Bar Brouw

I really liked this place. The food was very good. The pulled pork while a little bland was succulent! Almost soft. They offer the standard Dutch mild bbq sauce, a chipotle sauce, and my personal new fave of all time, the jalapeño sauce. Now it was dutchified, so it was not super hot, but it was perfect. I take my Thai and Indian 4 stars, so I like some heat, but this had flavor too. I wish they bottled it. My son had the brisket and we washed out all down with numerous beers, all local or American. Food was cheap, beers not so much, but I’ll definitely be back.

still my favorite bbq spot in amsterdam. great service, price point and product. huzzah!

strangely enough (or not :) What brought me first to this place it wasn’t their food it was their drinks menu. They have a wide variety of American brews both in draft and bottled and they also have a very decent list of whisky’s and bourbons.
their food i mainly Texas bbq (pulled pork, brisket etc) it is nicely cooked in the smoker they have in the back. You can choose between 3 sides of your choice with your meats.
they are also open for lunch and something i never quite understood is why some of the lunch items that are also served at dinner time are exponentially more expensive in the evening…
The restaurant itself is very nicely set up with individual tables or long tables that can be shared.

Reliable meat choice, limited, menu but they also have a dozen smaller items.
Very good beer choices including a few drafts and a couple of gluten free ones.
Generally nice staff and people.

This review is for the new Oost location. I was very excited and optimistic about this meal after reading reviews from fellow Americans who mentioned words like authentic, but sadly after dining there last night I can’t disagree more.
Let’s start w the positives: the décor is cool. The pulled pork meat, although not actually pulled, was in and of itself good. And the cole slaw, although like nothing I’ve ever eaten with or without BBQ, was rocking. Oh, and the bathroom was clean!
And now the negatives: they have four sauces (we had to ask for them) but none taste like BBQ sauce. The potato wedges weren’t well cooked. My friend got the ribs and said they were both lean and dry. The staff was not friendly. Of six people they brought two the wrong order. The key lime pie was not key limey. Overall very disappointed. No one in my group raved about their food. As an American who has eaten a lot of BBQ across multiple styles and states, I can definitely can say it isn’t authentic. If you go get the cole slaw and nothing else.

Really solid BBQ joint in Amsterdam. I would look for any excuse to visit again and I’ve been twice in 2 weekends already. The brisket was excellent — you could cut it with a fork. And the pulled pork was the best I’ve had outside the US. If you get the pulled pork sandwich it comes with slaw on top, which I consider a bonus. The coleslaw was also great, but definitely not traditional. It had both light and dark raisins in it, so note that if you’re not into those. The ribs were not outstanding, but the sauce made up for what they lacked (they were still very decent, I should say). Beans were also unusual in that they were perfectly cooked kidney beans with some bacon, but also delightful. Potato wedges were standard style and flavor. Don’t waste your time on the desserts, though. The carrot cake was dry and portions were very small. Also, huge selection of beers to choose from. Definitely will get brisket, pulled pork, and coleslaw every time now. Love this place.

I have lived in Amsterdam for 2 years now, and the one food from the US I miss the most is BBQ, so I was quite excited to hear about Bar Brouw. They serve the holy trinity of BBQ, Ribs, Pulled Pork and Brisket, though only the pulled pork and brisket are actually smoked, the ribs are grilled. My wife got the ribs, cole slaw and beans, while I got the brisket, beans and potato wedges. My wife loved the cole slaw, but strangely it had raisons in it. The beans were not too exciting, pretty basic, same with the potatoes wedges, but this is not what I came for, I came for the meat. My wife’s ribs were quite tender and were flavorful with the BBQ sauce served at the table. The brisket was super tender and had a nice peppery crust, though not overly smokey. Still I was quite happy an so was my wife. The price is reasonable by Amsterdam standards, the staff was friendly, and though the sides could use some work, the meat was better then I would have expected from the first southern BBQ joint I have been to in Europe. I will definitly be back.

We visited this place in the beginning of the evening. From the moment that we stepped through the door, there was anything but an energetic flow within the place. The staff clearly had a rough night before since the tempo and enthusiasm for their menu and place was lacking on every aspect. Unacceptable for a place that wants to be taken seriously.
My two friends ordered pulled pork and the brisket, and I took the angus beef burger. I want to put this as respectful as possible, but the beef and the pork were all served anything but the correct temperature. We mentioned this to the staff and it went back to the kitchen to be ‘reheated’. When it came back, it was still far from as it should be. We mentioned it again to the staff and to our surprise we were being told that this is simply the way it should go… no apologies, no… simply this is our method, deal with it. When we received the bill, it was not only sky high, but there was no compensation of any kind. A deep shame…

Probably the worst experience in ages!
We just walked out this place very very disappointed in the food, but moreover the lame excuse from the uninterested under knowledged staff which clearly didnt know what culinary standards stand for!
We got ourselves an angus burger, which was substantially smaller in diameter than the bun it was laying between. Also we got the brisket and the pulled pork.
To start off, all three dishes were simply cold. So I sent back the pulled pork, making sure the guy in charge was aware of this issue, in order for them to heat it up! We were a bit embarassed to send all three dishes back. So the dish came back with the same temprature, nothing changed! So the same guy came by to see how it was and I again told him that I dont want to complain but this dish is just too cold. Also my companies addressed to their cold food on which he reacted that the way they prapare the meat it is empossible to serve it hot! What about the burger? That comes right off he fire I assume?
So for two times they got a chance to make this right but they failed to do so. So we asked for the check, nothing was taken off as a gesture nor an appoligy. On top of all the girl that brought us the second round of beers had charged us the wrong beer type that was more expensive than three glasses we had prior to that. Same beer! We were so discontent that we didnt even want to address this. Absolutely not recommended!

