The best restaurants and bars in Amsterdam Noord

Once the centre of shipbuilding and heavy industry, Amsterdam Noord evolved into one of the city’s most thriving cultural hubs, as industrial pursuits moved out, and creatives moved in, attracted by cheap rents and large warehouse spaces. The neighbourhood is now home to experimental art, music and nightlife, alongside a vibrant and ever-evolving culinary scene.

Independent art galleries, warehouse clubs, and multi-course fine dining restaurants occupy former garages, as well as urban agricultural projects, and rule-breaking craft breweries and wineries. The IJ Hallen flea market is the largest of its kind in Europe, drawing vintage hunters in their droves each month.

How to get to Amsterdam Noord

To get to Amsterdam Noord, cross the IJ by hopping on a free ferry from Centraal Station to Buiksloterweg (F3), which runs 24 hours a day. Keep in mind that ferries to NDSM (F4) are less frequent and stop at 23:45. If you do get stuck in NDSM after hours, take a 30 min walk to the main ferry point.

From Noorderpark to NDSM, these are the best restaurants and bars in Amsterdam Noord.

Where to eat in Amsterdam Noord

Euro Pizza

Best for: Wood fired pizza, garden setting
Location: Gedempt Hamerkanaal 79, 1021 KP Amsterdam
Price: Pizza from 13 EUR

Don’t let the casual exterior and name fool you into thinking this is just another pizza takeaway. Euro Pizza bakes deliciously puffy pizzas with creativity and flavour, and makes the most of local ingredients. Pizza Jaap, for example, uses different varieties of lettuce and vegetables sourced from a local farmer. While their pizza takes centre stage, don’t miss out on Euro Pizza’s appetisers, like radish carpaccio with fermented pepper or oysters with grapefruit and confit lemon. On warm evenings, grab a table out front, or sit inside below the high pitched ceiling. There is also an excellent organic wine list to pair with your meal.

Pof

Best for: Locally grown ingredients in a warehouse setting
Location: Meteorenweg 280, 1035 RN Amsterdam
Price: Dinner from 10 EUR, four-course chef’s menu 37.50 EUR

If your culinary interests lie at the intersection of organic, sustainable, and experimental, Pof is an experience not to be missed. Rather than a restaurant, Pof describe itself as an ‘urban agricultural project’ set up by a collective of local food producers. It aims to be the first ‘short chain restaurant’ with almost everything on the menu locally produced. This means a lot of creativity goes into each dish, with common ingredients substituted for local seasonal ones. The kitchen team employs traditional cooking methods, such as a grain cooking technique called ‘puffing’ (hence the name Pof), where grains are cooked quickly and intensely without the need for oil or water, locking in nutrients and drawing out hidden flavours. The team also arranges nearby foraging walks, so check if anything’s on when you visit.

Chateau Amsterdam

Best for: Inventive wine
Location: Johan van Hasseltweg 51, 1021 KN Amsterdam
Price: Dinner from 18 EUR

For wine lovers, Chateau Amsterdam is the place to be. It’s the first ‘urban winery’ in the Netherlands and claims to be the biggest in Europe. Instead of growing their own, Chateau Amsterdam sources grapes from all over Europe and produces its own wine blends on the premises. This gives them far more room to experiment and blend new irreverent flavours — much to the shock of traditional wine producers. The restaurant serves Italian cuisine, paired with their wine creations. An interesting combination of theirs to try is their blend of Spanish Macabeo and German Chardonnay.

Oedipus Brewing

Best for: Craft beer
Location: Gedempt Hamerkanaal 85, 1021 KP Amsterdam
Price: Burgers from 13 EUR

If wine isn’t your thing, not to worry; there are plenty of options for beer lovers in Noord, and Oedipus Brewing is one of the best. It’s likely you’ll have noticed the brightly labelled Oedipus beers around Amsterdam, and this is where they’re all made. At its mural-covered HQ, you can try seasonal brews and unique creations not found anywhere else. Try a Thai Thai Spicy triple, which makes use of red chilli peppers, coriander, lemongrass, oranges and galangal root to bottle the essence of a spicy Thai meal, or the Pantry, a thick stout brewed with roasted chocolate flavours. Soak it all up with a great selection of burgers and fries by The Beef Chief. The taproom often has DJs playing, and their tables outside are a real suntrap.

Bacalar

Best for: A taste of Mexico
Location: Chrysantenstraat 4, 1031 HT Amsterdam Noord, Netherlands
Price: tacos from 10 EUR

Considered one of the best restaurants in Amsterdam, this garage-turned-taqueria draws diners from across the city for its perfectly formed tostadas, tacos and ceviche. Toppings and fillings including zesty octopus with pickled red onion, crispy lamb sweetbreads, or raw tuna and creamy avocado, served with a vast collection of mezcal. Cocktails come with inventive garnishes including worm salt and dried crickets – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Pair your visit with a trip to the nearby NXT museum.

