Best Restaurants

Amsterdam’s restaurant scene punches well above the city’s size. Five-table neighbourhood spots in De Pijp, century-old Dutch institutions in the Jordaan, and Michelin-recognised tasting menus in Oud-Zuid coexist within a half-hour bike ride. This list is built the way a local builds a shortlist for an out-of-town friend: places we’ve actually returned to, where the room, the service and the cooking each pull their weight. Expect a mix — d’Vijff Vlieghen on Spuistraat in five interlinked 17th-century canal houses, RIJKS inside the Rijksmuseum’s atrium, NAZKA’s Peruvian-Nikkei tasting menu in De Pijp — alongside the quieter brasseries, brown-café kitchens and bistros that anchor each neighbourhood. Every venue page below has hours, address, and our notes on what to order.