EatStreet
Amsterdam · Vol. 001
Van de Werf, the room
Photo: Van de Werf

Van de Werf

The NDSM's all-day living room, with a kitchen that quietly overdelivers.

Michiel de Vries and Sjoerd Steenbeek, the Pllek guys, closed NEXT in October 2025 because it had drifted from the neighbourhood, then reopened the same spot days later as something Noord actually uses. The room is a double-height concrete hall wrapped around a huge horseshoe bar you can eat at all day, and the terrace sits right where the ferry spits you out, so nobody gets lost. Chef Vilmos Dohnal cooks smarter than the burger-and-salad brief suggests: kingfish crudo with Bloody Mary dressing, red gurnard in a proper bouillabaisse sauce, lemon thyme risotto with BBQ octopus. Sundays mean Zeeland oysters at one euro apiece, Mondays a 12.50 neighbourhood table where you eat whatever the kitchen decides. It is not fine dining and does not pretend to be, which on the NDSM, land of festival food, counts as a public service.

Go on Oesterzondag: Zeeland oysters with gochujang-ponzu mignonette drop from 3.50 to 1 euro apiece.

What to order

Full menu
  1. Kingfish crudo€16

    Bloody Mary dressing, radish, cucumber, Timut pepper: the starter that shows the kitchen's range

  2. Red gurnard€24

    Paprika cream, bouillabaisse sauce, togarashi panko: shipyard fish done seriously

  3. Zeeland oysters€3.50

    Gochujang-ponzu mignonette and spring onion; 1 euro each on Sundays

  4. Black Angus burger€19

    Kimchi, cheddar, garlic mayonnaise, on the menu all day

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