A visit to Amsterdam is not complete without trying the famous croquettes from the wall and bitterballs. The Amsterdam food scene, however, has a lot of other things to offer. From mouthwatering seafood restaurants to delicious brunch spots, there are many great restaurants to discover during your visit to Amsterdam. We made a top 10 of our food favorites in Amsterdam to get the most out of your food here. Thank us later!
1. Toki
Our favorite breakfast spot in Amsterdam is definitely Toki. In addition to delicious coffee and pastries, you can also have breakfast here. Be sure to arrive on time to ensure a spot, since it can get pretty busy here. We saw lots of people working here as well, which was really cool. Good to know: although Toki is open as early as 8 AM, the kitchen doesn’t open until 10.
The soft scrambled eggs on sourdough brioche are to die for! For this alone, we would return to Amsterdam. This was our first breakfast in Amsterdam, and it really couldn’t have started our trip off any better. The scrambled eggs are served with sun-dried tomato chili oil, and you can choose to top it off with shaved parmesan cheese. This combination is truly heavenly, the day after we returned from Amsterdam, we (tried to) recreate this at home. We also ordered the eggplant sando with roasted eggplant, mozzarella, romesco and pesto. This was also really delicious and the perfect way to start your day. Last but not least, a big bonus for the beautiful tables. We mean, look at this!
Where: Binnen Dommersstraat 15
2. De Wasserette
Located in De Pijp, one of the coolest neighborhoods in Amsterdam in our opinion, you can find De Wasserette. Here you’ll find lots of original breakfast dishes, such as a chicken kimchi burger and homemade shrimp croquettes. We tried the toast with chicken and avocado and the one with homemade shrimp croquettes and Japanese mayo. The toast with chicken was topped with truffle mayo and Parmigiano, this was really good.
What we loved about this place was that they don’t serve your standard breakfast dishes, and that the staff was really friendly. Make sure to order their fresh ginger tea, it is really delicious! Price-quality De Wasserette is highly recommended. We wanted to come back later for a quick lunch and drinks, but the place was packed! This was around noon, so it does get quite busy here.
Where: Eerste van der Helststraat 27
3. Teds
The concept of Teds is ‘All Day Brunch’, which means you can both start your day with mimosas at 9 AM and have a breakfast burrito in the afternoon. Sounds great, right?
Since it was our last day in Amsterdam, we started our day with two strawberry bellinis. We went for the breakfast burrito and the sandwich with ricotta cheese and roasted pumpkin. As sides we chose the waffle fries topped with parmesan and truffle mayo, and the bitterballs. Of course, once again, we had ordered way too much. 😂
Everything was really delicious but the breakfast burrito filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar and guacamole is a must try. Besides the scrumptious food, the interior with all the cute plants and quotes is also really gorgeous! We loooove that at Teds it doesn’t matter if you want some fries with bitterballs as breakfast, they don’t judge. The waiter even applauded us for ordering Bellini’s and fries because we were the first customers of the day. 😂
Check the locations here.
4. Foodhallen
A classic not to be missed is Foodhallen. This is an indoor market with different food stands from different world cuisines like Mexican, Mediterranean and Asian cuisine. If you are struggling with choosing what to eat, don’t come here as the options are endless!
There are 21 food stands at Foodhallen, so certainly enough choice for everyone. In addition to numerous meat and fish options, you can also find vegetarian options here. Foodhallen truly is heaven on earth for all food lovers! Also, in the middle you have multiple bars, so if you want your sushi to be accompanied with a glass of rosé wine, fear not. 😉
We have ordered at a lot of stalls here, but what we really recommend trying are the famous bitterballs at De Ballenbar. They offer a lot of different choices, and for us (who loooove fried balls/croquettes) this looks like heaven. For the best experience, and also if it’s your first time, we suggest choosing the mix of 5 croquettes. This way you can taste innovative croquettes like a croquette filled with bouillabaisse in addition to the classic bitterball. Delicious and really cheap!
Where: Bellamyplein 51
5. FEBO
FEBO is a Dutch fast food chain that offers a wide variety of snacks like croquettes and burgers. As we mentioned in the beginning of this blog post, Amsterdam is known for its croquettes from the wall. The snacks at FEBO are offered in vending machines, hence the concept of croquettes from the wall. This is typically Dutch, making a stop at FEBO a must on your visit to Amsterdam!
It really is impossible to write down what you can get here, there are countless burgers on the menu (try the croquette burger!), but they do also have ‘standalone snacks’ like frikadel (fried meatball sausage), kipcorn (crispy minced chicken hotdog) and bami schijf (slice of bami, breaded and deep fried). The Dutch really do snacks like no-one else!
Check the locations here.
