Chapter 01 · Centrum & the Canals · Dam / Magna Plaza

Bouillon d'Amsterdam

The Parisian bouillon formula lands behind the Dam: steak frites for €16.90, oeufs mayo for pocket change, and a room full of actual Amsterdammers.

Amsterdam has spent a decade watching its centre become a place locals apologise for, so when Michiel van der Eerde (the BAUT man) and partners installed the Parisian bouillon formula in Hotel Die Port van Cleve, the city responded by filling every seat. The formula arrives intact: a grand, buzzing room, long tables, service at a canter, and classic French cooking at prices that read like a misprint. Oeufs mayonnaise for 3.60, onion soup gratinated with Old Amsterdam for 6.40, and the house flex, steak frites 'Cafe de Paris' at 16.90, cut from the numbered steak Die Port van Cleve has been serving since 1874. Knowing Amsterdam touches (a Kesbeke pickle here, an appeltaart from the Groene Hart there) keep it the right side of pastiche. By day the Molsteeg corner runs as Bouillon Service, pouring coffee and stacking baguettes from nine. It worked so well that a compact second branch, Le Petit, opened in the old BAUT space in Zuid within four months. TripAdvisor already ranks it in the city's top hundred, and the room is conspicuously full of Amsterdammers, which behind the Dam counts as a small miracle.

Walk-ins are the house religion but the room fills fast; book online or slide in before 18:00, and start with the oeufs mayonnaise while you think.

What to order

Full menu

Steak frites 'Cafe de Paris'€16.90
Die Port van Cleve's numbered steak, served here since 1874, with herb butter and frites
Oeufs mayonnaise€3.60
The bouillon litmus test, boiled eggs and rich mayo for less than a tram ticket
Amsterdamse uiensoep€6.40
Onion soup gratinated with Old Amsterdam instead of Gruyere, the menu's best joke
Boeuf bourguignon€15.80
The slow-braised classic, priced like a weekday lunch