Café Nieuw Amsterdam

Café Nieuw Amsterdam is a modern bistro at Haarlemmerstraat 75 in central Amsterdam, set inside the monumental West-Indisch Huis. It serves a compact, French-leaning brasserie menu with a seasonal wine list, and it is open seven days a week from 11:00 for brunch, lunch, drinks and dinner. The two things that set it apart from the dozens of other cafés on this street are the 17th-century building and the walled back garden.

Quick facts

Address	Haarlemmerstraat 75, 1013 EL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Neighbourhood	Haarlemmerbuurt, Amsterdam-Centrum
Building	West-Indisch Huis, former headquarters of the Dutch West India Company
Phone	+31 20 530 9848
Opening hours	Daily from 11:00. Sunday to Thursday until 00:00, Friday and Saturday until 01:00
Kitchen opens	12:00 daily
Cuisine	Modern bistro / brasserie with a French accent
Good for	Brunch, lunch, borrel (drinks), dinner, Sunday roast, small groups
Outdoor seating	Front terrace on Haarlemmerstraat plus an enclosed garden
Reservations	Online for standard tables; email for parties of 12 to 30

What Café Nieuw Amsterdam actually is

Café Nieuw Amsterdam describes itself as a modern bistro with a surprising menu and good wines, open all day for brunch, lunch, drinks or a longer dinner. In practice it reads as a brasserie: a deliberately short card of seasonal dishes rather than a sprawling all-things-to-all-people menu, with a French tilt in the cooking and a cocktail list alongside the wine.

That distinction matters if you are choosing where to eat. This is not the place to tick off Dutch canon dishes such as stamppot or bitterballen as a guaranteed menu fixture. It is the place for onion soup, a roast, a good glass of wine and a room that encourages you to stay for three hours.

The building is the real draw

The café occupies part of the West-Indisch Huis on Haarlemmerstraat, the 17th-century complex that served as the headquarters of the Dutch West India Company. This is the building historically associated with the founding of New Amsterdam, the settlement that became New York, which makes the café’s name a direct reference rather than a marketing flourish.

You get the benefit of that history without a museum ticket: high ceilings, thick walls and a courtyard garden that is genuinely quiet despite sitting one door off one of the busiest shopping streets in the centre. If you care about the wider site, the West-Indisch Huis also operates as an events venue, and large private bookings are handled through the venue rather than the café.

Terrace, garden and where to sit

There are three distinct experiences under one roof, and they suit different visits:

• Front terrace on Haarlemmerstraat — small, street-facing, best for people-watching over coffee or a drink. It is a busy shopping street, so expect foot traffic and cyclists rather than canal calm.
• Interior garden — an enclosed green courtyard, open in good weather, and the strongest reason to come here over a canal-side terrace. Ask for it when you book, not when you arrive.
• Indoor restaurant — spacious and the reliable choice in Dutch weather, which is unpredictable in every month of the year.

Sunday Roast: the one thing worth planning around

Every Sunday from 12:00 to 20:00 the kitchen runs a Sunday Roast menu alongside the regular card. Expect the British template — roast chicken or slow-cooked pork belly, seasonal vegetables, crisp potatoes and Yorkshire puddings — served in a Dutch monument, which is an unusual combination in Amsterdam-Centrum.

If you only have one meal free in Amsterdam and it falls on a Sunday afternoon, this is the strongest use of this address. Book ahead; a roast service in a compact dining room fills quickly, and the menu is a limited-window offering rather than something you can order at 21:00.

Best time to visit

Because the kitchen opens at 12:00 while the doors open at 11:00, the first hour of every day is a coffee-and-drinks window. Plan around that gap if you are arriving hungry.

• Weekday lunch, 12:00 to 14:00 — the calmest table service of the week and the easiest time to get a garden seat without a reservation.
• Late afternoon borrel, 16:00 to 18:00 — the Dutch drinks hour. The room turns over from lunch to evening and the terrace is at its best.
• Dinner, from 18:30 — busiest service, reservation strongly advised, particularly Friday and Saturday when the café stays open until 01:00.
• Sunday, 12:00 to 20:00 — roast service. Book several days out in high season.
• May to September — the only period when the garden and terrace are dependable. Outside those months, treat outdoor seating as a bonus, not a plan.

Haarlemmerstraat itself is at its most pleasant on weekday mornings and its most crowded on Saturday afternoons, when the street functions as a local shopping destination. If you dislike queues and noise, avoid Saturday 14:00 to 17:00 for the front terrace.

How to get there

The address is Haarlemmerstraat 75, 1013 EL. Haarlemmerstraat runs west from the Singel, a few minutes on foot from Amsterdam Centraal, which makes this one of the more convenient sit-down meals in the city if you are arriving or leaving by train.

• On foot from Amsterdam Centraal — roughly 10 minutes. Exit on the city side, head west past Martelaarsgracht, cross the Singel and continue onto Haarlemmerstraat.
• By train from Schiphol — direct trains to Amsterdam Centraal run frequently and take around 15 to 20 minutes, then walk. This is faster and cheaper than a taxi in daytime traffic.
• By tram or bus — use the stops clustered around Centraal Station and Nieuwezijds Kolk, then walk. Haarlemmerstraat itself is not a tram route.
• By bike — realistic and normal here, but Haarlemmerstraat is narrow and busy. Use a marked rack and a second lock; bike theft is common in Amsterdam-Centrum.
• By car — not recommended. There is no dedicated parking, on-street parking in Centrum is among the most expensive in Europe, and much of the surrounding area is restricted.

Nearby anchors that make this an easy add-on: Amsterdam Centraal, the Haarlemmerbuurt shops, the Jordaan across the Brouwersgracht, and the Anne Frank House about 12 minutes’ walk south.

Practical tips before you book

• Reserve for dinner, weekends and Sunday roast. Walk-ins are plausible for a weekday coffee or drink, less so for a table at 19:00.
• Groups of 12 to 30 must email rather than book online. Parties above 30 are referred to the West-Indisch Huis events team, so plan corporate or celebration bookings well ahead.
• Request the garden explicitly. It is weather-dependent and not guaranteed, so add it as a note to your reservation.
• Expect card payment. Most Amsterdam hospitality is card- and PIN-first, and some venues no longer take cash at all. Bring a debit or credit card and confirm on arrival if that matters to you.
• Arrive after 12:00 if you want food. The kitchen opens an hour after the doors.
• Ask about the wine by the glass. The list is seasonal and changes, so the current pours are a better bet than anything written in a review, including this one.
• Accessibility is worth checking by phone. This is a listed 17th-century building, and step-free access, restroom access and garden access can differ from modern venues. Call +31 20 530 9848 before relying on it.
• Confirm hours the same week. Independent listings and aggregator sites disagree on late-night closing times, and the official site is the only figure worth trusting.

Is it worth it?

Choose Café Nieuw Amsterdam if you want a comfortable, affordably priced all-day bistro in a genuinely historic building, with a quiet garden as the differentiator and Sunday roast as the standout service. Choose somewhere else if your priority is canal-side seating, a long Dutch-specialty menu, or fine dining; this is a well-run brasserie in a remarkable room, not a destination kitchen.

Frequently asked questions