Big groups*
Tables that absorb eight people without a spreadsheet, kitchens that feed them without a wobble. Book ahead and bring the loud friends.
Hotel de Goudfazant
The garage that invented Noord dining, still its best-value French table.
Rijsel
Rotisserie chicken and Flemish classics in a gloriously noisy former home-economics school.
Sahan
Osdorp's charcoal-grill palace where half of Amsterdam's Turkish families celebrate everything.
Caffè Toscanini
Forty years of daily-changing Italian cooking under a glass roof; the locals' heirloom.
Restaurant Blauw
The rijsttafel that converts skeptics, served where Vondelpark meets Amstelveenseweg.
Pesca
A theatre of fish: pick your catch at the market, eat it minutes later.
Restaurant Barracuda
A 250-seat seafood hall running like an Italian beach shack on the IJ.
Wilde Zwijnen
The Javaplein pioneer that proved modern Dutch cooking is a real thing.
Night Kitchen
Candlelit Mediterranean neo-bistro where the chef writes the menu around your table.
Ron Gastrobar
Ron Blaauw traded two Michelin stars for this, and won the trade.
MITTS
Javastraat's cosiest mezze room, vegetable-first and quietly serious about it.
Goldcoast Restaurant & Loungebar
Ghanaian institution near the Arena, serving jollof and waakye until deep night.
De Japanner
Amsterdam's original izakaya: sake, skewers and noise on the Albert Cuyp.
NELA
Live-fire glamour inside the Valley building; Zuidas finally learned to have fun.
Restaurant Merza
IJburg's home-style Turkish anchor: iskender, beyti and a breakfast buffet worth crossing bridges for.
Bird Thai Restaurant
The Zeedijk's Thai anchor: proper curries, teak everything, zero concessions to timid palates.
Orontes
Twenty years of Antakya charcoal cooking, steps from the market stalls.
La Oliva
Cantabrian-Basque pintxos and serious Spanish wine on a pretty Jordaan street.
Café-Restaurant Dauphine
French brasserie classics in a gorgeous former Renault showroom by Amstel station.
Café Loetje
The original Loetje: butter-soft biefstuk, legendary gravy, zero pretension since 1977.
Indrapura
Rembrandtplein's grand old rijsttafel room, still the classic Indonesian spread.
Fa. Pekelhaaring
Rowdy, big-hearted Italian-ish canteen that Van Woustraat treats as its living room.
Klaproos
Pizza, good wine and dancing on a half-built Buiksloterham corner.
Café-Restaurant De Plantage
Mediterranean brasserie cooking inside the prettiest cast-iron winter garden in Amsterdam.
Restaurant Beyrouth
The Estephan family has run Amsterdam's best mezze since 1990.
African Kitchen
Nigerian-leaning kitchen on the Bijlmerdreef doing serious egusi, suya and grilled tilapia.
Semhar
Injera, spiced stews and family warmth on the Jordaan's western edge, for pocket change.
Hangar
Corrugated-iron hangar on the IJ doing côte de boeuf and long sundowners.
Pllek
Container-built city beach where the vegetables outshine the sunset. Almost.
Bar Botanique
A rainforest-green corner bar off the Dappermarkt that cooks better than it needs to.
Sallora
Aleppo-born grill-and-mezze operation on Osdorpplein, part restaurant, part bazaar, fully halal.
Mossel & Gin
Pots of mussels and matching G&Ts on Westergas's sunniest terrace.
De Neef van Fred
All-day French-leaning bistro with the best waterside terrace in De Baarsjes.
Bar Baarsch
De Baarsjes' living room: smash burgers, pub quiz, drag queen bingo.