‘Skek

Loved the concert on Thursday. Relaxed and friendly people.
Nice place to be and enjoy some drinks.

We were in the Red Light District and it was getting dark and we realized that we hadn’t eaten. We stopped and went into Skek. One side is a bar with seating and the other side is more of a restaurant. We sat in the bar area which was just beginning to get busy, We both got drinks and a variety of small plates-​spring rolls, shrimp croquettes, etc. It was filling since we were hungry but not overly so. The service was quick, the waitress very nice and I would recommend and return.

Good food, beautiful art, great live music

I will keep this simple, short, and full of information.
Skek’ is seriously a hidden gem near the Red Light District. Being student run, the atmosphere is geared for that crowd but anyone is always welcomed.
Every day there is a daily special that I would recommend getting even though the prices on the menu are very low.
Coming here two times out of 5 days, both the burger and the BLT wowed me. Very filling and quite a tasty surprise!

A bar/​restaurant for students. A limited, but seasonal, menu with something for the vegetarians as well. The prize is very reasonable. I had the curry with parsnip and chickpeas; it was nice! Sweet and not very spicy.

Cute little café near centraal with good coffee and snacks but service was terribly slow and they ran out of milk for coffee. We were the only ones in the place too.

Little-​ass spot between the central train station and the red light district.
There’s like 5 bar seats, jazz music and a cozy couch area to get your eat/​drink/​romance on.
It’s such a different vibe than the other bars/​restos on this street.
Get the meat and cheese plate and a couple of Maes beers.
Its a hip spot sans annoying hipsters.
True.

This is a funky little place at the top of the Zeedijk. We walked past on a Saturday night and heard live jazz so we stopped and got a spot at the bar.
I have been there twice and have not yet eaten, but the food business is brisk and everything looks/​smells great. It’s crowded at the bar, but the overall vibe is very good and the entertainment is eclectic.
I’ll be back.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I used to go here quite often when I was a student and back then you got a discount if you show the staff your student card. I don’t know if this is still the case.
It’s a nice cosy restaurant, not too big but there is enough space. They always have tasty options on the menu and I think for the price you pay (which is very low) you get a really good meal.
There are lots of young people coming to this restaurant and there is a nice vibe going on. In summer they have a couple of tables outside too. I like the fact that this restaurant is in such a nice bubbly area where all types of people come.
Good memories when I think of Skek…

The café is located at a convenient spot near central station in the red light district. The inside of the café is quite cosy and since it’s a student café the prices are cheap!
I wanted a light meal so I chose for something simple, a tosti with ham, cheese and tomato. The taste was quite good but unfortunately the tomatoes were red hot in comparison with the rest of the tosti. I’m never gonna do tomatoes on a tosti again! Since the flavour was still good and it was cheap I don’t really mind though.
I’d recommend going here if you need to eat somewhere near central station with a low budget!

‘Skek is a nice student café in the red light district, near central station. It is a cozy café and a good choice for a decent priced lunch or dinner. All the food is priced cheap, with a students budget in mind, so even if you’re not a student you can have a cheap dinner here. They do have a real restaurant feeling in the evening. You can have a dinner with 3 courses with wine and everything, but everything is just priced lower than at most restaurants. The food is nice and tasty. For lunch I recently had their pumpkin hummus sandwich, which was a month special. The toasties are cheap and made with Turkish bread. ‘Skek is also a good place for drinks. Every first Monday of the month the beer is really cheap, I think it’s 1,75 per beer? They have bionade as well.

This place is laid back and has good food and beers.

C’est l’endroit parfait pour aller manger un bout et boire un petit verre en arrivant de la gare centrale. Il y a des tables toutes en longueur dans la rue pour voir déambuler les gens.
J’y ai mangé un délicieux sandwich aux légumes grillés avec une soupe de poireaux.
Ils ont aussi un Wifi accessible, c’est pratique pour rafraichir sa liste de signets et trouver son prochain spot :)
See you next time ‘Skek !

The atmosphere in this café is unmatchable. It immediately makes you feel like you’re at home. I had the spanish stew with sausage and was blown away.
They could have perhaps a cider on draft or in a bottle, but that’s never a must :)

The food is healthy and fresh but it tastes just OK.
I enjoyed the grungy atmosphere much better. (Note: grunge is a positive, think Kurt Cobain’s restaurant).
The service was mind-​blowingly slow, even for European standards. We spent about 2.5 hours here, paid, and went somewhere else to fill our stomachs because by the time we were done we got hungry again.

