Bussia

3.5 stars! When in Amsterdam, dine at Bussia. At least that’s what my good friend told me. He and his wife make it a point to dine there each time they’re in the Netherlands. I didn’t realize that Bussia was Michelin star rated until I actually read about it on Amsterdam’s Michelin star restaurants list. That even made my expectation higher, plus my friend having hyped it up.
Located in the charming upscale neighborhood of Jordaan, you can find Bussia a short walk from the main street along the canal. It is also very close to the Anne Frank House. The restaurant itself is lovely inside and the staff is incredibly professional as service was impeccable. Hostess and waiter deserve 5+ stars! Once inside, they take your coat/​jacket and store them away for you until you leave. The décor is simple and elegant with multi levels. The second and third levels are for dining and the underground is where they have an impressive wine cellar.
Upon being seated, the waiter asked us if we would like a cocktail. We both went with his recommendation of a Peach Bellini which was made with peach granita.
Friend and I opted for the 8 course meal (79 euros). For the entrée and dessert, we chose once selection each, so that we were both able to try all 10 courses.
— Antipasto — Pickled vegetables with watercress and crispy hen egg: Who doesn’t love a running egg incorporated into any dish? I liked this antipasto as the pickled veggies balanced out the richness of the runny egg yolk with acid. Great start after the amuse to whet my appetite.
— Zuppetta di mare — Soup of roasted celeriac with seared wild scallop: A light and refreshing soup topped with colorful veggies and flowers. The scallop was cooked perfectly and had a nice touch of seasoning.
— Pasta di mare — Simply put, a grown up version of mac n cheese that was topped with lobster. I thought the mac n cheese was a tad too salty for my personal liking. The lobster was a nice touch.
— Pasta di terra: Ravioli of pumpkin with marrow, sweetbread and roasted almonds. This was one of the most unique dishes of the evening. Friend and I liked this a lot because we don’t normally see these items on an everyday menu. The marrow and sweetbread were delicious and textures were nice. I would recommend ordering this dish even if you were to go the a la carte route.
— Risotto with sunflower seeds, Ficu and gremolata. Unfortunately, the least liked course for both my friend and I. We couldn’t even go further than 5 bites. The cheese was just too overwhelming for the risotto. The waiter asked us if why we didn’t like it and we explained. He was really sweet and asked if he could bring us anything else, but we just opted to continue with the courses.
— Pesce (main): Fillet of wild dorade with Peruvian potato and Dutch Squid. Nicely cooked fish plate. The dutch squid was tender and tasty. Nothing too spectacular though.
— Carne (main): Fillet of Venison with red cabbage, parsley root and mountain cranberries. If you like your venison bloody and still kickin’, this is the one for you! I honestly would have liked the venison cooked at least to medium but this was rare as if it was just seared.
— Sorbetto: Pomegranate sorbet with buttermilk panacea and chocolate crisp. Nice palette cleanser.
— Formaggio: Apple out of the oven, filled with Agri cheese, served with pecan nuts. I’m all for melty cheese!
— Dolce: Kumquat curd with milk chocolate pearl and mock– white chocolate stracciatella ice cream. I’m more of a dark chocolate girl, so this dessert didn’t exactly hit the spot for me. The tangerine slices were incredibly sour and I’m not sure if that was the chef’s intent. Thought ice cream was good.

Overall, a lovely dining experience. We were stuffed already mid-​way through the courses! Prepare to stay for 3 hours if you are ordering the 8 course menu. However, I honestly was not wowed by any of the dishes. I’m not sure if it was because my expectations were too high going in, but I didn’t think it was that great. I did notice that almost every dish that was brought out had some kind of sauce poured onto it table side. I’m not sure if it’s more for show, or that the chef really loves putting sauce on everything. Would have been nice to have some different variations in the type of dishes/​presentation. The service was impeccable and we adored our waiter. He explained each dish in detail after he served us and we had good conversations with him (not too mention he was quite a looker). The ambiance is nice. During the weekday, it was easy to walk in without a reservation. The place was no where near capacity, but there were tables of couples and a group of guys that looked like they had come straight from work. Good find in Amsterdam, but if I were to do it again, I’d go a la carte since I didn’t care for some of the dishes. If you’re looking for a «new» Italian fine dining experience in Amsterdam, Bussia is the spot.

