Castell

Very good steak — not quite as good as others in the neighborhood but it is less expensive. Had some shrimp to start — excellent. Great house wine. Service was slow to start because everyone came in at once — that worked itself out and then was fine.

Looooove the steak here! Perfect every time I’ve been!
The only thing is that it’s difficult to reserve as they are booked a long time in advance unless you’re lucky, or just come early and sit and the bar (no reservations for there).
But even if you have to wait, the steak is very much worth it!

Best spare ribs restaurant I’ve ever been. My tip is to book in the bar
Order spare ribs and a Marques de Riscal as wine is perfect!
Love that place

Average to good steak. But I am not really used to putting the dishes on my lap when eating… There is no dinning table…

These folks do meat right. Done in a hip retro wine bar deco so you can just relax. Drinks are smooth and the sound track is low and keeps your conversation flowing. This is my second visit to Amsterdam and I always eat here late to soak up the atmosphere. The fish rocks because it is fresh.

Cozy ambiance on sofas around a fireplace, food is served on platers so you eat like in your living room. Quite cool. Big choice of steaks and barbecues, we had mixed grill (pork) and Dutch steak — delicious. Food I would rate 3 – 4 stars.
Service was kind of agressive, unfriendly, she was in a hurry, not giving tips about the food, felt we were bothering her. Rate 1 – 2 stars.

Certainly one of the better steak houses in Amsterdam and Wow my steak was amazing, we had a seat right by the bbq so could watch how much care went into cooking each steak, there was true love shown by the chef on each and every item he placed on the grill.
The only point I did want to highlight they only have Steam Potatoes or Green beans with your steak, no option for mash potato or fries sadly…
I ordered the Brasil Fabuloso 300 gram fillet steak medium rare and it was delightful… We skipped the dessert but had an amazing red wine with our steak instead.

Be sure to eat here — deliciousness!
We turned up on a Thursday night with no reservation after asking where we could get a good steak close by to our hotel.
Castell was in full swing just after 8.30 as we arrived so we were seated as the last two seats at the Bar. Not ideal but with no booking it was appreciated that we could be accommodated.
The bar tender was quick, welcoming and had our order taken swiftly. For me the 250g Black Angus Medium rare was an easy decision, but the ribs that were served to another guy sat at the bar looked incredible.
You can tell a serious meat place by the size of there steak knives so when handed a kitchen blade and fork it was obvious they meant business.
Fabulous steak is all I can say. We’ve no doubt that we’ll be returning especially for those ribs.
Menu — Meaty!
Drinks — Quick and easy, lovely house Red.
Service — Quick, I think we were in and out in just over 30 minutes.
Atmosphere — Dark and cosy. Warm.
Price — € 77 for two. Two steaks, house red and Coke.
Overall — 4 stars if you’re a meat lover. Book in advance as I’ve no doubt the experience is a little more relaxed when sat at a table.

Food — I’d give the food here 4 stars. We ordered the spicy shrimp appetizer which was pretty good and a generous portion. The escargot came out in the shell which was a visual delight but the flavor was underwhelming. Not as buttery and flavorful as expected. I ordered the veal steak and pork ribs. While the veal steak was slightly overcooked, the ribs were pretty good (fall off the bone). Even worse there was only one beer on tap. I skipped out on dessert but my coworkers said the ice cream was amazing.
Service — 2 stars. Our server seemed pretty arrogant and even after my co-​worker adamantly told him he did not want a beer the server brought one anyway. I know we were probably the youngest guests, he treated us as if we were boys on the streets. It wasn’t a busy night but service was horribly slow. It took about 25 min to get dessert after we ordered it and it was only ice cream. I know part of this is the culture we were in there for 2 hours.
My 3 star rating is rounding up.

OK who would have thought that the best meal I had during my European trip would be a random restaurant in Amsterdam that serves BBQ eaten off a platter right off your lap? Certainly not me!
The atmosphere is unlike any other restaurant I’ve ever been to. If I had to try to explain it, I’d compare it to going to some mountain lodge. There’s a cozy fireplace and you just sit there on the couch sipping on a bottle of wine and eating off a platter with meat on it. It was fantastic!
The spare ribs I had were tasty, why do I say this? Never have I ever finished an entire rack of baby back ribs to myself. NEVER. I just kept going and then all of a sudden like *POOF* it was all gone. And then I was sad.

We walked in on a Friday night at 7pm without a lot of hope. But the host had a table for us. Though it was right behind in at the entrance of the restaurant. We pushed our luck and asked if we could sit on the couches and he found us a spot. So great service so far. The atmosphere is really unique and cozy. Eating on couches and sitting around a fireplace. Really nice. My husband and I both had the ribs and shared a potato. The ribs were cooked perfectly. Nice and tender. But the sauce was a little on a sweet side. The potato with garlic sauce with excellent. Price is not too bad too. I’d recommend this place. Next time I’ll try the steak.

After getting lost, we finally found Castell. We had made reservations based on numerous recommendations and glowing reviews. The hostess/​waitress led us to a dark room and seated us on a couch. Yes, a couch.
We ordered tap water but got (expensive and small) bottled water instead. We were served bread with a garlic butter that was amazingly addictive.
The waitress eventually came out with a tray to place on our laps since we weren’t at a table. I don’t think there are any actual tables there. We shared the «Dutch Fat Ass Steak», which was not really that big. We also shared the spare-​ribs, which were pretty good. However, it was not comfortable eating meat off a tray. Cutting is not easy on an unsteady surface. We were offered a side of salad or potato so we ordered 1 of each, but were charged for the salad. I really didn’t need it, I just thought it was part of our meal.
We had a few scoops of ice cream for dessert.
Then we went to bed and were sick all night. Both of us. So obviously something was bad.
I can’t believe how many people actually like this place.

