Where to Eat in Amsterdam When You Actually Live Here
I spent my first month eating near my accommodation, which was in the Jordaan. I spent too much money and learned too little about Amsterdam food. The second month I started paying attention to where the people around me were eating. Things improved considerably.
Albert Cuyp market, De Pijp
The Albert Cuyp market runs Monday to Saturday, 9am–6pm. About 300 stalls. The food is the point: herring (haring), stroopwafels made fresh, raw and fried fish, broodjes from the Dutch sandwich stalls, Indonesian snacks from the toko stalls. A full lunch here costs €5–8. Go on a Wednesday if you want it less crowded than the weekend.
Zeedijk for Chinese and Southeast Asian
The Zeedijk in the Nieuwmarkt area is Amsterdam’s Chinatown. Dim sum restaurants that open early for breakfast, noodle shops, Cantonese bakeries. Nam Kee (Zeedijk 111) is the reference point — open since 1980, good oysters with black bean sauce, no ambience, reliable. The whole street is worth walking for options.
Indonesian and Surinamese in De Pijp
Amsterdam’s Indonesian and Surinamese food is a colonial legacy that’s become a genuine culinary tradition. The rijsttafel (rice table) is the set-piece, but for daily eating the toko shops — Indonesian takeaway counters — offer containers of nasi goreng, rendang, and gado gado at €5–7. In De Pijp and the Transvaal area, these are the equivalent of the corner shop: practical, good, cheap.
Surinamese roti with chicken curry from a takeaway in the area runs €7–9. It is one of the best things you can eat in Amsterdam for the price. If you haven’t tried it, you haven’t eaten in Amsterdam.