The food is absolutely amazing. My husband and I had the lobster macaroni, wild boar pasta, and risotto. All three dishes were very fresh and filling. Our server was also great. After telling her we were visiting from the states, she went out of her way to write down places for us to visit in Amsterdam. She was friendly and welcoming. I’d definitely recommend this restaurant!

We stumbled upon this place while shopping in the 9 streets area & thought it looked really charming. After researching online, the menu & food pics looked great! This place had stellar reviews & rightfully so! We arrived quite late (close to closing) & without a reservation but the staff were happy to accommodate us. The full tasting menu was not available, but the smallest tasting menu & a la carte were. We opted for the smaller tasting menu & we were not disappointed! Each dish was a work of art — filled with high quality, fresh ingredients & very creative– particularly with the presentation ! They have a great selection of Italian wines which we really enjoyed. Many dishes came with their own sauce which was poured over the dish during presentation at the table. The only dish lacking flavor or originality was the Jerusalem artichoke risotto– which was just fine.
The staff are super warm & friendly. They inquired about our visit to Amsterdam, chatted with us quite a bit, & gave us fabulous recommendations on New Year’s Eve ! A+ !!

We happened upon this restaurant as we were walking around looking for lunch. The menu on the door looked good but only hinted at how distinguished the food would be. Each dish was a work of art; the food and presentation reminded us of Aquavit in NYC. The wine list is deep with wines from all over Italy; we had an excellent, well aged bottle from Piedmont made with a grape we had never heard of (croatina) at a very fair price. The service was excellent — warm, friendly, and attentive without being intrusive. Other reviews have said this place is expensive, but for the quality of food and service we didn’t think so.
Outstanding.

Cozinha contemporânea com opções de menu degustação e à lá Carte. Equipe jovem e extremamente simpática. Frequentado por locais. Muito boa opção!

Pricey with great service and fine dining
A good choice for a special dinner
The space is lovely intimate without being stifling
The third floor where we eat was a bit warm as others asked for the vent to be closed .
Impeccable service warm friendly and attentive
We had the four course tasting with wine
The cost was 164 euro a bit high but honestly the food went from very good to outstanding

We had a perfect dining experience. The service and food were spectacular. Thank you for a perfect 25^th year anniversary celebration.

Absolutely wonderful. The service, food, wine and overall experience is worth the price. We ordered the 5 course dinner with wine parings and were not disappointed at any point of our meal. Sitting upstairs we were able to have a viewpoint into the kitchen and watch all the other plates being artistically prepared. Highly recommended. Bussia will not disappoint — reservations advised.

For Amsterdam, I do not think you can find better Italian food. Or really better food in general. Tried many restaurants in Amsterdam, though this is the only one we kept going back to. The risotto was one of the best I’ve ever had.

When you visit Bussia, you come with high expectations. All of your friends and even random strangers have mentioned it when the topic came to «best restaurants in town». Subjective, of course, but obviously liked by many.
And indeed, eating there is a culinary experience.
When you enter, the staff welcomes you friendly and asks for your coat before being lead to the table.
The staff is very professional yet a little stiff unfortunately.
You can order by the menu, but the multiple course option is the better choice as soon as you go for more than 2 courses.
Although Bussia is quite big — there are many tables spread on two levels — the dishes are served with an apropriate waiting time inbetween. They look very appetizing, almost too beautiful to be eaten, and are equally tasty.
When you leave in the end, the staff will bring you the right coats without asking — they are trained to remember who wears what. Quite impressive!

Hard to believe that we were at the same restaurant from the other reviews v. Our experience! We went their because the place is white, quite modern, sophisticated and the people looked rather chic! The menu was what they call Modern Italian. We thought it to be a fusion of sorts that would cause my Italian father to do flip flops from his grave! We felt the flavors just didn’t make it… Perhaps it was an off nite, but you couldn’t get us to go back! Service was simply slow an awful. We spoke to the couple next to us and they agreed and were totally disappointed. After two hours and still no entrée and lots of «I’m so sorry» we left. I can’t imagine the entrees would have been anything to brag about as the appetizer and risotto were average at best! Sorry!

