11 has closed and reopened as something else.

www.iens.nl has the most up to date listings. The restaurant scene in Amsterdam is so fast paced that 10 years is a long, long time.

Odd comment then.
Tourist should find somewhere that is more to their liking.
Most food, no matter where one goes, is prepared with "cheap" ingredients.
Restaurants and bars in The Netherlands are what I would suggest not the ones with the cheapest prices in Europe.

One how many tourist who seek Dutch food have had broodje hagelslag?:lol: