Amsterdam Restaurant Tips by johngayton

1'er Klasse: The Next Train From Platform 2............ 1e Klas Review

1'er Klasse, situated on platform 2 of Amsterdam's Centraal Station, is reminder of the bygone days when travel was a luxury, when passengers awaiting their train would expect to be served in the manner to which they were accustomed - a bit like me then!

This really is a treat and not a particularly expensive one either. The dining room with its lofty ornate ceiling, panelled walls and elaborate bar is a visual pleasure, though a little dimly lit for my camera to take full advantage of it.

Service is formal, with bow-tied waiters, and on the two or three occasions I have been there it has been prompt and efficient.

Favorite Dish: The Grande-cafe style menu is fairly extensive ranging from coffee and pastries through various sandwiches up to a few simple entrees and the food is generally very good and well-presented.

I personally always have the chicken, bacon and avocado club sandwich which is a substantial lunch by itself and starting with a cofffe and finishing with a beer, makes for a pleasantly relaxing hour or so for lunch. For about 10 euros this is excellent value!

This is also a great place for people-watching as the clientele are amazingly eclectic, with backpackers perhaps giving themselves a treat, local business people entertaining clients, a sprinkling of what passes in Amsterdam as "Grande Dames" (though not quite up to, say, Parisienne standards) out to be seen and of course the usual hoi polloi of travellers simply popping in for a coffee whilst waiting for their train.

Address: Platform 2, Centraal Station

Comparison: about average

Directions: Pretty much unmissable given that all roads lead to the station eventually.

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Coffeehouse

Moes Falafel and Shaorma: When The Night Bar Mazzeltof Closes... Moes - Cafetaria Review

...then it's kebab time!!

Catering for us late night drunks is something that Amsterdam does particularly well and you'll usually find a late night/early morning eatery still open within easy staggering distance of whatever after hours bar you've crawled out of.

Moes is a perfect example, on Ferdinand Bolstraat in the de Pijp neighbourhood, just down the road from the Mazzeltof Nacht Cafe. With friendly guys, cheap prices and tasty kebabs this is perfectly suited for the purpose.

Favorite Dish: It has to be the Lamb Shoarma, reheated in a frying pan with a little touch of extra aromatic spices. A good splash of chilli sauce, a touch of garlic sauce, not too much salad and eat in or take away at the same price. Definitely impressive, otherwise I'd never have remembered it!

Address: Ferdinand Bolstraat 64

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: On the same road as the Heineken Experience, just up from (or down from, depending on your viewpoint) Nacht Cafe Mazzeltof.

Phone: 020 6647011

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Fast Food

Restuarant De Roode Leeuw (Red Lion): Best Food in Town De Rode Leeuw (Hotel de Rode Leeuw) Review

The Red Lion is the restaurant at the Hotel Amsterdam and is well worth a visit.

Not only is it my favourite restaurant in Amsterdam, it one of my ab favs anywhere.

The main restaurant is a warm, comfortable, wood - panelled room and whilst laid up formally is not at all stuffy. If you do visit look up - hanging from the ceiling are a set of four wonderfully ornate wood carvings of carts and carriages. Even though I haven't quite got the pics perfect you'll get an idea of what I mean.

(But looking on the bright side - what better excuse for another visit - must get better pics!)

In addition to the main restaurant there is also an enclosed terrace restaurant which looks out onto Damrak. Here you can eat from the main menu, or less formally from a bistro-type menu.

I have eaten here 6/7 times now and have not found a single flaw (bearing in mind that I am a professional cook myself).

As to the food, the menu is fairly eclectic but has one page devoted purely to Dutch cuisine - I don't even bother with the other pages. Presentation is modern, but with decent portions, and the food itself is really tasty - things are done properly in this kitchen!

Service is slightly formal, but friendly...........the staff have that uniquely Dutch "go with the flow" attitude which takes the edge off the formality.

