In a city like Amsterdam, where adventures abound and your days are filled with non-stop sightseeing, it’s easy to consider food simply as fuel, and nothing more; something to replenish your energy reserves before launching into another phase of urban exploration. What nonsense! Amsterdam is home to some of the finest restaurants in the world, combining our city’s statement architectural uniqueness with wonderfully fresh, local ingredients and perfect ambiance, ensuring your culinary exploits in Amsterdam will prove just as memorable an experience as all the wonderful attractions you’ll visit. We here at Sarah’s Tours have assembled a definitive list of our Top 5 Amsterdam Restaurants to experience during your stay.
REM Eiland
Nestled in something somewhat akin to the villain’s lair in a James Bond movie, REM Eiland is a truly unique venue to enjoy a meal in Amsterdam. The site of a former broadcast platform for a rogue, illegal TV station, REM Eiland is located in the middle of the Amsterdam Houthavens, and offers a dining experience with some of the most spectacular views imaginable. With four individual spaces, REM Eiland caters to their diners’ every wish. Their bar is perfect for a pre-dinner drink, before venturing up a level to the beautiful restaurant itself. Above the restaurant lies the magnificent “Studio”, converted from its pirate broadcasting days of old into an innovative multi-functional area suitable for presentations, meetings, or exclusive private dining. REM Eiland caps it all off with a breath-taking rooftop terrace to drink in both the views and a sumptuous cocktail to boot.
Café-Restaurant De Planatage
In an urban environment like Amsterdam, De Planatage offers guests an exceptional dining experience surrounded by nature and serenity. Snugly situated in the heart of Amsterdam’s 19th century pleasure gardens, De Planatage meticulously blends supreme levels of style with pitch-perfect casual vibes. Diners can bask in the leafy elegance of the beautifully refurbished conservatory, flanked on all sides by greenery. By day, the café-restaurant hosts a bustling rotation of business lunches, families and energetic tourists. By night, the atmospherically illuminated sycamore trees create an inimitable atmosphere that makes dining here a truly unforgettable experience. Only a stone’s throw from here, you will find a host of major attractions such as the Royal Theatre Carré and the Dutch National Opera & Ballet, as well as the Rembrandt House and the Hermitage. The Jewish Historical Museum and the Portuguese Synagogue are also close by.
Restaurant De Kas
Restaurant De Kas is a truly exceptional farm-to-fork (or “plant-to-plate” as the De Kas team like to say) dining experience not to be missed. The restaurant grows more than 100 different types of vegetables, herbs and fruit in their own magnificent greenhouse complex (known as “The Garden”), as well as working with local farmers and vineyards to ensure the finest food imaginable. Promising the freshest possible ingredients and innovatively rotating their menus depending on what is in season and perfectly matured at that moment, De Kas takes organic dining to the next level. The restaurant itself is situated inside Amsterdam’s first ever municipal greenhouse. Refurbished and repurposed in 2001, the famous restaurant boasts the natural green splendour of the Amsterdam’s Frankendael Park as its backdrop for your once-in-a-lifetime dining experience.
Pikoteo Taberna
What is the holiday of a lifetime if not shared with those closest to you? Enter Pikoteo – a wonderfully vibrant and convivial dining experience with some of the tastiest treats in all of Amsterdam. Perfectly placed by the water’s edge, Pikoteo serves up the quintessential tapas experience but with a healthy dose of international influence. Between the two owners, they’ve lived, loved, and learned all over the globe, returning to our beautiful capital city with this fabulous dining concept for the hedonistic enjoyment of both locals and travellers alike. Centred around small tasting plates to nibble on and share, Pikoteo invites guests to explore their fun and energetic round bar, the awesome and atmospheric industrial greenhouse, or the exclusive Chef’s Table, as your group checks off an unmistakably magical box on your travel bucket list.
The Duchess
The history of Amsterdam is littered with tales of rich merchants and royalty running riot through cobblestone streets and over canal bridges. That raucous revelry of the Belle Epoque is exquisitely captured in this finest of dining locations. Residing in one of Amsterdam’s best-kept historic gems, the former KAS Bank in W Hotel Amsterdam, The Duchess offers refinery and glamour on a scale unmatched across the city. Operating transitioning menus throughout the day, The Duchess blends cuisines from the Mediterranean that combine simplicity and staggeringly sumptuous quality. Not just an incredible dining experience, The Duchess also boasts one of the most unique and high-quality cocktail bars in Amsterdam. Delight in the roaring 20s-style décor as prohibition chic mixes with your world-class cocktail along the majestic marble bar in this one-of-a-kind location.
What are you waiting for?
With such an irresistible array of world-class dining options, there’s no time like the present to book your magical trip to Amsterdam, safe in the knowledge that after an action-packed day’s sightseeing, such exceptional culinary delights await you. Contact our wonderful team of local experts here at Sarah’s Tours to discover more.
Get in touch with us and we will make your Amsterdam experience unforgettable !
