The Netherlands

• Amsterdam

  Quick: What comes to mind when you think of Amsterdam? We’ll hazard a guess that it’s marijuana and prostitution, both of which are legalized in some capacity here. And perhaps, related to that: hordes of backpackers, stag and hen (bachelor/bachelorette) parties, frat groups. (Poor Amsterdam.) It may be the city’s famous liberalness that attracts the lion’s share of its annual visitors, but that’s just one teeny facet of what makes the Netherlands’ capital so special. Take, for instance, those gorgeous manmade canals, born of necessity when it was decided, some 700 years ago, that a trading city should be built on soggy marshland. The resulting labyrinthine urban landscape—all cobblestone streets and watery channels, crossed by quaint bridges and backed by soaring row houses—looks straight out of a fairy tale to the visitor, a sprawling, picturesque museum brought to crashing life by bicycling locals merely getting about their daily business.

  And then there’s Dutch food, which hasn’t exactly inspired the poetic waxings of many. Much like in London, you’d do well to be discerning when confronted with Amsterdam’s dizzying array of international and “traditional” restaurants. But while any culinary exploration here must include the historic meat-and-potato stamppots, sweet stroopwafel, and streetside herring—which we love—it also cannot be without the city’s spicy ethnic mashups from Indonesia and Suriname, its unique jenever-distilling tradition and incredible local craft beer, and its ever-growing crop of season-driven locavore-centric restaurants working to reinvent modern Dutch cuisine. Nor can it fail to consider Amsterdam’s inspiring market sensibility, which plays out in both big street affairs and small local corner shops, where neighborhood residents crowd on weekends to get the freshest sausages and cheese. There’s a fuller picture to paint here. A’dam may lack the gastronomic pizzazz of some of its European brethren, but make no mistake: You will eat well here.

  Quick: What comes to mind when you think of Amsterdam? We’ll hazard a guess that it’s marijuana and prostitution, both of which are legalized in some capacity here. And perhaps, related to that: hordes of backpackers, stag and hen (bachelor/bachelorette) parties, frat groups. (Poor Amsterdam.) It may be the city’s famous liberalness that attracts the lion’s share of its annual visitors, but…   Read more

   

  Find local foods in Amsterdam.

  Gehaktbal

  Stamppot, hutspot

  Erwtensoep, snert

  Haring

  Poffertjes

• User Content

Below is user-submitted content for this region. Have something to contribute? Upload your regional-food photo or food memory.

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  Bitterballen

  Amsterdam
  cinnamonandcitrus
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  Puffy Poffertjes

  Amsterdam
  carinachiodo
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  Dutch Apple Pie

  Amsterdam
  travelsofadam
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  Raw Herring

  Leiden
  ssoloman

• • Preparing Spelt Bread the Traditional Way in Maastricht

    naturallyglobal
    Maastricht, The Netherlands
    

    On a recent trip we discovered this wonderful 7th century working water mill in the center of the southern Dutch city of Maastricht that grounded spelt flour and prepared breads using traditio…    Read more

  • The older the better in Amsterdam

    hungryel
    Amsterdam, Netherlands
    I come from the UK and I like my cheese strong. Cheddar should be extra mature, and no, the orange stuff they sell in the States is not it. Stilton should be extra mouldy, camembert extra stinky. S…    Read more

• Blog Posts

• Best Spots for Dutch Beer in Amsterdam

  You may think of Amstel, Heineken, and, well, other types of highs in Amsterdam before you think “craft beer,” but the Dutch capital has no shortage of terrific microbreweries and impressive beer bars that showcase small-scale Dutch…   Read more

• Recipes From Afar: Stroopwafel, Amsterdam

  The Dutch stroopwafel, or syrup waffle, is a cookie unique to the Netherlands; it’s been eaten there for centuries. The history of this delicacy dates back to 1784, when a baker from the town of Gouda baked a waffle using old crumbs and…   Read more

• You Must Eat Surinamese Food in Amsterdam—Here's Why (& Where)

  We are kind of obsessed with Suriname and its multicultural cuisine. Where else do Dutch, Indonesian, Indian, Chinese, African, and Caribbean influences mix and mingle so freely? From what we’ve heard, anyway: We have not actually been to…   Read more

• New! Amsterdam Food & Travel Guide Now on Kindle

  We’re happy to announce we’ve just released our second destination guide on Kindle! The Amsterdam Food & Travel Guide includes all 24 of the local foods and drinks we scouted out in the Dutch capital, plus a bonus five-day EYW…   Read more

• Video: One Minute in...Amsterdam!

  The canals, the coffee shops, the appeltaarts—Amsterdam is one heck of a city to visit, and when Scott and I were there in the fall of 2011, we thought, The more the merrier. We rented an apartment with five good friends, we gave them a…   Read more

• Photos: iPhone Camera in Amsterdam

  I remember the days of always having one camera, two lenses, and a flash with me on my travels. That’s all changed with the iPhone. Last October I (finally) bought one, and happily tossed my old Samsung that could hardly connect to the…   Read more