Simply a superb meal, from beginning to end!
First day in Amsterdam after a long day of travel, and we wanted a good meal, but at a time our parents normally eat. .. We were able to walk in at 6:00 pm w/​out a reservation, and were politely informed that we could have the table until 8:15. No problem here!
Modern yet warm setting; excellent wine list. I had the soup of Jerusalem artichoke and mushrooms. .. presentation and flavor were just off the charts. For the main course, I had potato gnocchi w/​lobster. I swear I wanted to lick the plate, it was that good. For dessert we shared a chocolate tort w/​peanut/​caramel ice cream. This dessert had a lot going on w/​various layers — like 5 desserts in 1 – Yummy!
Great service all around, and a special thanks to Tiffany for her warmth and friendly nature – they know how to treat their customers!
Cheers!
RS

We loved this place. Really cute restaurant in the 9. Made reservations based on a friends recommendation and we were so glad we did. The food was a work of art. And all wonderful. The wines were amazing as well. The staff was great too. And it’s a treat to see the chefs cooking right in front of you. The only downside I could say would be the restaurant was noisy. We had a table in the middle of the room so not very intimate and we were there for an anniversary dinner but definitely worth it.

For fine Italian dining go to Bussia! Excellent food that serves the eyes and mouth. Staff is friendly and will advice you about the menu and wine pairings. I have been here twice now and both times I could not have wished for a better evening. If you don’t know what to choose from the menu, I recommend you let it be a surprise (of course you can share your preference: fish/​meat, pasta/​risotto etc.) and if you are with two, you can share your meals! The restaurant is quite spacious (you can also sit upstairs), but you can still have your romantic evening here if you would like to (on the right side, one of the two tables up front where you can look out the window will do well or there are nice tables more to the back of the restaurant).
So, to go to Bussia is to go all the way. Have the ⁵⁄₆ course menu + wines. I have to admit it is expensive, but also worth it. Go here if you have something special to celebrate and don’t think too much about the price (about 160 – 180 euros for 2 persons) once you’ve made your decision. Simply enjoy the beautifully presented dishes.

Easily one of the top 2 or 3 dining experiences ever, anywhere. From the layout of the room to the service to the food and wine pairings, this was a superb evening. Elegant without being stuffy, nouvelle without being snobby, and truly delicious. We wil not visit Amsterdam without a return visit to Bussia.

We somersaulted into this place on a Friday night after passing it a billion times over the past few weeks. We were sure to get a reservation, since it’s pretty busy most of the time.
It was a fine restaurant. Not great, as I will point out below in an easy-​to-​read bulleted list, but it’s definitely a good place to take someone if you’re sick of eating bitterballen on the streets of Amsterdam.
GOOD
* Food was well prepared and well cooked.
* Presentation was outstanding. The food truly looked like art. It was a bit like eating sculpture, but without the danger of breaking all your teeth because sculptures are hard.
* Service was impeccable.
* Wine was excellent and reasonably priced.
* Bread was great. Almost breaducational. Heh.
* The amuse-​bouche was wonderful.
* Cannoli was very tasty.
* Lamb was amazing. Perfectly cooked. Juicy and tender.
* Nothing was too salty, which is a problem at fancier restaurants.
NOT-​SO-​GOOD
* Some of the flavors were disappointing.
* Quail egg a little bland.
* The pesto in the risotto was overwhelming. Could have used more sweet. Too heavy on the basil.
* Couscous was kinda boring.
* Each dish had a large fried component to it. In their effort to be creative, they fried things.
* Choco soufflé was not chocolatey enough.
* Saffron ice cream tasted like pool water. We’ve had it before (elsewhere) and it was delicious, so we were pretty disappointed with Bussia’s take on it.
That looks like a lot of negatives. I’m probably being a petty prince (which was incidentally my nickname in high school). It’s a great place to dine. Definitely on the more expensive side of the spectrum, but the art employed in the preparation is worth it.

