Destinations

10 Best Local Eats in Amsterdam

You don't have to go upscale to taste test Amsterdam's homegrown classics.

May 29, 2018

Cafe Amoi Local Eats Restaurant Amsterdam The Netherlands

Amsterdam has more sweet and savory snacks than you could ever bag in a single visit (and even if you did, they still wouldn’t make a dent in your wallet). So find addictive poffertjes, stroopwafels, and kroketten at the buzzing street markets, detour to a herring kiosk, and check out the new generation putting a spin on their forefathers’ cuisine, from artisanal chocolate sprinkles to haute bitterballen at the Netherlands’ first indoor food market.

Courtesy Hagelswag
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Hagelswag Brand Store
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This store takes the curious century-old Dutch tradition of eating hagelswag (chocolate sprinkles) for breakfast, and runs with it—the mission being to add swag to your bread, pancakes, or granola. There’s no more ambitious chocolate sprinkle: dark, vegan, and made from fair trade cocoa with a pleasing hint of bourbon vanilla. (FYI: samples are seemingly endless.)
Photo by Muk van Lil
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Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs
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Our advice to go eat dutch pancakes, or pannenkoeken, is no one’s idea of an insider tip. But these treats are famous for a reason. Skinnier than its American cousin, but weightier than a crêpe, the Dutch variety offers a pizza-sized canvas for an astounding amount of toppings. Get a workout on the steep stairs of this 16th-century house to find a four-table room (Europe’s smallest restaurant). When it comes to ordering, you’ll want both salt and sweet. The juicy 'Lambada' strawberry pancake is a must when it's in season, while the ‘Kai’ (brie, honey, and bacon) is the ideal sweet and savory mash-up. Definitely book ahead (and bring cash).

Alamy
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Stubbe’s Haring
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You’ll probably smell this timeworn, flag-festooned fish kiosk before you even spot the queues along the Singel canal, about 550 yards from Centraal Station. Below the quirky sign—the superscript ‘s’ of Stubbe’s is appealingly slapdash—Dutch matrons in striped aprons deliver salty, slippery herring, a rite of passage for Amsterdammers. Smoked eel, anchovies, and shrimps are all on the menu, but raw herring is what you want. If you’re not so sure about eating the fish au naturel, go for the herring roll, offsetting the salt with soft white bread, chopped onions, and sweet, crunchy pickles.
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Winkel 43
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While the apple pie is an aside on the menu (albeit one with a smiley), no one comes for anything else and Winkel 43 serves as many as 1,000 slices per day. Dainty isn’t the word for these pies, but spooning through the cool whipped cream, breaking through the thick pastry, and navigating the tower of warm, cinnamon-spiked apples beneath (way less saccharine than the US version) is pure bliss. Be prepared to come early, visit late (it’s open until 3 a.m. on weekends), or wait.

Courtesy FEBO
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FEBO
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FEBO began as a bakery in 1941, but soon it was the kroketten (croquettes) that were flying out the door. Now an automat, FEBO is best eaten late at night (and maybe a little tipsy). Skip the rote cheeseburgers and chicken wings, and give the spicy-peanut saté kroket in a bun a go. For non-classicists, go for the the spicy Gouda soufflé, oozing from its scalloped shell.
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De BallenBar
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Picture London’s famous Borough Market, if it was set inside of an industrial-chic ex-tram depot (De Hallen), and you’ve got something like Foodhallen—the Netherlands’ first indoor food market. Steer past the global street-food stands and head straight for this super-sleek black stall—a twin of the owners’ festival-staple food truck without the wheels. You're here for the bitterballen (deep-fried Dutch meatballs) with offbeat fillings, like bouillabaisse, spicy, and sour tom kha kai. The five-flavor platter suits the greedy and the indecisive.

Photo by Erik Poffers
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Lanskroon
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Before you even step in, the buttery scent of baked goodness signals that there’s something very special going on: beautiful homemade cakes, biscuits, and stroopwafels—sticky, gooey waffle sandwiches. Linger here and all of society will stroll in: workers grabbing a coffee pre-crowds, early-season neophytes, and jet-lagged American travelers arriving direct from the airport, having discovered their new favorite café on a previous visit and now saluting the staff by name.
Photo by Annemarie Dekker
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Café AMOI
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If you’re looking for one of those classic Indonesian rijsttafel restaurants, with an unending parade of spicy, sweet, and sticky dishes, formality, and dim lighting, this isn’t the place. We’re talking modern small plates (around five to share between two diners is good), cooked up by Indonesian aunties, of staples like coconut- and turmeric-rich yellow rice, chicken satay, and sea bass cooked in banana leaf. On Friday and Saturday nights, this is the place to go for a date night or cocktails and dinner with the gang.

Photo by Muk van Lil
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Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx
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Don’t be put off by the near-mythic lines at this hole-in-the-wall fries joint, or the typo-ridden menu (“price not includes saus”). No one comes here for the grammar, but rather the best frites in town, which this legend has been turning out, buried under a ladle’s worth of sauce, for six decades now. Warning: chime in fast if you don't want them to add heart-pounding levels of salt and only get a large if you don’t plan on eating again for a while.
Courtesy Poffertjes Albert Cuyp
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Poffertjes Albert Cuyp
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Chow down on poffertjes, fluffy clouds of miniature pancake perfection stacked generously on a serving tray, with an upright fork thrust into the fray. Nutella, white chocolate, and Grand Marnier are among the toppings, but don’t mess with the classic: a blizzard of powdered sugar and a giant pat of butter, that slowly pools into the bottom of the messy—fast-disappearing—platter.