Haesje Claes

The food was decent, but the service was poor. It took 2.5 hours for 3 courses, and the waitstaff was not attentive to us at all. The upstairs room they put us in also did not have much ambience. I would not go back.

Haesje Claes was my first experience with traditional Dutch food. This restaurant was completely packed and even with a reservation, we had to wait about 30 minutes while squeezed into a tiny hallway waiting to be called as the patrons leaving shimmied past us. Our saving grace – the waiters were super quirky and seemed to have a lot of fun interacting with us and each other throughout the evening.
Most of our table opted for the prix fixe menu which included an appetizer, main, dessert and either coffee or tea.
Mackerel Salad — It’s rare that a salad is the standout of a meal, but I have to say, I loved this salad. The flavor of the smoked oil-​rich mackerel was unique and a nice change of pace from how fish is typically prepared in the U.S.
Beef Meatball with Stamppot — The meatball was fairly standard, however, it sat atop a mound of stamppot – potatoes mashed with a vegetable (in this case broccoli), which is definitely uniquely Dutch!
Lemon Pie with Cream — I enjoyed the pie, however, all of the desserts included in the prix fixe menu seemed somewhat plain (apple pie, lemon pie and vanilla ice cream). As much as it pains me as an American to admit it, I do understand apple pie is traditionally Dutch, but I think some variety of options other than pie would be a more memorable finish to the meal.
Overall, the food didn’t blow me away, but it felt like a solid and authentic introduction to Dutch cuisine and is worth a shot if you’re new to the area!

Made a resso but showed up half an hour late. They had no idea that we were even late because they were also half an hour behind on all of their reservations. It didn’t seem very organized.
I decided to go with the prix fixe (I believe it was 25 Euros). This came with an appetizer, select entrees, and a dessert.
To start, I chose the salad, which came with some ham. No complaints there. We also ordered the Dutch shrimp croquette which was a regular croquette (2) on the side of a salad with some Dutch shrimps. I was under the impression that the shrimp was in the croquette, but this wasn’t the case. Either way, the shrimp that was there was good. They’re super tiny but packed with flavor, and a nice change from the typical shrimp I would normally eat in the state.
For my main, I went for the stamppot with meatball. I liked my first few bites (maybe because I was hungry) but the more I ate it, the more it tasted like processed meat. My boyfriend compared it to the canned vienna sausage. The stamppot it came served on top of wasn’t bad. It was my first experience with stamppot, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s basically just mashed potatoes with cabbage. It wasn’t horrible but I probably wouldn’t order that again. Not my thing.
My boyfriend had the rack of lamb with white cabbage stamppot and port sauce. The lamb was cooked perfectly and came in a huge portion. I would say this was the best dish of the night.
That is, if you’re not counting dessert. We finished off our meal with the vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and cream. I tasted some crushed stroopwafels somewhere in there, which was my favorite part.
The service was mediocre at best. I think it could have been because they had too many people to take care of. The host was really nice though. He checked on us more than our waiter did.
Bottom line, I was expecting great things, but got an average experience. It seems as though this restaurant is geared more towards tourists, so that might be why. They even have menus in multiple languages. If you really want to try this place, do so only if there’s a short wait. Anything longer than 20 minutes here is not worth it.

First time looking for a Dutch restaurant and it was ok. I had the meatball with cabbage Stampot. The mashed potatoes mixed with some sort of vegetable was horrible and tasteless. Service and beer was good. It was our first try at local food and didn’t really impress. I am sure there must be better in the area.

Lovely Ditch restaurant. Service was great and fast. Loved the Dutch pea soup. And a Stampott was perfect split for 2 people.

Serves traditional Dutch food in a Dutch setting. By American standards the food is only OK. I had the beef stew. It was aight, but I suspect the mashed potatoes had been microwaved because after a couple of bites they were still way too hot in the middle, practicality burned my mouth.
If you’re gonna eat one Dutch meal in Amsterdam I suppose it might as well be here. Ownership seems to go to great lengths to make sure they keep popping up in every tourist magazine and publication, it’s pretty clear tourists are their bread and butter and bacon. (The bread comes with butter and a tiny piece of bacon.)

