Daalder

One of the best lunches I’ve ever eaten!
Extremely tasty food.
We chose a 3 course meal
They offered us an amuse bouche with tomato sorbet and pesto, it was delicious!
1^st course was scallops on a cauliflower cream. Very well cooked and fresh!
2^nd course was a slow cooked veal. Very tender meat!
3^rd was dessert. Yogurt ice cream with lemon cream and pomegranate seeds. Very light and fresh,
The waitresses were very kind and one even them even helped us find a store we were looking for and wrote down the name for us.
Great experience with a reasonable price!

Daalder is a lovely little brown café that’s aiming very high with the food they serve. Dutch with some Asian twists. It’s one of our favourite places to eat in Amsterdam, they do seem to take things very seriously though, hence the rating. We would love it if they chilled out a like bit and got back to the ‘comfy’ brown café feel whilst serving modern Dutch without the Asian confusion.

What a simply fantastic dinner. We were a group of 4 and opted for 2 of the 7 course dinners. Makes more sense than everyone ordering three course meals right?!
Everything was so delicious — with a small exception of the fish that wasn’t really good. The tartar, meat, bread, desert were each better than the previous course! Great wine list too, an amazing meal all around.

Well I like surprise menues and I liked the evening, but not everything did convince me. It became better and better after a weak start. Best beef I ever had (in the 4^th of 5 courses). Service was excellent, friendly and experienced. We did like the wines (mine was a Riesling from Rheinland-​Pfalz). Compared to pricing and quality of lunch or dinner in touristic hot spots the 50 € for 5 courses were well spent. So I’ll return whenever possible and recommend the restaurant to my friends. (As a German friend recommended it to me.)

Nice small restaurant with bar. Had 4 course diner didn’t dissapoint. Scallops fresh but soy flavours over powering. Main course of beef was excellent. Located in the Jordaan.

Dayna B.‘s review is spot on. I’d find myself just repeating her review. Identical experience.
The amazing thing is there are several restaurants of this genre in Amsterdam and all of them are exceptional with reasonable pricing. (Johannes, Adam, de Silveren Spiegel). Each with their own unique ambiance and vibe.
I agree with Dayna, the flank steak was amazing. This cut is so often overcooked, stringy and tough. They’ve mastered the art of preparing it to perfection.

Our experience here was a highlight of our trip! The setting is enjoyable, the food was amazing (appearance, creativity, and taste), and the staff was very welcoming and helpful (wine pairings, etc.). I took pictures of every dish. The food was much better than we had in NYC or at Epic (Michelin rated). The comfortable environment made it even more enjoyable. Book in advance and make it a priority. I wish the team at Daalder continued success and earned recognition.

Without hesitation or doubt, I can say Daalder was the highlight of our trip to Amsterdam. Service was excellent, and the food was amazing. I wish we would have ordered the full seven courses instead of only four.
We will definitely return on our next visit to Amsterdam.

First off, let me start with an apology for not capturing any pictures to share of the food here. The plates were true art and a big part of the fun, though still overshadowed by amazing flavors!
Upon entering the door, we were seated for our reservation immediately. They do not serve cocktails (even if they have the ingredients), but do serve a variety of gin and tonics with flavors. We tried a ginger version and enjoyed it. We ordered 5 courses and wine pairings. Before the first course we were served a beet salad amuse-​bouche. We are not beet fans, yet this amazing little bite was phenomenal. It was made with green apple and horseradish ice cream and was mind-​blowing delicious. The first course was salmon with pea purée. Also yummy!
Our second course was a haddock dish and one of the best small plates of fish I have ever tasted. Next came a pork belly with hoisin based sauce. Again, Amazing!
Then my husband was treated to a delicious flank steak and I had sea devil. After three incredible courses, the bar was still raised. These were just as tasty or better.
Dessert was also Outstanding and each course came with wine pairings that elevated the foods (not an easy task). Our server was delightful and did not rush the meal. She waited on each course and wine to be enjoyed before she brought the next. After all this, we were still treated to coffee and salted carmel chocolate treats with the check and given recommendations for the rest of our trip.
This small gem is amazing. The tiny kitchen will wow your taste buds. The staff will make you feel welcome! The only downside is ever other amazing place in Amsterdam will have to compete with this experience, so book your reservation towards the end of your trip and save the best for last.

