The places locals return to in Amsterdam are all over the city: a brown café in the Jordaan, a Surinamese kitchen in De Pijp, rotisserie chicken and wholegrain bread in Oost, a converted garage across the water in Noord. Lunch is often eaten standing at a counter, over herring or a warm beef roll. These are the eleven places we send friends to, grouped by meal.
The short list
11 places, in the order they appear below.
- 1Van DobbenWarm beef rolls at a standing counterCentrum
- 2Stubbe's HaringRaw herring on a canal bridgeCentrum
- 3Warung Spang MakandraRoti and saoto soupDe Pijp
- 4Winkel 43Appeltaart on market daysJordaan
- 5Scandinavian EmbassyLight roast coffee and Nordic platesDe Pijp
- 6Hartog's VolkorenbakkerijWholegrain loaves to take awayOost
- 7Cafe de ReigerSpare ribs in a brown caféJordaan
- 8Café-Restaurant AmsterdamAll-day brasserie for groupsWest
- 9RijselRotisserie chickenOost
- 10Wilde ZwijnenGame and open fire cookingIndische Buurt
- 11Hotel de GoudfazantGroup dinners across the waterNoord
Where do locals eat a quick lunch in Amsterdam?
Standing at a counter, mostly, and fast. Each of the counters below has been in business for decades or longer, handing over warm beef rolls, herring cleaned in front of you and Surinamese roti that come out quickly and without fuss. The three below are all at the cheap end.
Van Dobben has been serving Dutch snacks over its formica counter since 1945. At lunch you’ll stand next to people in suits and cab drivers. Order the broodje pekelvlees (a soft roll with warm sliced beef) or the halfom and eat it where you stand. Then have a kroket straight out of the fryer.
Van Dobben
Hours: Mon–Thu 10:00–20:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–21:00 · Sun 10:00–20:00
Address: Korte Reguliersdwarsstraat 5-7-9, 1017 BH Amsterdam, Netherlands
Stubbe’s Haring sells raw herring from a stand on a canal bridge, and they clean each fish while you watch. Locals take it with raw onion and pickle. To taste the fish properly, ask for it cut into pieces rather than in a bun. Come around midday, when the fish moves fastest and is at its freshest.
Stubbe's Haring
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sat 10:00–18:00 · Sun closed
Address: Singel 8n, 1013 GA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Warung Spang Makandra has fed De Pijp for decades from a small Surinamese Javanese kitchen, and seating is tight enough that sharing a table is normal when the room gets busy. The order is the chicken roti and the saoto soup, and portions are big. Bring cash.
Warung Spang Makandra
Hours: Mon–Thu 11:00–22:00 · Fri–Sat 11:00–00:00 · Sun 13:00–22:00
Address: Gerard Doustraat 33, 1072 VK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Where do Amsterdammers go for coffee, cake and bread?
Usually a bakery, a corner café or a coffee bar. Depending on the day, the morning might start with a warm loaf bought by weight, apple pie on a market terrace or a carefully made coffee in De Pijp. Our picks are in the Jordaan, De Pijp and Oost, and each is worth planning a morning around.
Winkel 43 is a plain corner café by the Noordermarkt. The market runs on Mondays and Saturdays, so go then and sit on the terrace to watch the stalls.
Winkel 43
Hours: Mon 07:00–01:00 · Tue–Thu 08:00–01:00 · Fri 08:00–02:00 · Sat 07:00–02:00 · Sun 09:00–01:00
Address: Noordermarkt 43, 1015 NA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Scandinavian Embassy is a small Nordic coffee bar in De Pijp. The coffee is roasted light and comes with Scandinavian plates such as cured salmon and rye. The best-known item on the menu combines goat cheese and berries with coffee poured over the top. Mornings are calmer than the lunch rush.
