3 days in Amsterdam. 3 popular restaurants. We chose a Michelin-related brasserie to celebrate our wedding anniversary. And we also had the most popular apple pie and a legendary Dutch restaurant to end this trip.
The Best Apple Pie – Winkel 43
Winkel 43 is located very close to the Central Railway Station, about 17 minutes’ walk away. It was already midday when the train arrived so headed straight for lunch. Because it is so popular (you can tell by looking at Google Reviews), there was a long queue outside the restaurant.
Without saying a word, they immediately queued up. Later I found out that it was actually a queue of people placing orders, whether it was take out or dine-in. If you want to dine in, you need to reserve a table in the store first.
Another surprise was that menu is different on Market Days.
There is a Lapjesmarkt outside – meaning more people/tourists, so the restaurant only offers limited menu which mainly consists of sandwiches, apple pie and drinks. Before visiting, this information was not mentioned on the website, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen this place for lunch.
The infamous apple pie, surprisingly, nowhere mentioned how much was that but everyone ordered one. We also did the same thing, two pieces, and the size was huge! Packed with apples, and the crust was quite thick that had a cookie-like texture. The sweetness was ok, not super sweet, but you will feel full after eating one piece.
The Michelin Sister – Klein Breda
Restaurant Klein Breda is the sister restaurant of Michelin-recommended restaurant Breda, formerly known as Restaurant GUTS. It has very good reviews on Tripadvisor, so I decided to give it a try.
There is only the Surprising Tasting Menu here, which is 3 courses (39 euros), 4 courses (49 euros), 5 courses (56 euros), which does not include drinks and water. (price updated here on Apr, 2024)
You’ll be asked if any food allergies or anything you don’t eat, and then served with rye buns, amuse and salted shrimp crackers which were quite delicious.
We ordered a 5-course menu.
All in all, the taste was actually OK while the Amuse appetizer was special and delicious. The venison was tender too!
But what I was not satisfied with the presentation overall, especially the dessert was presented on separate plates. And beetroot with panna cotta was just…confused me. This dessert was a failure and it couldn’t be a perfect ending, which was a pity. Otherwise, flavour-wise was ok,
Traditional Dutch Food – De Blauwe Hollander
Traditional Dutch dishes include croquettes, bitterballs, pea soup, stamppot – all you can find at De Blauwe Hollander.
It was 4 pm when we visited (the restaurant opens at 3 pm), and it was a late lunch because we stayed in the museum for a long time. But unfortunately, pea soup only served in the evening. I guess no one orders soup during tea time, it’s all snack and beer.
As a result, we ordered pumpkin Soup, vegetarian Stamppot and chicken sate.
I would say that pumpkin soup was the best for my taste because it hardly could go wrong. As for Stamppot, it is actually mashed potatoes, traditionally served with meatball or beef, but I chose kale and cheese croquettes. The mashed potatoes were under-seasoned, while the butter sauce was too heavy that I didn’t know how to eat it.
The chicken sate was mediocre and came with a ton of fries. Is this what traditional Dutch food is like?
At first I thought that since I couldn’t get the satisfaction of eating out in Germany, I could go to the Netherlands to eat a lot. Based on this experience, my wishful thinking has not come true yet! I hope I can find the right restaurant next time!