Ate here twice on my stay in Amsterdam. Gluten free menu. Felt very safe eating here. Never got sick. Brought me gluten free bread and my own butter. Amazing food especially the sauerkraut potato mash with sausages & meatball entrée. The dessert was incredible, pancake in orange marmalade sauce with ice cream. Service 1^st day was very nice went above and beyond bit 2^nd visit the service from the waiter was definitely lacking. Overall great food!

Nettes, gemütliches holländisches Restaurant. Hier würde man es als gutbürgerlich bezeichnen.
Zielgruppe sind ganz klar die Amsterdam Touristen.
Dafur bekommt man nette Bedienung, mittelprächtiges Essen zu fast schon günstigen Preisen. Fisch dominiert die Speisekarte.
Wir hatten Spaß — waren 15 Leute, für unseren Zweck perfekt; für das intime Candle Light Dinner eher nicht geeignet.

Wonderful place, very cool old school décor, lots of traditional Dutch food. We had the famed hotchpotch and the traditional pea soup. Service was nice and fast! Highly recommend!

EXCELLENT FOOD. $$$/​4 price wise. OK SERVICE. VERY OLD
Had the Chicken– good. Duck– very good and loved the sauce. Cod– very good maybe a tad salty. Starter was fabulous –had the Platter with various smoked fish. Could have been we were hungry and had been wandering around looking for a restaurant but it was good. Even the kids dug in and ate. Crab soup– wow Devine!!!
Had to wait a very long time for a table. It was busy so people families have been going here for a long time and it’s good. The building Looks like it use to be part of something else maybe a church at one time???
Service was iffy. Little standoffish and they wanted us out as it was getting very late and we ended up being the last people there. We had ordered dessert too which I don’t think they were expecting. The kids loved the ice cream with the small plastic treat toy stuck in it.
I’m pretty sure when I was sitting there in one of the rooms I saw a mouse dart across so I’m a little uneasy but the place is very old. Never told anyone or anyone in my party. It was fairly dusty in there too! I think they just need to give this place one good deep cleaning.
WOULD RECOMMEND for the food but I’m not sure if I’d go back necessarily.

We enjoyed this very warm and traditional Dutch restaurant. Even though dutch food is not as exciting as other cuisines, we liked trying new things. I had the mashed potatoes dish with endive, meatball and sausage. My wife had tomato soup and cheese crochets, kids shared salmon and cod. Everyone was happy. My daughter said the apple cake was the best not too sweet.

A local recommended this place for local Dutch food, and he right. Very popular right in re center of town, but not a long wait. I had the Stomppot Van De Dag (which I assume is the Stomppot of the day.) tasty and a nice amount of spice. A bit expensive for meatball, sausage and mashed potatoes, but satisfying.

The restaurant is located in the center of Amsterdam, serves mostly local dishes and we decided to go there for this reason. Dutch cuisine is not the most famous in the world and it was hard to find a place serving typical Dutch food. Having said that, we loved both the atmosphere and food. A bit pricey but nice.

Un bon attrape touriste !
50 € à midi pour 2 avec :
2 bières
1 croquette de fromage à 9 €
2 stammpot
J’ai vu défiler le temps d’un repas 4 tables de français, 1 d’anglais, 2 d’italien, 3 d’allemands et n’ai pas entendu un mot de Néerlandais.
Le plus important, le repas était tout juste correct et les boulettes pas meilleures que celles d’ Ikea…
Par contre le service état sympa et le cadre certainement authentique.

My mom had never been to Amsterdam, so being the tourguide I was obliging what she wanted. She asked for Dutch food, so I took her here. The food was so-​so, the service was good and friendly (but a bit slow as expected). Not sure I’d recommend this place or come back again, but it was authentic for sure!