This meat /​bbq restaurant just misses great meat.
I guess that if you only have 5 main courses on the menu (which is normally just fine.) and your specialty is pork belly then you cannot be sold out of pork belly… Enfin:
Main courses are priced between € 12 – 17, not to expensive i guess.
We both ordered the Brisket and it wasn’t all that great. I expected the meat to be juicy and to have a strong BBQ taste — both didn’t materialise. In addition it was served on a silver platter with side dishes in carton boxes (supposed to give the dinner a raw image? :S).
I was a big fan of the previous place: Café Fief (?). This was disappointing.
To note 2 positive things: the waiters were friendly/​kind and the beers recommend were something different and well picked/​recommended with the chosen dishes!

Ok, total fan of getting a nice brisket or pulled pork. Quality of food is nice, but just not great. Feel guilty complaining cause I rather have a brisket that is a ok then no brisket at all. Reminds me of Fette Sau in Brooklyn N.Y. only not executed a 100%. Quality of meat is good in general. Side dishes aren’t great. Good selection of US beers on draft. And nice whiskey selection. Found the staff a bit odd. Nice, but odd. Waited for a table for 70 minutes. Asked if it was a possibility to eat at the bar, where we been sitting for 70 minutes. No problem! So that was weird. Good effort, hope they fine tune this place into a 10.

Very awesome spot.
Great atmosphere and décor.
Having moved from New Orleans, I was really happy to find some awesome southern style BBQ in Amsterdam. They have a great bbq sauce especially.
And an awesome selection of American beers.

Nice place and nice concept. The food was ok. But being a new hotspot, Manu people, the place is pretty small so it quickly becomes very noisy.

Food is delicious, the wine and beer marvelous, they whiskey great. The portions are just way too small for the asking price. As a BBQ expert, trained primarily in Austin, Texas — this amount of food does not suffice.
The staff is great, knowledgable and assertive. The atmosphere cozy and the smell of deliciously smoked meats fill the air.
This place is nigh perfect if not for the serving portions.

I went for dinner on Oct 23, a little over a week after the restaurant opened. For a new spot, one of the highlights definitely was the service. Amsterdam is notorious for lackluster service — sorry but it’s true — especially when a spot is new and not used to the menu, the process, etc. The staff here was the contrary. They were friendly, knowledgable about the menu and bar options, quick and attentive. Definitely a star for that.
Bar Brouw specializes in smoked meats, craft beers and whiskey. To order anything other than these three things is just silly. So to all my vegetarian friends, while they do have a quinoa salad on their menu, unless you have your heart set on drinking beer and whiskey while the smell of bbq’d meats waft through the air, go somewhere else.
The menu is straightforward and printed on their wall. They have ribs, pork belly, brisket and burgers. The pork belly was phenomenal — smoky, melt in your mouth brilliance. Two more stars for that.
Dinners come with two sides. A choice of potato salad, cole slaw, tomato salad and baked beans. We were able to order all of the sides since there were three of us eating but I only sampled the latter two. Damn egg allergies. Tomato salad was ok — the tomatoes were not crisp enough and they were under-​seasoned. The baked beans on the other hand, mmmm lekker. Not too sweet, the right amount of savory, a hint of smoke and a generous amount of thick cut bacon to add texture. Yum. My fourth star for that.
Now some not-​so-​highlights.
When we asked for suggestions, the waiter suggested the pork belly and the brisket. He explained that ribs are really not their specialty and frankly you can get ribs in other places. Brisket is harder to find in the city. Very good selling point. It’s true brisket is not as popular here so, like my two fellow diners who ordered the brisket, they didn’t have a point of reference of what good bbq’d brisket should be like. To be fair — brisket is a cut that is easy to mess up. It’s notorious for being either exceptionally juicy but easily over dried — the line between the two is very thin. The brisket at Bar Brouw, while flavorful, crossed the line into over dry territory. As a point of reference, brisket should like this:
Makes your mouth water just looking at it doesn’t it? It was tasty but until they master holding in the juice, I say skip.
The restaurant was packed by 8pm. Good thing we made reservations. I’m all for a restaurant being successful but be warned, unless you’re comfortable with screaming at your dining partners or pretending that you hear what they say when you really don’t, it’s probably best to go during non-​peak hours. The place is definitely better suited for groups. I don’t think you should bring a first or second date here, unless you have no interest in getting to know the person better other than their preference for bbq and beer.
The craft beer selection was decent but it was a very similar menu to the other beer specialized bars in the city. If just going to sample beers, I would go to one of those spots instead. If you want your mind blown by pork belly, definitely go here.