BAK
Warehouse-loft tasting menus over the IJ, where Amsterdam natural wine grew up.
BAK started as a pop-up in a squatted Houthavens warehouse in 2013 and grew up into one of the city's defining restaurants without losing the plywood soul. Third floor of the old Het Veem building, wooden beams, big windows over the IJ, the room does half the work, and the kitchen does the rest with a vegetable-led, whole-animal tasting menu that changes with whatever their farmers are pulling out of the ground. This is where Amsterdam's natural wine scene learned to walk; the list is long, funky and poured by people who can actually explain it. Weekend lunch is the connoisseur's move: same cooking, low afternoon light on the water, gentler bill. Michelin lists it, 50 Best Discovery lists it, and it still somehow feels like yours.
Book the Saturday or Sunday lunch sitting and surrender to the wine pairing.
What to order
Full menu- Daily set menu€75
One €75 menu, rewritten daily around sustainable fish, local farms and game; no à la carte safety net.
- Vegetable-led courses
Reviewers rate the vegetable cooking above the protein, rare praise at this level.
- Natural wine pairing
The 500-label glass cellar leans French-Italian natural; the pairing is half the reason to come.
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