Nam Kee

I read the previous reviews and was on the fence about going to this restaurant, but after some confusion with the entry to «New King» (right next door) my brother and I decided to give it a try.
When you walk in it is very unclear if you should seat yourself or wait to be seated. We were kinda ignored by the workers for a minute and then told to sit at a table that was already occupied. Apparently, guests share tables.
Ordering was pretty easy and the food was great. However, I kept my order very simple — stir fry broccoli with chicken.
At the end of the meal, I asked for the check to be separated. The waitress told me she couldn’t and then told me «you can count.» I was kinda taken aback by her choice of words, but my brother and worked out the payment.
Notes:
* Restaurant is small
* Service is kinda okay, with now frills
* Food was good
* the servings are big enough to be shared

The oysters are amazing and affordable here, everything else was o.k. I probably won’t come back unless for the oysters. We waited like 20 minutes as well. Service was uncomfortable

I love the Chinese district in Amsterdam.
Even though it is not a big area you get everything what you need within a walking distance.
So when I was there last time I was craving for some duck and wonton noodle soup.
I tried the NAM KEE since it is quite well known in this area. you never really get used to the narrow buildings and the quite uncomfortable atmosphere when you enter one of those restaurants in that area. The buildings are old and there are hence no windows etc .
If the interior is not welcoming you get a feeling of being trapped in a shoe box easily.
Anyway that is exactly how I felt when I entered NAM KEE.
The staff is typical Chinese so therefore they are quite a bit rude. rushing from table to table and ordering you not to stand in the way.
Anyway that’s how the atmosphere should be in a typical Chinese restaurant so I am actually not really complaining about it. But it might be a bit unusual for other people who are not used to it though.
I ordered the typical duck and some oyster as well the wonton soup.
The duck unfortunately was way too fatty.
The skin was not crispy and it was not good at all.
The taste was bland.
The wonton soup on the other hand was really good. I liked it since there was also some shrimp packed in the wonton.
Anyway I would not really recommend this place .
I don’t get it why it is so hyped.

Sometimes I get a little homesick and Chinese food makes it all better.
Nam Kee is my go-​to place for it. The food isn’t super amazing, but it isn’t bad either — it gets the job done.
The portions are reasonable and the last time I came here, I ordered a mixed meat rice place (BBQ pork & roast duck). I hear the oysters are amazing here though, so I gotta come back and do a round 2!

We were craving Asian food so bad while traveling around in EU. After walking around chinatown we figured this place would be our best bet as they had a line out the door.
We waited about 20 mins before getting a shared table with some other customers. We ordered the wonton noodle soup with egg noddles and the roast meat combo platter. The food was affordable and they gave us pretty large portions, but it was very bland. I’m not sure if that’s standard for food in this country, but we had to douse our food in soy sauce and chili oil. The duck and pork wasn’t crispy and again lacked seasoning.
We probably wouldn’t recommend this place. I guess We were expecting a little bit more especially since they were highly rated on Trip Advisor. :/

I always always crave for chinese food when I’m out of the country. Only reason why I can’t bring myself to give this place 5 stars is because I’m from New York, and New York has amazing chinese food compared to many other places. But for Amsterdam? Nam Kee is amazing. And no, I’m not saying that because my options are limited — the food really was good.
I had the stir fried beef ho fun noodles for 12.50 Euros and I loved it. I actually like how the ho fun was thinner in length, and thicker and not as flat as the way they make it back home. reminded me a bit of Hong Kong. It wasn’t oily, and wasn’t fried too «wet», if that makes sense. Wish it was salted a bit more, but nothing I can’t do with a pinch of salt myself. Also had the mixed meat over rice which consisted of cha siew, roast pork, and roast duck. The skin to the roast pork was crispy, but not in a very good way. It was the hard-​crispy, not crunchy-​crispy. Cha siew was good, and the duck was as well, although the duck was a tad too much on the sweet side for me.