No, different isn’t always better — and you’d think eating a steak in your lap like a tv dinner instead of at a table wouldn’t be a better way to do it. Well, it works quite well. And that couch is damn comfy.
Top that with an absolutely gorgeous and perfectly cooked sirloin steak, and you are onto something. Oh, and the knives are enormous. And as we all know: when it comes to steak knives, size actually does matter. Of course it does.
If there’s one thing I don’t like about this place, it is that it’s in Amsterdam where I don’t live. But rest assured I’ll be back whenever I’m in town.

hey! not bad.
the food was pretty good — i had a black angus special of some sort, with an additional baked potato (that was an additional € 2.50 sigh). the meat was prepared to the right temperature, but i thought it was slightly underseasoned.
service wasn’t the best — i asked for my own big bottle of Spa but the waiter only brought one for the two of us. it also took us something like 30 minutes to pay, which almost made me miss the last tram back to amstelveen haha

Great steaks, great staff, busy atmosphere.
Everything else was what you would expect in this part of town for the price paid.
Great choice on the menu and well priced.
Expect to pay about 20 to 30 euro a head with a beer or wine. Cocktails were very reasonable priced — the house special espresso martini was delicious. Booking over the weekends essential. Great for groups or couples as eating at the bar is part of the experience itself.
PS — eating a steak on your lap is just the norm in this place. But don’t worry it’s worth every bit the bite.

Great for meat lovers and the wine selection is fantastic, but I had a few starters instead of a main course and they were disappointing. Just goes to show — don’t go to a meat place and try to eat something other than red meat…
P. S. Make a reservation.

Definitely one of the best steaks I’ve had although the fillet steak was massive and I couldn’t finish it. Should’ve opted for the ‘lady fillet’ at 200g and would have been far easier to manage.
My boyfriend had the Dutch fat ass steak and at 350g was a beast. He says it’s the best steak he’s ever had and kept making strange mooing noises whilst eating it! Very disconcerting!
Only reason I didn’t give five stars was down to a couple of small issues.
We called ahead to make a reservation for a Friday night and were told we didn’t need to. As soon as we arrived we were asked for our reservation (!) and didn’t have one so sat at a bar for a drink.
The wait was around 30 minutes and we were reseated at a large sofa with six other diners dotted around. After ordering steak took another 20 minutes to arrive and when it did, we ate it off our laps. Have to say, at 104 euros for two mains three sides and a bottle of wine, it’s not cheap but worth every penny.
But book first and get a table or a bar seat

I’ve been here a few times and I enjoyed the food. Ribs were very good and tasty and the meat fell of the bone. Also had the ribeye steak once which tasted good too.
The staff is friendly and willing to advise you while making a choice of the menu.
The restaurant décor is pretty cool. It’s quite dark and people have dinner at the bar. There are also some sofa corners with tables for groups. During warmer months they also have some tables outside.
Good food, nice atmosphere and not too expensive. I like it.

Mit 2 Arbeitskollegen hier gewesen zum Steak-​Essen. Alle waren sehr zufrieden mit dem Stücken Fleisch, die wir am Holzbrett serviert bekamen. Das laue Wetter erlaubte es, dass wir draußen vor dem Lokal sitzen konnten — allerdings hätten wir drinnen keinen Platz bekommen. Deswegen: Unbedingt reservieren! Die Location ist übrigens super, man kann dann sofort ins Nachtleben davonschlendern.

Dude, phenomenal steak. Absolutely marvelous. I won’t soon forget how tasty this place was. If you’re looking for meat, this is all you need.
The atmosphere inside is nice, dark, but with some cool art pieces on the wall, overall it feels a bit like a cellar. The setup is odd and the menu is strangely organized. Don’t be fooled, they offer wines by the glass even if the menu doesn’t say so. We learned this because I wanted beer and she wanted wine, luckily we were able to get what we wanted. For this confusion, which seems to be a way to get you to pay more money, I knock off a star. 5 stars for the food, though. Really excellent stuff!

Recommended to us by some locals, my friend and I decided to come here for a late dinner on a Sunday evening. I have to admit, at first I was a little disappointed by the way we were treated. We asked if there was any seating available and the host quickly said no. I am thinking this is because we were not Dutch. However, I asked the bartender about the same two open seats at the bar and he said we could sit (I asked and not my Aussie mate, perhaps he was the issue?).
The restaurant was quite alive and bustling, service was attentive and our food was served quickly. I had the lamb chops, which I basically inhaled. They were quite delicious, especially as far as Dutch food is concerned (sorry, but you guys are not well-​known for your cuisine!). I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for some steak or a hearty meal in general.

— Restaurant with nice ambiance
— Starter Plateau: Salmon/​shrimp on toast was okay
— Ladies steak with potatoes was delicious
— Personnel friendly
Conclusion: Lekker steak in homelike ambiance
Reservation recommended!

Einmal im Jahr anlässlich der PICNIC in der Westergasfabriek nutze ich die Chance, mich mit der deutschen «Kolonie» im Castell zu treffen. Die Steaks sind sensationell, die Bierpreise leider — im negativen Sinne — auch. Daher empfehel ich auf Wein umzusteigen. Das Ambeiente erinnert stark an einen 70er Jahre Partykeller, das tut der Gemütlichkeit jedoch keinen Abbruch — ganz im Gegenteil. Thumbs up!