Taverno

Best for: Berlin-style beer garden, natural wine, open-fire cooking
Location: Papaverhoek 31, 1032 JZ Amsterdam
Price: Plates between 5 – 15 EUR

Taverno is reminiscent of a Berlin beer garden and boasts a great selection of natural wines to satisfy any palate. The menu offers simple, hearty dishes that are cooked over an open fire and change seasonally – expect options like short ribs, pork shoulder, bratwurst and fries. The drinks selection and the atmosphere are the real draw here. The large outdoor terrace comes alive during summertime, while there is live music, DJ sets and dancing every Friday and Saturday night.

Papa Thang

Best for: Vietnamese street food with a twist
Location: Melkdistelstraat 94, 1031JX Amsterdam
Price: Plates between 6.50 – 20 EUR

Papa Thang is a hidden local gem obscured behind a residential block of buildings. But this self-proclaimed ‘ghetto chic street food bistro’ deserves the limelight. After stints in Paris, Barcelona, and New Orleans, chef Thang Pham returned to his roots, creating delicious Vietnamese street food with an international twist. Try his fresh take on classics like the Nems Chay spring rolls with vegetables, green apple, shiitake mushrooms and ginger, or sample the Vietnamese-Mexican poke nachos – crispy wonton chips topped with fresh salmon, avocado, herbs, sriracha and wasabi mayonnaise. Forty per cent of the menu is vegetarian.

Pompet

Best for: Retro French vibe and cuisine
Location: Floraparkweg, 1032 BZ Amsterdam
Price: Plates from 9 EUR

This retro eatery in the centre of Noorderpark serves a range of French classics for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as an afternoon snack. Go for a romantic dinner of boeuf bourguignon (accompanied by French wine, natch) in the park, or share flammkuchen with friends after an intense round of jeu de boules on their court. The venue also hosts regular cultural events, jam sessions, and film screenings, so keep an eye on the Instagram account.

Pllek

Best for: Organic and eco-conscious cooking, vegan and vegetarian menu
Location: TT Neveritaweg 59, 1033 WB Amsterdam
Price: Dinner from 19 EUR

If your visit to Noord brings you to the former shipyard-turned-cultural-hotspot NDSM, you can’t miss restaurant and nightclub venue Pllek. The restaurant is on a mission to serve sustainably conscious food without compromising on taste and quality, and it certainly delivers. Delicious experimental dishes include coconut beet curry and Korean falafel, and new signatures are introduced every season. During the summertime, take in Amsterdam’s skyline from the beachfront right along the IJ or attend an outdoor movie night. The majority of the menu is vegetarian and vegan.

De VerbroederIJ

Best for: Inclusive, relaxed dining, organic, sustainable and local ingredients
Location: Johan van Hasseltweg 21, 1021 KN Amsterdam
Price: Dinner from 17 EUR

Amsterdam Noord district held a local competition in 2017 to come up with creative ideas to utilise a neglected piece of land along the IJ. The resulting successful project was De VerbroederIJ. Similar to Pof, the idea came from a collective of local sustainable growers that wanted to carve out space for urban agriculture. Attached to the allotments is the restaurant, which offers fare made from organic, local ingredients. The aim of De VerbroederIJ places emphasis on being a place for everyone, catering to vegetarians, vegans, and meat-eaters alike. Best of all, it has a pay-it-forward system which allows people on any budget to enjoy a delicious meal.

Restaurant Europa

Best for: Fine-dining, industrial interiors
Location: Gedempt Hamerkanaal 81, 1021 KP Amsterdam
Price: Five course menu 68 EUR, seven course menu 82 EUR

Restaurant Europa is a fine dining experience from the creators of Euro Pizza. It’s clear from the moment you step inside the stripped-down former garage that the focus here is on the food. Perch at a long turquoise bar and watch the chefs in action, as they cook over open flames. Choose from a five or seven course tasting menu, with a focus on locally sourced fish, meat and vegetables. Don’t miss the pike-perch served in a gooseberry and koji sauce or the Tsukune made from cod cheek and shrimp with habanero, castelfranco and lemon balm.

Helling 7

Best for: Fine food in a casual sunlit setting
Location: tt. Melissaweg 57, 1033 SP Amsterdam, Netherlands
Price: Mains from 24 EUR

In a glass-walled former warehouse with views of the Ij, Helling 7 serves classic French fine dining in a casual, sunlit setting (the space was previously occupied by cultural collective NDSM, who moved to another location nearby). In summer, the doors open up to form a warm alfresco terrace for evening meals and drinks in the sun. The open kitchen cooks much of the menu on an open wood fire, lending smoky, charred flavours to their simple ingredients. Helling 7 is equally suited to a day of remote working, a lunch with friends, a coffee meet up, or cocktails and wine in the evening.