Page 404 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

402  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK

The Dutch are innovative people, and this or bar, where diners can order meals
quality is reflected in their cooking. Old from a limited menu, featuring at least
colonial ties have long influenced Dutch one inexpensive, daily-changing set
cuisine and its restaurant scene, so Surinamese menu (dagmenu).
and especially Indonesian restaurants are Although many Dutch have forgotten,
aplenty. More recently, as the Dutch have been there is such a thing as “traditional Dutch
introduced to the cooking skills of immigrants cooking”, which is now being rediscovered.
into the area, Turkish snack bars and Moroccan A growing number of chefs are serving
restaurants are popping up. new takes on traditional Dutch fare, involving
The Dutch restaurant scene leans heavily meat or fish, potatoes and more elaborate
on international influences. Especially in the sauces. Eating out has long been considered
bigger cities, visitors can choose between something people hastily do in between
exotic flavours from countries as diverse as appointments or before going to the
Spain, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Sweden, theatre, but the Dutch are now taking it
Ethiopia, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan. more seriously and the number of Michelin-
A popular Dutch phenomenon is the eetcafé, starred restaurants is on the rise.
such as fennel or asparagus. lunchtime and cheap, often very
This means that you can eat decent, meals in the evenings,
wild duck on endive stamppot usually at much lower prices than
(mashed potato and cabbage), those in traditional restaurants.
a combination unheard of
in France. It is in areas such Vegetarian Restaurants
as these that Dutch chefs are
showing increasing inventiveness. Most restaurants have several
vegetarian dishes on their
menus. This applies both to
Eetcafés Dutch/French restaurants and
Eetcafés (eating cafés) are a to ethnic restaurants. There is
popular phenomenon in the also an increasing number of
Eating out is an increasingly popular Netherlands. The term eetcafés restaurants that cater exclusively
pastime in the Netherlands is most commonly appIied to to vegetarian diners.
traditional brown cafés. Initially,
Types of Restaurant some cafés and bars sold snacks
The Netherlands boasts a wide to go with their drinks, such as Opening Hours
variety of restaurants. Amsterdam an appetizer, a sandwich or a The Netherlands does not have
is one of the best places in Europe meatball. These snacks have since a tradition of lunching, but this
to try the diverse flavours of been refined to a growing extent. is gradually changing, with
Indonesia, and Chinese restaurants Bars and cafés have gradually more restaurants now opening
and pizzerias have also spread evolved into eetcafés where diners at lunchtime, usually from noon
far and wide across the country. can enjoy sandwiches at to 2pm. In the evenings, the
Indeed it is difficult to find a
country whose cuisine is not
represented by some restaurant
in the Netherlands. There is also
an infinite variety in the range
of dishes, ingredients, presen­
tation and price.
Traditional Dutch cooking is
best described as simple and
straightforward. As a maritime
nation, the Netherlands does
have many fish restaurants,
particularly along the coast.
A large number of restaurants
serve French cuisine, and their
quality is consistently improving.
Chefs frequently add local
ingredients to French recipes, An eetcafé, one of the many in Holland serving increasingly refined meals

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Eyewitness Travel
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
LAYERS PRINTED:
Practical template V2 (OpenType) “UK” LAYER
Practical template
“UK” LAYER
(Source v1.7)
Date 10th November 2006
Date 5th March 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm
Size 125mm x 217mm