Lunch*
The midday meal, done properly. For the full social-versus-business split, see the Lunch page.
RIJKS
Bijdendijk's Low Countries cooking is the Rijksmuseum's best exhibit, and it's edible.
De Kas
Michelin-starred cooking inside the greenhouse where your dinner was picked this morning.
BAK
Warehouse-loft tasting menus over the IJ, where Amsterdam natural wine grew up.
4850
Seven hundred natural wines on a nothing street; a citywide pilgrimage.
Vleminckx Sausmeesters
Amsterdam's fries window since 1957; the queue moves faster than your sauce decision.
Nam Kee
Steamed oysters in black bean sauce, famous since 1981, queue and eat.
Bistrot Neuf
The Haarlemmerstraat's proper French bistro, pouring forty wines by the glass since 2009.
Fort Negen
Every weekend De Baarsjes queues for a kaassoufflé on brioche. Correctly.
Switie Poort (Deli Company)
The broodje bakkeljauw of Amsterdam lives here, on Bijlmerplein, for pocket change.
Restaurant Bridges
Seafood-first fine dining behind Karel Appel's mural at The Grand.
Visaandeschelde
Rivierenbuurt's grand fish house, plateaus, turbot, and zero trend-chasing since 1999.
Warung Spang Makandra
The 1978 Javanese-Surinamese warung every De Pijp lifer swears by.
Toko Bandung
An Indonesian toko running since 1963; the rames here outclasses most restaurants.
Roopram Roti
The city's benchmark roti, worth every minute of the Dapperbuurt queue.
Tokoman
Amsterdam's best broodje pom, handed over a counter at Waterlooplein market.
Lucius
Amsterdam's seafood classic since 1975: oysters, Dover sole, zero gimmicks.
Little Collins
Melbourne-grade brunch and daytime drinking on a quiet Pijp side street.
La Oliva
Cantabrian-Basque pintxos and serious Spanish wine on a pretty Jordaan street.
De Belhamel
Art nouveau room, waterside terrace, Bib Gourmand cooking at the prettiest canal junction going.
Café-Restaurant Dauphine
French brasserie classics in a gorgeous former Renault showroom by Amstel station.
Konya Etliekmek
Meter-long Konya flatbread from a family oven; De Baarsjes' best cheap lunch.
Frens Haringhandel
Raw herring at the flower market corner, the cheapest great lunch in Centrum.
Pide BKRY
Reddit's favourite lahmacun, stretched and blistered all day by the Oosterpark.
Brasserie van Baerle
The Concertgebouw crowd's canteen: oysters, crisp linen, and a secret garden terrace.
Van Kerkwijk
No menu, no reservations: the waiter recites, you choose, everyone wins.
La Perla
Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza across two facing shopfronts; the Jordaan's consensus cheap dinner.
Café-Restaurant De Plantage
Mediterranean brasserie cooking inside the prettiest cast-iron winter garden in Amsterdam.
Frites uit Zuyd
One family, twice-fried frites, homemade mayo, gold tray, honest queue.
Small World
A tiny deli making the Haarlemmerbuurt's best sandwiches since 1999.
Bar Jules
Valeriusplein's all-day living room: Spanish sharing plates, terrazzo bar, walk-ins meant literally.
Café Luxembourg
The Spui's grand café since the eighties, home of the Holtkamp shrimp croquette.
Albina
No-frills Surinamese-Chinese roti canteen feeding the Albert Cuyp since forever.
Renzo's
Oud-Zuid's Italian counter: heaped trays, proper sandwiches, and no seats worth fighting over.
Hangar
Corrugated-iron hangar on the IJ doing côte de boeuf and long sundowners.
Vishandel de Zeemeeuw
Noord's fish kiosk where cod kibbeling justifies the Saturday queue.
Sama Sebo
A 1969 time capsule of rijsttafel culture amid the P.C. Hooftstraat boutiques.
Mossel & Gin
Pots of mussels and matching G&Ts on Westergas's sunniest terrace.
Eethuis Ricardo's
Old-school Creole home cooking from Ricardo himself, now settled on Javastraat.
De Neef van Fred
All-day French-leaning bistro with the best waterside terrace in De Baarsjes.
Staring at Jacob
New York brunch on the canal: fried chicken, waffles, Bloody Marys.
SmaaQt
Van der Pekstraat's dependable table: Big Green Egg dinners, market-day lunches.