The Unilocal scene is not very happening in Amsterdam yet, so I had to look on tripadvisor for some restaurant tips. They pointed to Bussia as a top 5 restaurant in the Amsterdam area.
Went to Bussia on a Saturday night with a few coworkers. The place was very close to my hotel, so the walk was very easy.
The service was nice, a very kind woman who helped us with whatever we needed.
The atmosphere was great, some locals, some tourists, a little bit of everything.
The food was good. I had the risotto and the pork dish, which was 4 different types of pork done in 4 different ways. Co workers had some pasta, some fish, some tomato soup. They all looked like they enjoyed it, but no one was raving about their dish.
Minus the stars for the price of the food. Paying 30 euros for 5 slices of pork was rough.
Honestly, I wasn’t impressed with any restaurants in Amsterdam, so this might just be one of your better bets for a nice fancy dinner out.

My husband and I had a great meal at Bussia albiet a long one. We choose the 4 course meal and were off to a good start when a large group came into the restaurant. What started off as a leisurely elegant meal turned into a marathon of several hours before we were finished. Having said that, the food was excellent and I would have given them 5 stars if things hadn’t been so slow in service.
I enjoyed Bussia and would definitely give them another shot but will allow plenty of time, just in case!

An Italian, a Scottish-​French, an Israeli, and an Indian walk in to a restaurant… no, there is no punch line here. Just great food. Located close the famous red light district, Bussia serves modern Italian food in a beautiful atmosphere.
Where does a multi-​country contingent go after a strenuous day of speaking at a conference? We all agreed to do either Italian or Chinese food to please everyone.
An excellent meal from start to finish. We opted for the daily dinner menu with 4 courses and a bottle of Chianti. What were we thinking? We quickly regained our senses and order a second bottle of Chianti.
The stellar experience started with fresh bread and olive oil. The olive oil alone was divine. I thought of chugging it down like water, but I restrained myself.
Tuscan white beans soup with truffle and gorgonzola, and roasted quail served with mostarda di fruta — simply delectable. The simplicity of white beans was elevated by truffle and the sharp gorgonzola. The quail was perfection.
For the pasta course we got the gnocchi, tortelloni, and risotto of the day. Chestnut gnocchi with fresh mushrooms was quite delightful. The tortelloni filled with veal and served sweet breads is probably the best tortelloni I’ve ever had, and the risotto was a dark maroon color… I just wanted to sit there and admire the colors and presentation. But alas, the food was too enticing to just stare.
For the main course, I opted for the fish of the day — skate wing — and my Israeli colleague got the wild boar ossobucco. The skate was perfectly prepared, it fell right off the cartilage without me having to try hard. The ossobucco was delectable.
We were treated to a little Americana in our dessert. Apple pie!!! Very well done for an Italian restaurant not in America. We followed the dessert with an espresso which was served with various chocolate truffles. A pure delight.
Service was immaculate. The wait staff explained everything before serving, replaced silverware with every course, and never let our wine glass be half-​empty.
It was a much needed stellar dining experience after a long day of lecturing on public health. I will definitely return during my next visit to Amsterdam.
Stellare, Bussia!

Mid October, Italian restaurant Bussia opened doors in de negen straatjes (or nine little streets) of Amsterdam. There aren’t many good Italian restaurants in Amsterdam. A few good pizzerias but no restaurants that take Italian food up one notch. So I was happy to try out Bussia and was certainly not disappointed.
The interior is country style, but expensive and perfectly designed — a lot of wood, thick but plain white table cloths and large cutlery and wine glasses. The service is very friendly and welcoming in a personal way.
The menu — as the name suggests — is very Piedmont style and uses many typical northern Italian ingredients such as truffles, porcini, plums, nuts and fontina cheese. The wine list is impressive and equally Piedmont oriented with a large selection of strong red Barolos and Barberas as well as many wines made from the Nebbiolo and Dolcetto grapes that are popular in the region.