Traditional Dutch Cuisine

One of the finest advantages in going abroad frequently is to enjoy the taste of the local cuisine as well as find out new specialties. Like most other countries, the Netherlands has in store, for all visitors, its own share of gastronomic delights that is sure to enthrall them. If you happen to be visiting the great hospitable city of Amsterdam, make it a point to relish at least some of the plethora of Dutch delicacies that are on offer in the city!

What is Dutch cuisine?

Now what exactly is Dutch cuisine and how unique it is? Speaking generally, Dutch food is simple and hearty potatoes and meat fare. Favorite dishes that have become perennial favorites of all those who visit Amsterdam include stamppot, which is mashed potatoes in combination with various vegetables and served hot with meat as well as gravy, erwtensoep a fine dish with pea soup together with smoked sausage and ham, as also suddervlees which is carefully braised meat. However, Dutch menus in no way are confined to meat alone. Due largely to nation’s nearness to the sea, a wide variety of seafood has also become a significant part of many a Dutch menu, that includes mackerel, eel, shrimps, plaice, eel, and mussels. The Dutch are extremely crazy about their unique friet, consisting of fries/chips. Even high end eateries frequently serve their expensive meals with a side dish of friet together with mayonnaise.

However, the best way to enjoy Dutch traditional fare is for you to wrangle an invitation from someone’s grandmother to ask you over for supper. Assuming that it is not easy for you to go looking for someone’s grandma to invite you, here are a few suggestions as to finding a fine traditional Dutch meal.

The cream of Dutch food restaurants

Moeders: Meaning mothers, this restaurant is filled with kitsch in a superb way. The walls of Moeders are covered with photographs of mothers, while its menu features almost all of the Dutch cuisine classics. You are even free to ask for a dinner sampler along with a wide array of typical traditional dishes on a single plate.

Haesje Claes: This inimitable restaurant is housed in half a dozen historical buildings, all connected together. Haesje Claes can instantly retrace anyone’s taste buds back to the times of yore. The cuisine available is exclusively old-fashioned, traditional Dutch fare, with mouth watering items such as fish stew, pea soup, as well as chicken livers and many things besides.

Loetje: This word means website in the Dutch tongue; this eatery can provide you with choice meat dishes. It is a spot that is frequently claimed to be the city’s finest traditional biefstuk and friet or steak as well as chips. The menu consists of a small variety of fish items too. Sorry, this restaurant is clearly no place for vegans.

’t Zwaantje: Tucked between a couple of canals, and situated in a quiet side street, this is warm and cozy brown eating place that serves no-nonsense Dutch favorites. If you are fortunate enough to visit this incomparable café, enjoying suddervleesI or stewed beef, you are experiencing the taste of true home-cooking with a local flavor.

Greetje: The proprietor named this famed restaurant after his mother. And those who have visited the eatery are of the opinion that at Greetje, you can enjoy a typically home-cooked meal that is authentic Dutch, the same kind of meal that is cooked in average Dutch homes. They also maintain unmatched friendly service and offer a welcoming atmosphere too.

Hap-Hmm: This popular restaurant is often crowded with the local inhabitants and specializes in traditional Dutch food with prices to match. Dinners start from a mere 7.50 Euros and a lot of repeat customers swear that the food is just like grandma cooks it.
De Silveren Spiegel: This authentic restaurant provides cuisine that is typical Dutch with an added refined touch that is not found anywhere else. The setting of the restaurant itself is part of the eating experience as you enjoy your meal in a highly historical ambience, sitting under the exposed wooden beams.

Wilde Zwijnen: This restaurant lies a little away from the heart of the city on the Javaplein. This is a comparatively new restaurant that has come up on the city’s restaurant scene. Wilde Zwijnen offers authentic Dutch delicacies with an accent on fresh as well as seasonal, ingredients that are of high quality.

D’Vijff Vlieghen: Here is a well-known landmark for truly appreciating an elegant Dutch meal. The dining area is located through a series of rooms, and one of the rooms boasts of some original etchings by none other than the inimitable Rembrandt. The menu consists of contemporary and creative interpretations by means of ingredients that are typically Dutch.

IJscuypje & Stamppotje: Here is a two-in-one restaurant with five branches located all around Amsterdam. Come summer, IJscuypje makes delectable homemade ice-cream in a series of flavors. Then with the arrival of autumn, the entire chain of branches is translated into Stamppotje, featuring a choice selection of takeaway traditional meat and potato dishes.