For Dutch food, go for plain comfort cooking. Our two main picks are ’t Lemmeke in Oud-Zuid, for stamppot and stew, and Piet de Leeuw in Centrum, a brown room that has been grilling since the 1940s. We’ve also added a stroopwafel stall on the market, a food hall with bitterballen, a brewery tasting room and a Surinamese roti counter.
The short list
6 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1't LemmekeStamppot and stew by the fireplaceOud-Zuid
- 2Piet de LeeuwBiefstuk and hand cut chipsCentrum
- 3HappyWafelWarm stroopwafels on the marketDe Pijp
- 4FoodhallenBitterballen at shared tablesDe Hallen
- 5't Blauwe TheehuisBrewery beer on the roof deckVondelpark
- 6Roopram RotiSurinamese roti to take awayOost
Where do locals eat classic Dutch cooking in Amsterdam?
Two places cover a full Dutch dinner in Amsterdam. ’t Lemmeke, a recent arrival in Oud-Zuid that is part Dutch bistro and part English pub, keeps its menu to hearty dishes such as stamppot, lasagne and stew with chips. The room is dark wood, with candles and a fireplace. Piet de Leeuw in Centrum has grilled steak since the 1940s, under low ceilings, with a bar full of people who have come for years.
’t Lemmeke comes from the team behind Wijmpje Beukers and De Zingende Zwaan, and the people who fill it plan to stay for hours. There are no reservations. Downstairs, a smaller pub serves anyone who only wants a drink, so the place works for a beer as well as for a long dinner.
't Lemmeke
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Thu 17:00–00:00 · Fri–Sat 16:00–00:30 · Sun 16:00–23:00
Address: Van Breestraat 107A, 1071 ZJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
At Piet de Leeuw the biefstuk arrives with a simple pan sauce and hand cut chips. Order the biefstuk van de haas with pepper sauce with fries on the side, and sit in the back room with the regulars.
Piet de Leeuw
Hours: Mon–Sat 12:00–22:30 · Sun 17:00–22:30
Address: Noorderstraat 11, 1017 TR Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where can you try Dutch street food in Amsterdam?
The street market on Albert Cuypstraat in De Pijp, the biggest in Amsterdam, sells cheese, raw herring and fresh stamppot as well as warm stroopwafels. Foodhallen, in a former tram depot, puts small stalls selling bitterballen and plenty else under one iron-trussed roof.
HappyWafel is a griddle stall on the market. Stroopwafels are pressed to order and handed over with the caramel still oozing, so eat yours straight away, while the syrup is warm. Treat the market as a walk and a graze, not a sit down meal. Come before mid afternoon, when the stalls start packing up, and bring cash.
HappyWafel
Hours: Mon–Tue closed · Wed–Thu 10:00–17:00 · Fri closed · Sat 10:00–17:00 · Sun closed
Address: Albert Cuypstraat 241/243, Stal nr. 215 voor de boksschool 3e markt, 1073 BH Amsterdam, Netherlands
Foodhallen sits in the old tram depot the neighbourhood refused to let anyone demolish. Today it’s the food side of the De Hallen cultural block, which it shares with a library and a cinema. Plates run from bitterballen to gyoza, and they’re meant for sharing. Walk the whole loop before you choose, then pick up a plate from three different counters and split them at one of the long communal tables.
Foodhallen
Hours: Mon–Sun 12:00–23:00
Address: Hannie Dankbaarpassage 16, 1053 RT Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where can you drink a Dutch brewery’s own beer in Amsterdam?
For Dutch beer with food, our pick is ’t Blauwe Theehuis in the Vondelpark. Brouwerij ’t IJ runs the round 1937 pavilion as its second tasting room, so the brewery’s own beer comes from the taps alongside coffee, sandwiches and pizza. On sunny afternoons the big terrace below fills up with cyclists, families with prams and dogs.
The concrete and glass building, with its blue steel balustrade and wide overhanging roof, looks as if it landed among the trees. The ground terrace is where the crowds are. Go upstairs instead: a small room there opens onto a roof deck over the trees and the pond. Picasso’s concrete sculpture is a few minutes away. Dogs are welcome everywhere.
't Blauwe Theehuis
Hours: Mon–Wed 09:30–20:00 · Thu–Sat 09:30–22:00 · Sun 09:30–20:00
Address: Vondelpark 5, 1071 AA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where do locals go for a cheap, filling meal in Amsterdam?
Roopram Roti in Oost is a no frills Surinamese roti counter with a loyal following. The roti is a soft flatbread with a deep curried filling. Most of it goes out as takeaway, though there are a few plastic tables if you want to eat on the spot, and the queue moves fast.
Order the chicken roti with a boiled egg, and say whether you want it hot. At lunch the line really does run out the door, so come at a quieter hour if you can.
Roopram Roti
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 14:00–21:00
Address: Eerste Van Swindenstraat 4, 1093 GC Amsterdam, Netherlands
Which of these places suits your plans in Amsterdam?
It mostly depends on how much time you have. For a long, slow dinner, go to ’t Lemmeke. To graze on Dutch snacks, try the Albert Cuypstraat market or Foodhallen. A beer in the park means ’t Blauwe Theehuis, and a quick, filling meal means Roopram Roti. The table below sorts our picks by area and what each does best.
For biefstuk with pepper sauce in a room that has been grilling since the 1940s, go to Piet de Leeuw. Several of these places close on one or more days a week, so check each card for opening days before you go.