An incredibly memorable meal and a perfect way to spend the last afternoon of my trip.
When you enter, it has a casual bar bistro feel to it, and not the atmosphere of a traditional fine dining restaurant. This was a pro, in my opinion, as we were both made perfectly comfortable and welcome in our jeans.
As other reviewers mention, there is no ‘à la carte’ menu. It’s a chef’s choice surprise menu, and you simply choose how many courses you would like (between 2 to 4). If you’re picky about what you eat, this might not be the place for you. However, with a little open-​mindedness and trust, you could be blown away.
We both enjoyed every course and LOVED the surprise element. There were clearly a lot of culinary influences in their cooking style (Dutch, French, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, just to name a few that I could pick out), but the flavours of each dish and the transition between courses flowed preternaturally.
Particularly outstanding was the silky sablefish with edamame in a dashi broth, but everything was excellent and the plating so beautiful it elicited an unintentional moment of silence as each plate was placed before us. The wine list isn’t a giant bible, but well-​appointed and the staff were knowledgeable enough to help with suggestions (being a surprise menu, it was difficult to decide which wine went best). I definitely recommend Daalder!

Amazing!!! food very well placed and complementary! Service was excellent! Everyone who works there is very friendly, took and hung coats, offered to call a cab, refilled drinks timely etc… Five 5 Stars!!!

Café Daalder, Lindengracht 90 was by far our best dinner during our trip to Paris and Amsterdam. A modest café during the day, at night it becomes a wonderful restaurant experience. You pick the number of courses from 3 to 7, pick your wine or leave pairing up to the staff.
We chose 5 courses and each course had layers of flavors and beautifully presented. We also elected to have the wine pairings which worked really well. Besides the high quality ingredients the chef also has a signature to each dish like crunch or spicing. One salad dish had lime meringue disks which almost fizzed. Another was pork with spiced black beans.
Everything was perfect, food, service and wine. Truly worthy of a Michelin star.
We had been to 11 Madison Park in NYC two weeks prior and this dinner was better!

Have to admit something on this place did not sit right on me. Maybe as i grow older i tend to become weirder and weirder but my experience was not the best one.
To start with i don’t like surprise menus and especially when it comes to fancy restaurant with weird looking and sounding food. The reason is i like to pick my own food simply because I’m very particular to what i eat and i don’t like surprises with my food.
So after the initial shock of the «surprise“menu comes the food. We picked th 4 course «Surprise“menu (oh you gonna see this word a lot in this review) and to have to say it was not at all pleasantly surprised with it. First plate was a mixture of fish and Veggies with a sauce that it gave a horrible surprise to my taste buds up to the point i had to stop eating it. Something that was surprisingly repeated on the second course. TO be honest i even surprised myself since i am not the kind of person that will ever leave anything in his plate. The main course though did save the occasion a bit. Although i did not find the sauce of my liking the meat was very tender and well done. A negative point was that i was not asked how i would like my meat and it was a bit overdone again for my taste and to my surprise (I know i know life is full of surprises)
Finally the pleasant surprise came at the end with an exceptional desert of anise cheesecake cream and ice cream
I did not had wine that night but i did look at their wine list and also in that i will have to comment with the best wards. Although not very extensive it had a very good section of wines that you could easily combine with anything you like.
To summarize the restaurant is very good, service is exceptional, food interesting at least and good wines. But if you like me and you prefer more simple tastes and don’t like extreme contradictions on your taste bud or been surprised with you food then i believe you should avoid the visit.
Aren’t you now surprised???