The wine list has a good selection, with prices to suit your pocket and the house wines by the glass are also well chosen. With your coffee try the 10 year old jenever........on my first visit the old waiter who was serving me positively beamed when I asked for his recommendation - "This is my favourite!" as he poured from the stone bottle.

The Red Lion is not the cheapest restaurant in town but for the food quality, the service and the ambience it is well worth the money - in fact, on my last (unfortunately very brief) visit I tried to get a room at the hotel itself, purely because of the restaurant.

Favorite Dish: All the food i've eaten was delish - so without giving you the whole menu:

If it's the early summer start with the new-season herring with beetroot salad - yin and yang!

The cured fillet of beef (a take on carpaccio) starter with asparagus and poached egg - just cut into the egg and let the yolk run (I'm drooling as I write this!).

Main course - STAMPOTS - sausage and mash! Three different flavours of mashed potato with smoked sausage, meat ball (on first visit) or piece of braised steak (on second visit) and crispy bacon and "the best bit", to quote my original old waiter - the veal jus - spot on!

If its on the menu - cod done three ways with orange butter sauce.

And a new addition: Hare with beetroot jus, absolutely perfect!

I'm not a pudding person but all the desserts that I saw other people eating looked superb.

And of course finish with the old jenever with your coffee.

My last bill for two courses, two glasses of wine, coffee and jenever was just under 40 euros..........bargain!

Address: Damrak 93-94

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: Damrak is the main drag going out of Centraal Station towards Dam and Hotel Amsterdam is about 100 metres before Dam itself.

Phone: +31 20 555 0 666

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Website: http://www.hotelamsterdam.nl

Tibet Restaurant: Didn't even think about a beer, nor a cigarette!!! Tibet - Tibetan restaurant Review

Now this was a wierd experience for me, having had a couple of beers at Karpershoek and just generally looking around for a casual late lunch, I find myself gravitating towards the red light district up Woermestraat (sp?) and then taking a short left-hand detour - HA!!! (NOTE TO SELF) "Must cut these feet off before they get me into any more trouble"!!! Feet are supposed to under the control of the rational LH side of the brain aren't they??

And there it was - Tibet Restaurant - WOW EXCELLENT!!! Despite being the only customer in the place on a weekday, out of season, mid-afternoon, service was great, food delish, absolutely delish!!

Favorite Dish: Only my first visit, but I can definitely recommend the Khamba Fish, which as the blurb goes: "makes the man stronger and the woman more beautiful" !!! Ach, MY woman cannot be more beautiful but I could do with the extra strength ;) Big chunks of meaty white fish (Hake?) cooked in a light sesame seed batter anjd served with a fairly spicy dark, but not too sweet, sauce.

Washed down with a cup of "Medicine Tea" - Ach, perhaps there IS more to life than Heinekin!!!!

Address: Lange Niesel 24

Comparison: about average

Directions: Top end of Woermostraat (sp?) heading towards RLD! 1st web is general, 2nd may not work!

Other Contact: www.tibet-restaurant.nl

Phone: 624 11 37

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: Other

Website: http://en.tibettour.com.cn/restaurants/..%5Crestaurants/200402005826161210.htm

Rancho (VI): OK So it's a chain restaurant - but good!! Rancho VI - Argentinian Grill Restaurant 6 Review

So here I was wandering around Leidseplien looking for a late breakfast: seemed I'd missed my hotel's one - well, it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon!!! Anyway, thoughts of breakfast became thoughts of brunch and then metamorphosised into the idea of a full-blown lunch. A couple of cafes, a couple of coffees, lots of cigarettes and then here was Rancho, its terrace parasol-shaded from the afternoon sun and a few other late lunchers (or early diners?).

I'd passed various Argentine restaurants over my years of Amsterdam visits and usually just did exactly that, noted them and continued - I'm not really a steak sort of guy. Every so often tho' I succumb to the temptations of the flesh - and of course it IS so important here to eat well, one has to keep one's energies up for all that sightseeing, museum visits and the art galleries!!!!

