Amsterdam offers a number of diverse cultural food options and we ate well here enjoying Dutch, Indonesian, Chinese, and Spanish meals. Over the summer, we found a nice café next to our B&B on Kerkstraat. First we had mushroom soup with brown bread, a ham and cheese pancake, and pork meatballs in a tomato sauce and then later came back for some nice tomato soup.
For dinner we had traditional Dutch in the neighborhood. We started with cheese coquettes, steak with mushrooms, fries, and small pancakes.
The next night we had Spanish tapas at Tapas Bar Catala located at Spuistraat 299. They included spinach and pine nuts, chrizo, and fried calamari.
When we returned in June we went to Chinatown for the first night. We ate at Nam Kee Chinatown located at Zeedijk 111 – 113 where we found one of the few places you sit out outside. We started with shrimp toast. Then we had very large oysters in with a hot sauce, garlic frog’s legs, and Peking duck.
Lunch the next day was more Spanish tapas at La Oliva located at Egelantiersstraat 122-124 in the Jordaan. We had a mushroom tortilla and a squash soup with Serrano ham.
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A light dinner canal side on the Singel included Dutch cheese coquettes, and a pancake.
The next night provided an Indonesian rice table at Kantjil on at Spuistraat 291-293. We had Nasi Poetih, Saté Babi, Saté Ikan, Daging Roedjak, Pepesan Oedang, Kredok, Sajoer Lodeh, Broccoli Tjampoer, s.g. Kentang, s.g. Telor, Seroendeng and Kroepoek.
A mid-day snack included the small sweet Dutch shrimp and some fried cod obtained from a street vendor in a small shop.
Our last meal was a very high-end treat at De Belhamel, located on the Brouwersgracht in Amsterdam, where this canal crosses the Herengracht. We had a canal side table. The place has many art nouveau details. It received the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand award annually since 2007, including this year. The meal included nice bread; sautéed prawn and scallop with puff pastry and a chive-shrimps beurre blanc; sliced sirloin with anise mushrooms, green and yellow zucchini, fondant potatoes and a Cognac-tarragon sauce, and poached haddock fillet and fried tranches of langouste tail with fennel puree and mustard dill sauce.
