De Belhamel
Art nouveau room, waterside terrace, Bib Gourmand cooking at the prettiest canal junction going.
The prettiest dining room on the prettiest corner in Amsterdam: art nouveau woodwork, whiplash curves, and windows onto the point where the Brouwersgracht pours into the Herengracht. De Belhamel has held a Bib Gourmand since 2007 by doing French-Italian classics properly, duck liver terrine, sole, lamb shank that slides off the bone, without ever chasing trends. In summer the waterside terrace is the single most romantic table in the city that doesn't require a boat. Yes, you'll hear other languages around you; the corner is too photogenic to stay secret. But the kitchen cooks for the postcode, not the camera, and lunch here is one of the better deals in the neighborhood. Take your parents, take a date, take anyone you need to impress without explaining fermentation to them.
Book the canal-side terrace at golden hour and start with the duck liver terrine.
What to order
Full menu- Duck liver and breast terrine with port aspic
The French-tinted starter reviewers single out year after year.
- Confit duck with mustard sauce
Rich sauce, vinegary cabbage, the dish that earns the Bib Gourmand it's held since 2007.
- Entrecôte
'Perfectly cooked' recurs across reviews; the safe-but-serious main.
- Beet carpaccio
The inventive-starter counterweight to all that duck.
More in Jordaan
The whole chapter
Daalder
The Jordaan's Michelin star, back home on the Lindengracht and better for it.
BAK
Warehouse-loft tasting menus over the IJ, where Amsterdam natural wine grew up.
Bistrot Neuf
The Haarlemmerstraat's proper French bistro, pouring forty wines by the glass since 2009.