Café de Reiger

The Jordaan brown café that actually cooks, ribs, classics, open till one.

Every visitor wants 'a real brown café that also does dinner' and this 1896 corner building is the honest answer. De Reiger has the full kit, dark wood, art nouveau curves, a bar polished by a century of elbows, but unlike most of its peers the kitchen is the point, not an afterthought. The menu is klassiekers: their famous spareribs, good steak, a fish of the day and, quietly, better vegetarian plates than a place this old has any right to serve. It fills with actual Jordanezen and the noise level rises accordingly; that's the feature, not the bug. No airs, no tasting menus, kitchen from five, doors open until one in the morning every single night. They deliberately keep part of the room free for walk-ins, so when Daalder is booked out you stroll in here instead and honestly might come out ahead.

Order the spareribs, the dish that made the place, with a glass from the surprisingly decent wine list.