The staff was so polite and helpful with the menu! The portions were very generous and we could not finish each portion. My rack of lamb was cooked to perfection!

Food is great, but the service was horrendous!
I’m actually writing this review as I am waiting for my food because it is taking ages to come out. I think that they’re slaughtering the cow and making the meatball for the stamppot.
During a visit to Amsterdam, I went out to find stamppot. I literally got so frustrated with my map that I ended up walking to every restaurant to check if they served stamppot. Surprisingly, it’s not too easy to find a restaurant in Amsterdam that serves traditional Dutch cuisine. I eventually stumbled upon this restaurant. The restaurant was packed. The wait would be half an hour. In fact, the host tried persuading other guests to eat at the bar next door. I checked out the bar next door, and preferred a quieter atmosphere to enjoy my dinner, so I returned to the restaurant and waited. Originally what was supposed to be 30 min. wait turned into 10 min. Persistence is the way to be.
After sitting down, the waitress took my order which included: pea soup with sausage and bacon, herring with onions, meatball stamppot. The food tasted fine, but since this was the first time eating Dutch food, I wasn’t sure if it was truly authentic or not very impressive dishes. The dinner itself was a never-​ending 2.5 hours. The waitress constantly forgot my mere existence and by the time she remembered to bring out my dessert, I simply asked for the check along with my dessert. And even after my request, she still forgot to take my credit card. The waitress acted surprised when I declined to leave a tip. Unbelievable!

It’s hard for me to say whether or not the food at Haesje Claes is authentic since it’s the only place I’ve tried Dutch cuisine; however, I can say that it was pretty delicious!
We started off with delicious complimentary bread and butter. For lunch I had a plate with vegetable croquettes. My boyfriend had the stamppot, a Dutch specialty consisting of mashed potatoes with different veggies mixed in (in his case, sauerkraut). Both dishes were good; the stamppot was particularly delicious.
Aside from the food quality, the location of the restaurant is excellent and central. The restaurant is very friendly to many nationalities; they have waitresses who speak many different languages and menus in many languages as well. They have several different beers, both on tap and in the bottle, and most of them are Dutch brews. I would definitely recommend this restaurant as a place for tourists to experience Dutch cuisine.

J’ai trouvé notre Entrecôte version hollandaise !
Si si c’est vrai ! Quand tu arrives tu fais la queue comme tout le monde, même quand tu as fait une réservation pour 2 il y a plusieurs heures. Le cadre est pas mal ressemblant aussi mais toujours dans l’esprit hollandais. Il y a plusieurs étages et beacoup de tables mais on a eu la chance d’être placés dans un petit coin entre fenêtres et boiseries. Et si on se concentre bien, on peut avoir l’impression de manger dans une chaumière de campagne (mais vraiment si on se concentre bien hein !). On découvre la carte en français. Elle existe dans de nombreuses autres langues, ce qui a eu pour effet immédiat de me refroidir en me disant «ah ben voila fallait bien qu’on tombe sur l’attrape touriste du coin !».
Et bien en fait non ! Alors oui il y a des touristes, oui ça défile pas mal mais on vient ici pour manger traditionnel. Plusieurs plats hollandais et amstellodamois sont proposés à la carte. Nous on rêvait d’un bon stamppot. Nous avons pris celui aux carottes et aux oignons. Vous pouvez aussi choisir version choucroute ou celui du jour (ça change tout le temps). Dans l’assiette: un écrasé de pommes de terre aux carottes et aux oignons sur lequel repose une tranche de lard grillée, une saucisse et de la viande (et sur le côté des cornichons et des oignons au vinaigre). Accompagnez le tout d’une bière ou d’un cidre et c’est parfait !
Malgré le fait que le plat est très copieux, je n’ai pas pu me résigner à partir sans un dessert: tarte aux pommes maison, sauce canelle et glacé vanille. Délicieuse mais trop de glacé ! Vous verrez sur la photo, c’est pas une boule que j’ai eu mais la moitié du bac à glacé !
Comptez 15,95 € pour un bon stampppot et 3,95 € pour le dessert.

