Dutch Restaurants 

Dutch restaurants and cuisine are easily overlooked by the visitor to Amsterdam. At first glance, all that is on offer is an abundance of international cuisine from Indonesian to Japanese, or Chinese to Indian and no easily identifiable Dutch restaurants.

It would be a shame to miss out on Dutch cuisine available in Amsterdam so below we review Dutch restaurants.

Dutch food is not particularly spicy, but often a mix of the staples - potatoes, meat and vegetables.

Stamppot, the closest thing to the typical Dutch dish, and quite possibly the most famous, consists of mashed potato, gravy and sometimes meat, and is usually served with rookworst, a type of sausage.

Pea soup, also known as "erwtensoep" is particularly popular in winter time when it is served piping hot. It is usually very, very thick in texture providing a hearty meal.

Kroket, even available in McDonald's as well as several other fast food joints, is a fried battered mix of meat, vegetables and gravy. The outside is cool enough to hold and the inside is warm and delicious.

Stroopwafel consists of two waffels between which lies a caramel filling. They can be bought wrapped in many stores but look out for freshly made stroopwafels which are the best.

"Zoute Haring" is raw herring served with chopped onions. The Dutch love this and you can find seafood stalls all over town. If you can't stomach raw fish there are plenty of other alternatives.

Here are some of our recommended Dutch restaurants:

D'Vijff Vlieghen (The Five Flies)
Spuistraat 294-302
020 624 83 69

De Blauwe Hollander
Leidsekruisstraat 28
020 623 30 14

De Knijp
Van Baerlestraat 134
020 671 42 48

De Poort
Hotel Die Port van Cleve
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 176-180
020 624 00 47

De Silveren Spiegel
Kattengat 4-6
020 624 65 89

Dorrius
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 5
020 620 05 00

Spanjer en Van Twist
Leliegracht 60
020 639 01 09