Anyone who’s visited the Netherlands knows their affection for fries is widespread – from freestanding kiosks and hole-in-the-wall takeaways, through boutique stores, specialty sit down restaurants and contemporary eateries.
Traditional Dutch cuisine centers around potatoes, vegetables and meat. When winter temperatures turn bitterly cold, warming dishes such as stamppot and hutspot provide welcome relief. Grandma’s beef stew (hachee) provides another warm welcome. Sweet treats like apeltaart and spekkoek round out this menu of deliciousness.
Rijks
RIJKS restaurant at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum blends historic Dutch views with delicious contemporary cuisine, making for a pleasant dining experience and providing visitors with an opportunity to discover this country through both art and cuisine. It’s an exciting new addition to the rapidly developing Dutch food scene and an ideal opportunity for experiencing both its culture and cuisine at once!
It has also become famous as being one of the first museums to provide a culinary experience tied directly to its artworks. Chef Joris Bijdendijk is making waves at Bridges restaurant – where they were awarded with one Michelin star in 2014 – as well as at Grand Hotel Amsterdam Ron Blaauw.
Restaurant offers both a tasting menu and a la carte dishes; its tasting menu is popular among fashionable locals while the dishes showcase modern Dutch cuisine at its best. Their signature dish, for instance, is beetmillefeuille topped with slices of beetroot served with an extravagant beurre blanc enhanced by Tomasu soy sauce – truly delectable!
The restaurant at the museum is open for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, and dinner on Tuesday through Sunday. Situated in its Philips Wing, guests can dine while admiring paintings by Dutch Golden Age masters as you view your meal. In addition, this popular eatery is famous for its cocktails which vary with each season.
Bak
Bak is truly unique to Amsterdam: an intimate fine-dining restaurant situated within an enormous former car repair garage with views across the IJ. Serving cuisine that is both inventive and internationally inspired, Bak maintains a friendly vibe that pays homage to its roots as a convivial Jordaan cafe.
At this bar and restaurant you can spend hours sipping cocktails and dining – they offer an impressive menu of natural (as well as Dutch) wines at reasonable prices, along with seasonal small plates inspired by seasonal and local produce, while reinventing classic dishes such as their elevated stroopwafel.
Giel Kaagman and Bram Kortekaas have led the local bistronomy movement with their restaurant since 2015. Tucked into an obscure medieval alley, their high-end menu includes homemade charcuterie as well as some incredible offal dishes.
If you can’t make it out to their restaurant, Fromagerie Abraham Kef on Marnixstraat provides some exceptional cheeses from their collection. Additionally, they have two other locations – their flagship shop can be found in Amsterdam Noord while there’s also a tasting room on Van der Pekplein – serving many restaurants so this would be an excellent place to start sampling some of the finest Dutch cheese.
Thijs Meliefste
Thijs Meliefste is a restaurant in the Netherlands serving dishes inspired by Dutch landscape. Situated in Wolphaartsdijk amidst waterways and green fields, Chef Thijs Meliefste is known for his imaginative yet precise cooking styles. After working at high-profile eateries like Fat Duck and Maaemo he decided to bring his international expertise back home, creating Meliefste – offering delightful hospitality along with modern interpretations of local ingredients.
Meliefste is a truly unique restaurant where its chefs draw upon their vast knowledge of regional products to craft mouthwatering meals that evoke a sense of place for Dutch diners. All dishes at Meliefste are prepared using high-quality fresh products treated with care, while its service team are famous for providing friendly hospitality.
Interior of restaurant decorated with both traditional and contemporary elements. Large open kitchen visible from dining room creates lively ambiance. Menu primarily comprises fish, vegetables, and meat from regional farms with chefs using herbs from nearby farms to add extra flavors into dishes.
Meliefste also boasts delicious desserts such as parfait and halva, with an impressive wine selection that includes many from New World wineries.
Ollie Schuiling
Ollie Schuiling is a young and ambitious chef, determined to enter the gastronomy industry from an early age. After attending Cas Spijkers Academy in Amsterdam and gaining experience working at several acclaimed restaurants such as FG** and De Leest in The Netherlands as well as La Vie in Germany; additionally he worked for top chefs like Andreas Caminada at Schloss Schauenstein in Switzerland as a cook.
Ollie’s exquisite cuisine perfectly fits with the relaxed yet refined atmosphere at Restaurant Kasteel Heemstede in Houten. Situated within an impressive moat-surrounded castle, this restaurant is truly an unrivalled culinary gem in The Netherlands.
Chef Ollie uses products from the area, like frogs from a nearby pond and lamb from the meadow, while also adding international tastemakers such as shiso or tarragon, creating dishes with both innovative and sophisticated flair. Sous Chef Tom Broekmeijer from Rotterdam assists him and has a fantastic rapport in the kitchen, giving guests the feeling they are visiting an idyllic palace right in the countryside.