Restaurant Haesje Claes is tucked away on a narrow street south of Dam Square. It looks small on the outside, but is large and busy on the inside. Still, it maintains an inviting atmosphere, intimately divided into several dining rooms. We were seated in the Red Dining Room, with dark wood paneling and a display of Delftware along the walls. Very elegant.
Dinner was a chance to try several Dutch specialties. The soup course was Erwtensoep (Pea Soup with Sausage). (I’ve never had such good pea soup!) The main was Hutspot (Hotchpotch), a Dutch stew combining a meatball, sausage, and bacon with potatoes. That was really good! To top it all off, dessert was a folded Dutch pancake with ice cream.
Dutch cuisine is hearty fare that holds many surprises! Definitely recommend Haesje Claes to try it.
The restaurant provides free WiFi.

I was here for dineer, and we saw a mouse walk past a few times. I tolt the waitress, see was laconically: «Mice often run here, we can not do anything, that happened in old houses.» That is nonsense, I live also in a house from 1620 and i have never mice. This is a lack of hygiene. The mice also run overnight on the tables and countertops. When mice run they let every 10 cm a drop op urine.
This restaurant is a disgrace to Amsterdam.

Every since I started coming to Amsterdam for work I’ve always been searching for a place where I can have proper Dutch food, so I asked one of my Dutch colleague where she goes for a proper Dutch meal and she handed me a card that bore this establishments name.
This place is definitely amazing. The food is great, the service is wonderful and I have nothing bad to say about this restaurant. It’s extremely popular to the locals so expect a line when you’re going for prime time dinner.
Life is great„ experience culture. («,)

Someone suggested Haesje Claes for an authentic Dutch meal and the restaurant did not disappoint. We were warmly greeted and sat at one of the tables. Our prefix dinner order selection was:
(1) Bread & Butter
Fresh and delish
(2) Pea Soup with Sausage
The BEST and hearty pea soup I’ve had ever… full of chunks of sausage and bacon swimming in the pea soup. An entire meal in itself.
(3) Smoked Ham with Goat Cheese
Hubby’s starter salad was also huge and he really enjoyed it.
(4) Hotchpotch Haesje Claes
My main entrée of mashed potatoes mixed with sauerkraut, a meatball, sausage and some bacon is a traditional Dutch meal which I was told I couldn’t miss. Again, my selection was hearty … a very interesting mix of meats and veges. Must be an acquired taste… :)
(5) Fillet of Pork with Pepper Sauce
Sonny said his pork was delicious and he liked his selection.
(6) Sauteed Salmon with Lobster Sauce
Hubby’s salmon was perfectly cooked and his entrée was a winner.
(7) Crème Brûlée with Macaroons
Although served cold, my crème brûlée was still yummy … :)
(8) Pancake with Ice Cream & Orange Liqueur
Sonny & Hubby both enjoyed their crepes.
I enjoyed my typical Dutch meal at Haesje Claes which offers tasty food & friendly service … I’m a fan. 4 Stars!

The place just looks typical, not trying to foul you with loungy lights or anything.
The food, althought not very refined (but can traditional duch cuisine be very refined?) was not bad at all.
Started with a very good choice in the middle of freezing winter: mustard and eel soup! Worth trying t!
For the rest, the local dish was rather standard, made of cabbage, potatoes, sausages… A kind of local stew which is OK in winter only.
Very good local beer (bottle)
Would certainly return!

Incontournable
Cuisine hollandaise et française exquise ! Le cadre est très sympathique, le service est parfait: le serveur s’essaye meme au français. Une tres bonne adresse.

Un vrai resto hollandais
C’est génial. La cuisine est typique et du terroir. Les prix moyens. Et en plus, la carte est en français.