Nothing wrong with this place whatsoever, great service, great steak, cold beer and a bill that was about right, yep just what i needed to see me through until my 4 am kebab!!!

Favorite Dish: I went for the Mar y Tierra (surf and turf) which was absolutely spot-on - a decent hunk of fillet steak cooked perfectly "a point" and a trio of decent-sized crevettes in garlic butter. Fries were OK, tho' the accompanying salad was a bit naff (but then I'm fussy about my salads these days ;)) - the main event worked for me :)

Address: Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 71-73

Comparison: about average

Directions: If I remember correctly Rancho is on the left of one of the side-streets just off Leidseplien on the opposite side to the theatre.

Phone: 020 6274754

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 4

Theme: Steakhouse

Website: http://www.dobson-uzcudun.com

Will find out next visit ;p: Ooops NEXT DOOR TO Not that de Kroon!!

It was 4 in the mornin' and the stomach's a rumblin' and so it must be KEBAB TIME. (Actually it was nearer 3 but that for some reason doesn't have the same cadence)

Having just left a late night bar whose name I have totally forgotten, though I do remember having an interesting conversation with a guy from Cincinnati and the barman, but what about I don't know. But anyway a few beers had been consumed in the meantime and heading back towards my scruffy little hotel the old nose picked up a familiar scent and off it went up one of the side streets just off Damrak.

Good old nose, never lets me down.

The guys here were really friendly even at this time in the morning and my late supper was soon dished up and delish it was too.

Favorite Dish: Well it has to be doesn't it, the lamb kebab, though it wasn't as greasy as our British counterparts it was still well designed for the job of soaking up the evening's beer and allowing a contented stomach to send me straight to sleep as soon as I got back to the hotel. Job Done!!

Comparison: about average

Directions: As to address or other contact details I can only assume that it was somewhere off Damrak 'cos that was where I was (I Think!).

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Fast Food

Wok To Walk: More Noodles (And Some Rice)!! Wok to Walk - Fast Chinese food chain Review

I must admit to being impressed with this little chain of busy and buzzy stir-fry fast food places. The system is really simple, the food delish, service friendly, relatively cheap and you can eat in or take away for the same price (from 4.90 euro for a basic vegetable stir-fry).

The menu comprises a 3-step formula: firstly select your base, choosing from 3 varieties of noodles, 3 varieties of rice or stir-fry vegetables; secondly choose what other ingredients you want, including various vegetable options, and finally decide on your sauce. The meal is then cooked in front of you and there you go - eat-in at the communal benches or take-away to eat in the park or wherever - chopsticks provided.

There are (at the time of writing) 4 locations around the city: Kolksteeg just off Damrak; Warmoesstraat going out towards the Oude Kerk; Reguliersbreestraat just off Rembrandt Plien and Liedsestraat on the main drag towards Liedseplien.

Favorite Dish: The way the menu is constructed means you pretty much create your own meal, according to your own tastes, but my personal favourite is the egg noodles with chicken and prawns and finished with the Saigon (garlic and black pepper) sauce - nice and garlicky.

Just one small proviso - as always with chopsticks make sure you are sober enough to attempt their use OR wear a bib ;p

Address: Various Outlets

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: Check out the website for locations.

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum

Website: http://www.woktowalk.com

Kam Yin / Chang Express: Noodles - Eat In Or Take Away, Yum:) Kam Yin - Chinese restaurant Review

This pair of restaurants have undergone a recent revamp but without the signage being changed and so the Chang Express bit is where the Kam Yin sign is and vice versa. They are in fact the same place but with one half being the takeaway section and the other a fairly informal sit down restaurant. Food is tasty, cheap and plentiful and if eating in the sit-down section I would advise sharing a starter (or even not bothering with one) as main courses are pretty substantial.