Drum roll please! I am pleased to announce my first 5 star Unilocal Review for an Amsterdam restaurant. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m hard to please. Like many Generation Y’ers — I want (and believe I can have) it all. I demand practicality in price, but creativity in cuisine, attentive but unobtrusive service. Restaurant Daalder delivers on all counts, and then some.
A rather unassuming looking restaurant located in Jordaan, the interior is what I’d describe as «Dutch Standard» with a few quirks — a picture of some silly fish with hair and a bookcase-​come-​secret-​room are just a few things there were in my line of sight. The staff were welcoming from the minute all 12 of us walked in. As our number was so large, we did the chef’s menu. They kindly inquired to see if there were any food preferences/​restrictions that they should be aware of. I, the resident non-​seafood eater, told them as much and I had a compatriot in a woman who didn’t eat shellfish.
I was very impressed by the way the starter was executed — for most of the table this consisted of a beautiful bowl of fish atop an oyster cream, surrounded by a cucumber juice, swirled with dill oil. I hate seafood but this was so beautifully presented I wanted to eat it! For my no-​shellfish friend, they made her this dish but removed the oyster component and I received a totally different but equally as beautiful soft mozzarella cheese with chorizo and chorizo oil. I could be wrong, but I feel most restaurants would take the easy way out and just give myself and my no-​shellfish friend the same starter. Instead, the chefs at Daalder went the extra mile to ensure both of our dining experiences were optimal.
The main was equally delicious — a beautifully tender black angus, surrounded by piped flavour explosions of many varieties — aioli to artichoke — served with bami and topped with lemon zest. Lemon zest on top of steak? Who’d have thought?! The next particularly interesting flavour combination came in the dessert. Ripe pineapple surrounded by yogurt and cheesecake creams, served with tarragon meringues and a Thai basil sorbet. I could have done without the sorbet but this is because it was a bit too anise tasting for my taste. Overall, this was a fantastic dessert and the lightness balanced well with the rich steak we’d just had.
Despite the sophistication of the food, there was no pomp or arrogance. Service was spot on: attentive but not in-​your-​face, considerate, informative, and just generally pleasant and personable (which is harder to find than you’d expect in Amsterdam). The staff here either genuinely enjoy their job or deserve an Oscar for pretending to! This was the best dining experience I’ve had in Amsterdam. Not to mention this came in under 50 Euros a person (and yes — that is including wine). Get the Restaurant Daalder soon — word on the street is that some guy called Michelin has been hanging around here. ;)

We just loved this place and went with the prefix7 course menu and every dish was fantastic. Cool local casual scene.

We really enjoyed our meal here. The almonds and bread sticks in hummus were a great way to start. The amuse was light with interesting flavors. Had sea bass and cucumber in it. The starter was probably the most interesting plate. It was veal tartare with squid. It came with capers, raw onion and crispy squares if potato. The flavors changed in your mouth the more you chewed. Very well done.
We then had the angus beef. While it was very good, being from Alberta where we perhaps have the best beef in the world, it wasn’t the best steak I’ve had. The meal seemed a bit rich between the parmesan cheese and the 2 aioli sauces and the cracker that seemed infused with oil. It was perhaps my least favorite of the 3 courses. I was secretly hoping for fish considering we are in Amsterdam.
The dessert was a beautifully done basil ice cream with cherry and lemon cheese cake.
In all a very nice meal, perhaps a little expensive but worth a try.

Wow. I love discovering restaurants like this, before they get their first Michelin Star. A little grungy (but clean), some leftover details from when it used to be a bar, crappy sound system, heterogenous mix of staff — one guy knows his business extremely well, but some others think they are working in just another tourist ripoff bistro. But the FOOD. Omg. Superb bistronomie stuff like Veranda in Antwerp, La Buvette in Brussels. Lots of veggies, flavours, freshness and depth. Great gin tonic’s to start with, sadly the suggested wine pairings fell a bit flat, and it’s tricky to buy bottles when there is just two of you, and the menu is blind. Luckily the aforementioned friendly maître found something (a 2008 Hautes Cotes de Baunes) to make us happy in the end.
This place could go far given continued focus on quality, as long as they don’t lose themselves and their roots like some (La Paix bxl)

My husband and I had lunch at Daalder here in Amsterdam in celebration of our 21^st wedding anniversary today. We both ordered the four course meal (mine with some modifications for my eating plan) and were overwhelmed by the high quality of those courses, and the service that we received. The Chef is truly an artist. Both he and our server were very welcoming and friendly. We highly recommend Daalder.

Daalder is an insider tip. Who would guess it’s a classy restaurant when the name of a place contains «Café»? Really cool!
Regular guests are welcomed personally by the young chefs.
This is one of the places with 3 to 7 course option and a biweekly changing seasonal menu. They also have a regular menu but of course it’s more exciting to try the dishes that are only available for a short time.
To start we got bread with olive oil, but also fantastic smoked salted almonds and a delicious spicy version of hummus together with grissini.
Unfortunately the waiting time between the courses was relatively long, certainly longer than I’m normally used to in places like this.
But it’s worth it. With every dish you get the awaited reward, an unusual combination of fresh ingredients, beautifully prepared and assembled. The Black Angus they served was probably the best I ever had, pure pleasure.
Looking forward to the next time!

This is one of the best meals we had in Amsterdam. For the quality of what you get the price is quite decent. We went here with friends on a recommendation and would definitely go again.
Unfortunately I can’t pick out one standout dish, as my memory has faded, but all I know is that it was all really good. Most times I’m quite picky, but I can honestly say there was nothing to complain about here.
It’s quite a little gem.