The Best Restaurants in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

This popular Indonesian restaurant lies in the heart of Leeuwarden’s old town and features a charming, rustic dining area with space for groups, couples and individual diners. The restaurant’s menu includes many time-honed dishes from Indonesia such as satay skewers made from meat or tempeh and other classic items like babi ketjap, loempias and ayam opor.

This lively grand café is housed within a stately former post office in the centre of Leeuwarden. The café centres around a stunning bar and features larger seating areas and cosy spots that are perfect for small get-togethers or solo visitors. Aside from serving an impressive selections of coffee, cocktails and beers, the café has an extensive lunch and dinner menu that includes many classic dishes from European cuisine such as Frisian sirloin steak or salmon gravlax.

Restaurant Wannee changes its menu every month in order to accommodate seasonal produce and create original, healthy dishes that are inspired by traditional Dutch cuisine. Although meals at the restaurant often include high-quality cuts of meat or locally sourced fish, their creations tend to centre around hearty, fresh vegetables such as brussels sprouts, artichoke or beet, forming subtle, balanced dishes.

This Michelin starred restaurant bases its menu around organic ingredients produced by local farmers and serves a refined selection of contemporary staples. The restaurant is located on the 11th floor of WestCord WTC Hotel Leeuwarden, which means that guests can enjoy panoramic views over Leeuwarden and its surroundings while dining.

This classy restaurant in Leeuwarden’s medieval town constantly changes its menu and doesn’t disclose its present selection to the public. This means that guests at by US choose between the number of courses they wish to order, rather than the dishes themselves, and are then presented with either 3, 4 or 5 surprise dishes alongside a modest appetiser.

This stunning restaurant is housed inside a palatial 19th-century building and is named after the famous Dutch cartographer Joham Sems, who created an incredibly important map of Leeuwarden in 1603. The restaurant maintains a particularly liberal stance towards dining and allows guests to choose between 20 different dishes, without differentiating between starters and mains, or order from their chef’s pre-tailored menu.

Organic, local produce play a key part on Eindeloos’ menu and the restaurant’s talented team concoct new, healthy dishes on an almost daily basis. Due to its changing repertoire, Eindeloos only offers a blind menu which can be paired with a tailor-made wine list.

This charming restaurant trails through an underground wharf located on the banks of a central canal in Leeuwarden. Aside from its stunning subterranean dining area, Restaurant Onder de Kelders also has a picturesque waterside terrace complete with parasols and wooden couches. The restaurant’s menu features many meaty Dutch staples including spare-ribs and beef steak as well as vegetarian options like caramelised goat’s cheese with balsamic salad.