Favorite Dish: Special Pork Noodles - chunks of crispy, sweet and spicy, belly pork; slices of aromatic roast pork and stir-fry pork fillet, served with delish and plentiful stir-fried noodles. Tasty as this is as it comes: a good splash of ketjap asin (an Indonesian variant on soy sauce) and a teaspoon of sambal (chilli sauce) lift the flavours without destroying the taste buds. For just over 5 euros (plus a 3 euro beer) in the restaurant, being served by a rather deliciously attractive Oriental woman was just the job before commencing an evening of organic fruit smoothies in the local juice bars - HA!

Address: Warmoesstraat 6-8, Centrum

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: Pretty much at the start of Warmoesstraat, opposite Hotel Internationaal.

Phone: 625 3115

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Pan-Asian and Pacific Rim

Cafe Karpershoek: Borrel Hopjes (?) Karpershoek - Café Review

Given its Centraal (sic) location I had assumed that Cafe Karpershoek, on the corner of Martelaasgracht opposite the station, would be a typical transient touristy type of place. However on my last visit I dropped in for a beer to escape a particularly torrential November rain shower and was pleasantly surprised. As expected there was a significant tourist presence but standing at the bar with my Bock (groot of course!), enjoying my roll-up, I found myself in conversation with a local hotelier and a couple of his mates, talking travel and generally shooting the bull. The shower passed but I was kind of disinclined to leave and a few more beers seemed like a good idea.

This is a proper "brown cafe" with its multi-layered brown paintwork, the floor covered in sand and even a bollard in the middle, and as such has no aspirations to compete in the restaurant market, instead offering a range of excellent bar snacks - bitterballen, fricadelles, cheese, sausage etc. at very reasonable prices - good healthy stuff designed specifically for soaking up the beer!

Favorite Dish: If you are peckish, go for the ( I'm not entirely sure I've got this right but it is something like it ;p ) "Borrel Hopjes" - a mixed plate of warm and cold appetizers including all of the above, more than enough for one person so share with your new friends and anyone else who happens to pop in thinking that the platter on the bar is complimentary house nibbles - for 7 Euros who's counting?

Address: Martelaasgracht 2, Centrum

Comparison: least expensive

Directions: Pretty much opposite Centraal Station to the right, on the other side of the main road.

Phone: 020 624 7886

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 4

Theme: Local

Joselito: Tapas Tonight Joselito - Café Review

On this visit I had planned to eat at my usual haunt The Red Lion but not having eaten since a sandwich at Bristol Airport just before my 12.10 boarding I was a little peckish it now being about 6 pm. Stopping off for a quick beer here at Joselito I happened to glance through the menu and was impressed by the range of tapas on offer. Initially I thought about just having a nibble but my mouth drooled as I read the options and so went the whole hog.

This was excellent, sitting outside in the late June sunshine watching the pretty girls go by on their bicycles (a pleasure, as always ;)) and enjoying too the quiet buzz of the busy terrace. My selections duly arrived with a friendly efficiency and a couple of beers washed down the veritable feast set before me over the course of a very pleasant long hour. Heaven!!

Favorite Dish: Starting with the olives - a veritable mountain of succulent green and black and the crispy freshly baked bread with its accompanying aioli. Then the arrival of the chorizo and the patatas bravas and I am now back in Spain, with the evening sun seeming to agree as it warmed gently through the canopy of the sunshade.

Of course, this being Amsterdam, my alfresco meal is undisturbed by the usual roaring of the infernal combusting engines normally associated with city centre dining. The fragrant oil released by the chorizo provides an alternative dip for the bread and the patatas get an odd coating of the aioli as well as a mashing in the chorizo oil. This is casual dining at its best, and a break at half-time for a cigarette and to order another beer makes for a perfect chill-out early dinner - flawless bliss:)

Total bill, including 2 large beers, was a shade over 22 Euros - double bliss!!!

Address: Nieuwendijk 2, Centrum

Comparison: less expensive than average

Directions: On the corner of Nieuwendijk and Prins Hendrik Kade overlooking the canal.

website is a general restaurant one

Phone: 020 622 7678

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 5

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.iens.nl/restaurantsVan/Amsterdam/restaurant.htms?r=5550