Ich war vor Jahren in Nam Kee Amsterdam. Nun als ich wieder in Amsterdam war wollte ich wieder essen gehen.
Das Essen hat schon nachgelassen, es schmeckt nicht mehr wie früher. Mir war das Schweinefleisch zu fettig und die Wan Ton fehlte an Würze. Die Nudeln und Suppe war ganz gut vom Geschmack. Wir hatten auch Hähnchen bestellt, die war richtig trocken. Vom Preis her ok, aber anscheinend lieben die Chinesen und Holländer, Nam Kee. Später standen die Leute draussen schlange und haben auf einen Sitzplatz gewartet. Na ja ein Besuch lohnt sich, wer es noch nicht kennt :)

This is definitely the best Chinese food I ever had. Thanks to my friend who referred me to this place. I will definitely come back. Also, the staff is very friendly

My all time favorite Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam. Hands down. I first came here about 5 years ago and I have been frequenting here ever since. There are my 2 all time favorite dishes here; crispy pork and eggplant hot pot with pork.
I don’t even bother ordering crispy pork at other restaurants in China Town or in Amsterdam because they never beat this place. The crispy pork here is what it should be. Crispy. They don’t have an entirely separate dish of crispy pork. There are dishes of mixed meat, etc but you can ask them for only crispy pork.
I nearly had a rage flip mode when they had a new menu and I couldn’t find the eggplant dish. It used to be on the section of hot pot/​stew with an image of a happy smiling pig. However, to my luck they still have it. The eggplants with the combination of «crumbled» pork pieces are delicious. I wasn’t able to find a dish similar to this at any other Chinese cuisine based restaurants.
The service staff have remained the same since I made my trip to this place 5 years ago. Even the chef by the window dealing with the pecking duck. I am not sure why people complain about the service. It is what it is. The service is not that different to other Chinese restaurants in Amsterdam. I wouldn’t say worse or better.
You might be surprised but the rather shabby interior you see is an upgrade of what it used to be like 5 years ago lol. Don’t be discouraged by the look of the restaurant. I promise you, the food is great here. Not exactly a place for a date or fancy meal but definitely a place to appreciate good crispy pork and other goodness.

Service is above average.
Roast Duck is lean and tasty.
Chinese green on Garlic is tender.
Bitter melon with Spare rib. Melon is crunchy, not bitter at all
Total tab, 41 Euro include steam rice.
I’ll return on my future visit.
Long line waiting stretch to outside.

awful service, well, there was no service at all, even after 15 minutes waiting and waiters just standing there. really akward, didnt understand why. We just stood up and left with no reaction of the waiters. my feeling is that they hate tourists. Dont go to this place if u wanna eat.

Not accepting reservations is really good marketing. The restaurant is not that big. I think about 30 to 40 seats. So yes, we also had to wait in line, arriving around 18pm. After a 20 minute wait (4 tables waiting ahead of us, so about 5 minute per table wait) we were directed to our table.
They don’t offer a classic rice table but you can make your choices and share as most people do. As we were 4 we had ample choice. We took the fantastic (and served very hot) oysters with black bean sauce with kroepoek as starter. Loved it. Than we took sweet and sour squid, chop suey with chicken, peking duck and babi panang. Topped it up with bami and nasi goring. Everything was fantastic. The duck could have done with some accompanying sauce and somewhat warmer.
For what concerns the service. We really liked the fact that it’s fast and smooth and friendly. We where afraid about the interior after reading reviews but it’s ok. The Chinese touch is in the food and the staff. The biggest surprice was the bill knowing how good and how much we ate for just under 75 euros for our family of four.
We would certainly recommend this place.

My friends who always come to the restaurant every time visiting Amsterdam have recommended this place. The restaurant is located in china town few blocks from redline district and across from the buhddist He Hau temple. The place is small with about ten tables for four or six on each wide of the wall. The line is long and slow. After waiting over half an hour, we got to sit down. The service is fast but so so, utensils, food and drinks were dropped on the table. The waitress was rushing with orders. We ordered shrimp dumpling noodles, Peking duck noodles, and stirred fried noodles. They are all ok but not exceptional! The price is reasonable. 3 dishes cost about € 50 ($ 70 US).
Would come back if there is no line and probably will try other dishes like lobsters or oysters…

Good selection and good food. We had the hot n sour soup, cashew chicken, mixed pork dish and veggies. All was good and the service was fast. Only downside is they don’t take credit cards! We coverslip the bill with 2 euro to spare. Wheeeeee

Dutch style Chinese food. I had the vegetarian Foe Yong Haai with white rice. Big portion, good taste, could have used a bit more sauce. Good value for money.
It is not the nicest place to eat. Service is rushed. We ordered our food and it came out almost immediately. They brought out the check while we hadn’t even asked for it yet, which is considered rude for Dutch standards.
My friend and I both wanted to powder our nose (Okay this just sounds wrong in Amsterdam. We needed to use the restroom.) before we left and while she was gone the waitress already directed other people to our table. It was very awkward and in the rush of it all my friend lost some of her stuff.