6. George W.P.A.
Feeling hungry after a morning full of museum visits? Just around the corner of the museum quarter you can find George W.P.A., a trendy lunch hotspot. This place really has it all: a cozy atmosphere, great food and amazing cocktails. We went for the Pornstar Martini and a Moscow Mule, both delicious cocktails. For lunch we had the truffle ravioli and pasta vongole, the truffle ravioli was sooo good we almost ordered a second plate.
We were also really keen on the interior, they have personalized plates and on every table there is a can of olives, which we thought was really cute. Walk ins are possible, as they have a lot of space. Their terrace is really big and full of heaters, so you won’t be cold outside even in the winter.
Where: Willemsparkweg 74
7. Toastable
Looking for a quick lunch break? Toastable offers numerous variations on grilled cheese, from classics with cheddar to tuna or kimchi. We always come back here, their toasts are sooo good. Our absolute favorite is The Legend, with grilled chicken, bacon, bell peppers, cheese and curry mayo. For vegetarians, we recommend the Caprese, which is filled with mozzarella, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. Really yummy!
They have 2 locations in Amsterdam, but we always go to the one on Koningsplein (near the Flower Market/Bloemenmarkt). Bear in mind that there are only about 25/30 seats here (outside terrace included), and it does get busy. We were lucky to get the last table when we walked in, over 10 ‘couples’ were less lucky in the minutes after were given our table. Also, when we visited, we noticed that someone made a reservation for 4 people. So if you really want to be sure of a table, you can make a reservation.
Check the locations here.
8. Ceppi’s
For an intimate Italian dinner, Ceppi’s is the place to be. The interior is really romantic and we fell in love with the magnificent bar at first sight! The food is also really good, we thought it would not live up to the expectations, but we couldn’t be more wrong. As starter we shared the potato foam with fresh truffle, we never had anything like it. The whole time we were wondering “are these mashed potatoes?”, but we couldn’t put our finger on it. Really delicious, though! We also ordered the ravioli with lemon and ricotta, and the linguine alle vongole as a main course. Each dish was really delicious!
The only downside is that the portions are rather small. Fortunately, the quality of the food makes up for it and, the prices are not too bad. We are still more than satisfied with this romantic restaurant!
Where: Lijnbaansgracht 256
9. Brut de Mer
Brut de Mer is an oyster, fish and wine bar in the bustling De Pijp area. Upon entering, you can immediately admire the large assortment of fresh oysters. You can even ask for an oyster shot!
Since everything on the menu appealed to us, we chose to share several dishes. We shared the scallops, pulpo, tartufo di mare and the lobster roll. Everything was really fingerlicking good! Each dish is served in a creative way with surprising flavors.
However, we were a little disappointed by the lobster roll. For € 35 there could have been more lobster, the fennel was overpowering which made the flavor of the lobster a bit lost. All the other dishes were really worth it though. We even had a long discussion about which dish was better, and we’ve still not come to an agreement!
Overall, we are still very satisfied from our dinner at Brut de Mer and would definitely return here! Only then we would order the lobster instead of the lobster roll. 😋
Where: Gerard Douplein 8II
10. The Harbour Club
If you have something special to celebrate, be sure to reserve a seat at The Harbour Club. We went here for Thysia’s 27th birthday and it was a night to remember! Picture: an immense space, an outstanding bar, a sparkling atmosphere and a luxurious interior that will make your jaw drop. When it is Thysia’s birthday, nothing is too much!
You can choose to have a starter and/or main course, or you can share several dishes. Since we like to taste different dishes, we chose to share 4. The service here is also very prompt, in less than half an hour we got our crispy gambas, fried oysters, spicy edamame and a california maki roll with king crab. Our cocktails (they arrived a little before that) were very good too, we each had a sweet cocktail. Thysia went for the Red Velvet Punch with vanilla vodka and Kelvin for the Watermelon Mai Tai.
The cocktails were great, a big glass, the perfect amount of alcohol, and they left us craving for another one. 🤩 The food was really good as well, we thought this place would’ve been overrated, but the quality of the dishes ànd cocktails proved us wrong BIG TIME. Our favorites were the sushi and the crispy gambas. The fried oysters were really good too, but we have someone in the family that can make them even better so we are a little biased here. 😉 The edamame were great as an appetizing snack!
For two cocktails and 4 dishes, we paid € 130. This seems expensive, but for such a high quality and marvellous location, this is definitely a ‘reasonable’ price. Both the location and the food are not ordinary at all, which makes this not a place you come to for a quick lunch or dinner. It is, however, the perfect spot to celebrate a birthday or anniversary! No wonder The Harbour Club made it to our top 10 food favorites in Amsterdam. 😳 We’ll think about coming back here for Kelvin’s birthday in May, for sure.
Check the locations here.
We hope you enjoyed our top 10 favorite foods in Amsterdam! If you’re looking for more Amsterdam recommendations, don’t miss this mini guide to Amsterdam from Plan For Me Dani.
