Café de Koe is a Jordaan eetcafé at Marnixstraat 381, a two-minute walk from Leidseplein, where a proper kitchen sits downstairs and a lived-in brown-café bar runs late upstairs. It opened in 1993 and has been a fixture for Amsterdam’s musicians, artists and long-evening regulars ever since — not as a music venue, but as the place they end up afterwards.
Café de Koe at a glance
| Address | Marnixstraat 381, 1016 XR Amsterdam (Jordaan, near Leidseplein) |
| Opened | 1993 |
| Café hours | Sunday–Thursday 16:00–01:00; Friday–Saturday 16:00–03:00 |
| Kitchen hours | 17:30–21:30 daily; kitchen closed Mondays |
| Mains | €17.50–€23.50 |
| Phone | 020 625 4482 |
| Best for | Unhurried dinner, group borrels, late drinks after a DeLaMar or Melkweg show |
Two floors, two very different rooms
The split layout is the thing to understand before you arrive, because it determines whether you should book. Street level is the café — dark wood, a long bar, tables that fill with neighbourhood drinkers from 16:00 onwards. The dining room sits down a narrow staircase in the basement: lower ceilings, closer tables, and the warm clatter of an open kitchen. Upstairs there is a further bar area with games, which is where groups tend to settle in.
Practically, this means walk-ins usually find a spot at the bar, while the basement restaurant fills quickly on Friday and Saturday. If you want dinner rather than drinks, reserve.
What to eat, and what it costs
The menu is short and deliberately unfussy: a handful of starters, seven or eight mains, and a borrel list built for grazing over beer. Two dishes carry the house name and are the safest orders.
- Classic Koeburger — €17.50. Cheddar, Amsterdamse zuur, fried onions and cajun mayo, with French fries.
- Koe Steak — €23.50. Jus de veau, fries, and a vinaigrette salad with croutons; the most expensive plate on the card.
- Kipsaté — €19.50. Chicken thigh, peanut sauce, atjar and kroepoek — the Dutch-Indonesian staple every eetcafé is judged on.
- Zeebaarsfilet — €22.50. Sea bass pan-fried in butter with lemon.
- Falafel burger — €17.50, or linguine gorgonzola — €19.50. The two dependable meat-free mains.
- Kindermenu — €10.50. Frikandel, kaassoufflé or a (vegetarian) bitterbal with fries and apple sauce.
Starters run €7.50–€12.50, with bread and aïoli at the low end and oven-baked camembert or burrata at the top. For drinking rather than dining, the borrel list covers beef bitterballen (€8.00), vegetarian bitterballen (€7.50), kimchi croquettes (€8.00), mini kaassoufflés (€6.50) and samosas (€6.50). Wines are poured from a compact Franco-Spanish-Italian list — Picpoul de Pinet, Mencía from Bierzo, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo — rather than an encyclopaedic one.
When to go
The single most useful piece of planning information: the kitchen is closed on Mondays, even though the café itself opens as usual at 16:00. Turn up hungry on a Monday and you are limited to the borrel snacks.
- 16:00–17:30 any day: drinks only, quietest stretch, easiest seat at the bar.
- 17:30–21:30, Tuesday–Sunday: full kitchen service; last orders are firm, so arrive by 21:00.
- After 21:30: pure café mode — until 01:00 Sunday to Thursday, and until 03:00 on Friday and Saturday.
The late Friday and Saturday licence is why De Koe works as a second stop. DeLaMar Theater is barely 200 metres up Marnixstraat, and Leidseplein’s venues are a short walk, so the room refills around 22:30 with people who have just come out of a show.
Booking, groups and payment
Reservations are taken through the booking pop-up on the café’s own website or by phone on 020 625 4482, and the kitchen explicitly welcomes larger groups, birthdays and special requests if you give notice. Book for weekend dinner; skip it for a midweek drink.
Getting there
Take tram 1, 2, 5, 7, 11, 12 or 19 to Leidseplein and walk north along Marnixstraat for roughly three minutes; the corner building is hard to miss. From Amsterdam Centraal the journey is about 15 minutes by tram. There is no parking to speak of on Marnixstraat, so arrive on foot, by tram or by bike.
Frequently asked questions
Does Café de Koe have live music?
No. Despite its reputation among Amsterdam musicians and artists, De Koe is an eetcafé rather than a live-music venue. It has drawn a creative crowd since 1993, but there is no regular concert programme.
What time does the kitchen close at Café de Koe?
The kitchen serves from 17:30 to 21:30 and is closed on Mondays. The café itself opens daily at 16:00 and stays open until 01:00 Sunday to Thursday and 03:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Do you need to book a table at Café de Koe?
Book for dinner on Friday and Saturday, when the basement dining room fills quickly. Midweek and for drinks at the bar you can usually walk in. Reserve via the pop-up on cafedekoe.nl or by calling 020 625 4482.
How much does dinner at Café de Koe cost?
Main courses run from €17.50 for the Koeburger or falafel burger to €23.50 for the Koe Steak. Starters are €7.50 to €12.50 and borrel snacks such as bitterballen are €6.50 to €8.00.
Is Café de Koe in the Jordaan?
Yes. It sits at Marnixstraat 381 on the southern edge of the Jordaan, roughly a three-minute walk north of Leidseplein.
Are there vegetarian options at Café de Koe?
Yes. The falafel burger (€17.50) and linguine gorgonzola (€19.50) are the vegetarian mains, and the borrel list includes vegetarian bitterballen and samosas.
Prefer to compare before you commit? Browse the full Amsterdam café guide for brown cafés, roasters and brunch spots across the city.
