Café 't Gasthuys

A 1977 brown café behind the university with a waterside terrace and a daily special that still starts under ten euro.

't Gasthuys has been on the Grimburgwal since 1977, wedged between the old university buildings and the Oudezijds Achterburgwal, and it is the last honest eetcafé in a corner of the centre that has otherwise surrendered to waffles. Dark wood panelling, a bar that regulars lean on, and a small terrace over the water that catches the afternoon. The kitchen is unpretentious in the original sense: a homemade Gasthuys burger and a vegetarian one at 14.50, homemade chicken satay at 16.50, spareribs with whisky and garlic sauces at 17.50, a steak at 18 with herb butter, all served with fries and salad, and a chalkboard daily special that Barts Boekje's budget list clocks from 9.75, which is how students still eat here. Your Little Black Book's September 2024 brown-café list picked it out for exactly that, a daily special or something from the fryer with a beer on the canal. The kitchen runs until 21:00 on weekdays and 21:30 on Friday and Saturday, so this is an early dinner, not a late one. It will not change anyone's life, and the tourist traffic on the Grimburgwal is relentless in summer, but as a place to eat a proper plate for under twenty euro in the very heart of the old city it is close to unique.

Open daily from noon; kitchen until about 21:00, 21:30 Friday and Saturday. No bookings needed on weekdays. Check the board for the dagschotel first, then the satay; take the terrace over the water if it is free.