Auf der Suche nach einem «echten» chinesen in Amsterdam und ja wir sind fündig geworden. Das Ambiente runtergekommen, wie man es in einem wirklich guten Chinesen kennt. Das Personal ruppig, aber schnell. Das Essen fantastisch. Man darf halt nicht für jede Person nur 1 Gericht bestellen — das macht auch in China niemand, sondern locker 2 Gerichte pro Person bestellen und alles essen zusammen — so muss das sein und nur so schmeckt es. Die Zubereitung der speisen war landestypisch (einfache Gewürze, wenige Zutaten — aber sehr gut). Die Menge der unterschiedlichen Gerichte ergibt dann das richtige chinesische Erlebnis! Also nehmt nicht nur 1 Tellergericht, sondern teilt euer essen. Und in China sind Menükarten mit über 100 Essenpositionen eher die Regel als die Ausnahme und sollte daher nicht abschrecken.

Sincerely the worst meal i’ve eaten in Amsterdam. Ended up there thanks to the Unilocal reviews of madmen, who apparently like bad service and slimy, tasteless mulch. Don’t make the same mistake!

Apparently if you want Chinese food in Amsterdam, Nam Kee is the place to go. I guess there aren’t too many good Chinese places then since my experience here was pretty pedestrian.
Came here for roast duck and it was alright. The skin just didn’t have the succulent crispiness that that you would expect and I thought the duck lacked seasoning. I asked for beef tendon noodle soup but the waiter misheard and ordered me beef ball noodle soup instead but I didn’t correct him. It’s tough though to pay 8 € for store– bought beef balls. I also thought the broth lacked flavor which was disappointing.
It is however a comfortable dining experience at Nam Kee and service, while it varies from server to server, is adequately attentive. It’s just a pity the food wasn’t what was hyped to us.

My Malaysian boyf always take me there — its like our 4^th time there and no doubt, his many times there while he made the stopover in Amsterdam between Dublin and KL.
Typical Cantonese.
Salt & Pepper Squid — wow, its SO good — im quite fussy about my salt & pepper squid but its really done quite well! :D

I had dinner here tonight and ordered the noodle soup with BBQ pork, my go to dish at Chinese restaurants. The meat was good but the noodles weren’t the best I’ve ever had. They were more Indonesian style than Chinese and weren’t flavorful or tender. The broth also tasted vegetarian to me. I wonder if the cooks make a base stock that they use for their vegetarian and regular soups.
My companion ate a combination platter with I believe 2 different kinds of pork. It was SCRUMPTIOUS. I was in the mood for soup, but I tried a bite of the pork and it was so fatty and creamy. Melt in your mouth fatty. Ah, so good.
Overall not the best Chinese I’ve ever had but not the worst either. You can find better in the city.
NOTE: cash only

Nam Kee is my go-​to Chinese restaurant in Amsterdam. The décor is quite nice for eating in, though my predominate experience is ordering take-​away. Everything I’ve ever sampled from here has been very good, far exceeding my low expectations set by a lifetime of eating Chinese food in New Jersey. Highly recommended.

The family owns three different Nam Kee Restaurants in Amsterdam. I’ve always been to the Chinatown location.
They serve Cantonese cuisine. I’ve been here 2 times. Both times I had a great meal. I especially like the chicken and duck, but I also like the tofu and pork claypot (with mushrooms and bok choy). Really, I’d have to say it’s some of the best Cantonese food I’ve ever had and my asian friend reports that it’s very authentic.
It’s a very busy restaurant, especially around lunch and dinner time, but the wait is generally not very long and definitely worth a visit when in Amsterdam.