Scandinavian Embassy
Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–17:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–17:00
Address: Sarphatipark 34, 1072 PB Amsterdam, Netherlands
In the morning, people queue with cloth bags at Hartog’s Volkorenbakkerij in Oost to buy dense, dark wholegrain loaves by weight while they are still warm. It is a working bakery that mills as well as bakes, not a café. Buy a whole loaf (it keeps for days) and pay in cash.
Hartog's Volkorenbakkerij
Hours: Mon–Fri 07:00–18:00 · Sat 07:00–17:00 · Sun closed
Address: Wibautstraat 77, 1091 GK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Which Amsterdam restaurants do locals go back to for dinner?
Our three picks are neighbourhood rooms that locals keep filling: a brown café in the Jordaan known for spare ribs, a brasserie inside an old pumping station in West, and a rotisserie in Oost. All three are mid-priced and an easy choice for a first evening in the city.
Cafe de Reiger has been open in the Jordaan since 1896. At the front there’s a panelled bar with old lamps; at the back, a dining room under a high beamed ceiling. The spare ribs are what most people come back for. Part of the room is kept for walk-ins, so arrive at the start of the evening or late, not at eight, and wait at the bar with a beer. If the dining room is full, ask about a seat at the bar.
Cafe de Reiger
Hours: Mon–Sun 16:00–01:00
Address: Nieuwe Leliestraat 34, 1015 ST Amsterdam, Netherlands
Café-Restaurant Amsterdam fills a former water pumping station in West: riveted steel, tall windows and tram lamps rescued from the street. The kitchen serves all day, from oysters to steak and roast chicken. Large groups fit in the hall without booking far ahead. For a bigger night, order the shellfish plateau.
Café-Restaurant Amsterdam
Hours: Mon–Thu 10:00–00:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–01:00 · Sun 10:00–00:00
Address: Watertorenplein 6, 1051 PA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Rijsel serves northern French home cooking behind a former school building in Oost. The room is bright, with institutional tiling. Get the rotisserie chicken with pommes and a carafe of something easy. If there are two of you, ask whether any of the day’s roast is left. It sells out.
Rijsel
Hours: Mon–Fri 18:00–22:00 · Sat–Sun closed
Address: Marcusstraat 52, 1091 TK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Is it worth leaving the centre for dinner in the Indische Buurt and Noord?
Yes, if you want to eat where the neighbourhood eats. Bring a few friends and keep the evening free. The plates are made for sharing.
Wilde Zwijnen means wild boar, and the menu follows the name: Dutch game, root vegetables, cooking over open fire. You eat at long wooden tables, and the wine list leans on small natural growers. If the main room is booked out, the eetbar next door takes no reservations and serves a shorter menu from the same kitchen. Get there early for a seat.
Wilde Zwijnen
Hours: Mon–Tue 18:00–22:30 · Wed closed · Thu–Fri 18:00–22:30 · Sat 18:00–23:30 · Sun 12:00–22:30
Address: Javaplein 23, 1095 CJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hotel de Goudfazant is a cavernous former garage, and a car might still be parked among the tables. The open kitchen leans French. Depending on the night, that means a whole fish, a good steak or a blistered pizza from the wood oven. Take the ferry and walk the last stretch. Come as a group so you can spread across the sharing plates.
Hotel de Goudfazant
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 18:00–00:00
Address: Aambeeldstraat 30, 1021 KB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Which Amsterdam neighbourhoods are best for eating like a local?
The Jordaan, De Pijp and Oost account for most of this list. The centre has two places, and West, the Indische Buurt and Noord have one each. With only a day or two, pick one neighbourhood per meal rather than crossing the city every time. In the table below, the eleven places on our list are grouped by neighbourhood, each with the kind of meal it suits best.
Plan by neighbourhood and by time of day. Bakeries and lunch counters are best in the morning and around midday. The dinner rooms fill up as the evening goes on, so book where you can and have a walk-in plan where you can’t. Two places on the list ask you to bring cash, and a few close one or two days a week. Check each card before you set out.
