There’s a whole host of excellent restaurants located on the east side of Amsterdam, ranging from laid-back hangouts serving hearty dishes alongside local, craft beer to high-end establishments housed in stunning surroundings. Here’s some of the area’s highlights to add to your must-see list.
Vijf Nul Vijf
Restaurant, Asian, $$$
This popular Asian-fusion restaurant on Insulindeweg serves many tasty street food staples from Thailand, Japan and Indonesia (among others). The restaurant divides its menu into three categories, with full sections given to sushi-style dishes, larger ‘street bite’ and full-blown curries. Though a good chunk of Vijf Nul Vijf’s menu contains meat or fish, many of its dishes are vegetarian or can be ordered with tofu instead. The restaurant has a minimalistic, almost living-room-like vibe and a small, streetside terrace.
In honour of its namesake, this bar and restaurant is decorated with slogans, poems and artwork inspired by street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s oeuvre. The restaurant serves street food-style dishes infused with South-East Asian and American flavours throughout the day, such as pulled duck waffles, crispy spring rolls with hoisin sauce and gyoza dumplings stuffed with veggies. Its bar stocks a wide range of local and imported beers and serves an impressive selection of classic cocktails such as G&T, aperol spritz and espresso martinis.
Rather than dividing its menu by courses, Restaurant C categories its dishes according to the temperatures they were prepared at, for instance 0-20°C for raw, cold meals such as fresh tuna with dashi or 40-80°C for items such as slow-cooked pork belly or roasted chicken. As the restaurant’s stylish dining room centres around its open kitchen, it is possible for guests to watch chefs prepare, cook and perfect orders before they are whisked off by waiters.
Bar, Restaurant, Contemporary, Vegan, Vegetarian, $$$
This trendy restaurant runs alongside the Tropenmuseum and looks onto eastern Amsterdam’s most popular urban park, Oosterpark. Louie Louie’s interior is furnished with hardwood and features a long bar, where guests can enjoy casual drinks with friends. Its menu leans towards contemporary, international street food and has plenty to offer carnivores, vegetarians and vegans, including fiery tacos, meat skewers and fresh ceviche. Louie Louie’s terrace easily ranks among the largest in Amsterdam and has ample space for larger groups, couples or solo diners.
Almost every item served at Restaurant de Kas includes herbs and vegetables grown inside the establishment’s onsite greenhouse. The restaurant’s chefs create new menus every day that are based around the greenhouse’s current harvest and employ ideas drawn from classic Mediterranean cuisine to complete their dishes. Though the restaurant exclusively works with a set menu, it is possible for guest to order special vegan or vegetarian meals on request. Meals at Restaurant de Kas are served inside its monumental, glass-panelled dining room or outside on its sunny terrace.
Canvas offers panoramic views of the city | Courtesy of Canvas
This bar, restaurant and nightclub is found on the seventh floor of Amsterdam’s multifaceted Volkshotel, which also contains artists’ ateliers, workspaces and 172 stylish hotel rooms. Though there are plenty of seats available inside Canvas’s main dining area, guests tend to stray onto the restaurant’s terrace during sunny spells, as this sky-high balcony offers panoramic views across Amsterdam. The menu mainly features simple, well-balanced dishes that centre around fresh vegetables and high-quality cuts of meat and fish, accompanied with other seasonal ingredients.
Though it is mainly known for its large selection of international and local craft brews, Biertuin (or ‘the Beer Garden’ in English) serves some of the tastiest bar food in the entire city. There are some real gems on its menu that are guaranteed to tackles beer munchies, such as spit-roasted chicken and German-style bratwurst served with sauerkraut and curry ketchup. As its name suggests, around half of de Biertuin’s dining area is located outside, on a stunning terrace that features heat lamps and retractable awning.
This award-winning vegan restaurant has created an impressive selection of mouthwatering recipes that are exclusively made from plant-based ingredients. Its menu includes many seemingly non-vegan items such as ‘cheese’ fondue, chowder and quiche that have been prepared with animal-friendly alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs. These classic vegan dishes are served inside an elegant Art Deco-meets-Art-Nouveau dinning room complete with wood-panelled floors and brass décor.