Think about that one meal or memorable, restaurant experience that you’ve had that you recall every now and then waiting and wondering if you will ever return and be able to replicate it again. Whatever yours might be, this is mine.
I often suffer from a horrible memory or ability to recall detail for food (in spite of the fact that I’ve gone to culinary school and worked in restaurants for years) but I can still recall to this day the exact meal, course for course, that I had there: appetizer-​vegetarian (mushroom) terrine, entrée-​fish pot pie (beautifully creamy, white flaky fish with carrots and peas blanketed by a delectable puff pastry), dessert-​panna cotta, and after dessert drink-​sambuca and espresso.
Everthing was perfect. I sat at the bar alone, was able to converse with the bar staff (who, as others have mentioned were all students), and couldn’t have imagined having found a better restaurant in a country where, (well, think what you want of this), I didn’t expect to find great food.
On a final note, I was there last about four years ago. I actually tried to stop by there again while on a layover in Amsterdam. I knew they were going to be closed at 7:30 in the morning but I still wanted to be able to see the inside of the restaurant through the windows on the street. I’ve booked a trip to go back there this April and have not stopped thinking about it since…
Go and let me know what you think

Loved this restaurant — was a wonderful place to relax. The menu was very creative. Service was a bit slow but overall, this place deserves high praise. I will return!

I thought this space was really cool, plus the food was outstanding.
The menu is available in English and Dutch and has maybe 5 starters, 5 mains, and desserts. There are a few vegetarian options, I had the hazelnut, parsnip, Dutch cheese (can’t remember the kind, something mild) and bulgar wheat burger— interesting, right?! It was really tasty and served with a side salad of cabbage and carrots and handcut fries. Another guest had the same and enjoyed it as well, and the third had the special of the day, which is available at a ¹⁄₃ discount to students. It was the traditional Dutch vegetable mash, a little boring, maybe, but it was delicious. They also had the special dessert, which was a brownie a la mode. Quite tasty.
Three meals, two desserts, two beers and three soft drinks came to 52 euros.
We had to wait a bit for a table on a Saturday evening, but no more than 15 minutes, and by 8 pm there were open tables. There’s a board on the wall listing the events, with live music almost every night and a weekly pub quiz.
Most definitely worth a visit, especially to avoid the junk nearby.

Student-​conceived and run at the very beginning of Zeedijk. Full bar and a menu that tries to be organic and local. There is a fun «cabin» room that makes you feel like you’re on a ship. Also: performances on a mini-​stage and football games on a roll down screen.

Been here once with Dutch friends while they were looking for a location to organize meet-​ups closer to Central Station. Definitely better than all those touristic places in the red light district, and pretty nicely furnished, I only tried the bar so I can’t say anything about the food. I can suggest it for those that don’t want to get too far from the station.

wer in amsterdam zu denen gehört die weder zum kiffen noch zum meisje an glotzen gekommen ist dem sei es empfohlen! ziemlich lässige atmosphäre, tatsächlich bio produkte, free wifi und auf der karte frittierte heuschrecken, mit dem argument dass die weltbevölkerung diese quelle für proteine braucht und es sicher bald normal sei insekten zu essen. haben übrigens geschmeckt. fazit: unkonventionell, und überraschend sowas in sichtweite des bahnhofs zu finden

Wir haben das Restaurant eher zufällig gefunden, wir wollten essen gehen, aber eben nicht in einer diesen typischen Touristenbuden. Die Karte ist im positiven Sinne überschaubar; die griechischen Gerichte sind toll und modern interpretiert. Mir hat gemundet couscous-​Salad mit Lammfleisch und einer tollen Minz-​Dattel-​Mandel-​Sauce: gute Wahl.
Meine Begleitung hatte einen griechischen Burger mit selbstgemachten Fritten mit Tzaziki-​Mayonaise und Salad. Das war auch nicht schlecht, aber dem Preis nicht ganz angemessen.
Es gibt auch kleine Snacks auf der Karte, die man einfach mit einem leckeren niederländischem Bier runterspült;-))
Der Style des Skek ist alternativ-​studentisch-​cool, es könnte auch im Schanzenviertel in HH oder in Berlin sein. Zudem ist es ein Zuhause für Jazz-​Veranstaltungen und andere kulturelle Veranstaltungen.
Die Staff ist wirklich lustig und lieb;-)
Fazit: entspanntes und spannendes Café/​Restaurant, in einer Lage (Nähe Bahnhof /​Rotlichtviertel), wo man es nicht unbedingt erwartet:-)
Tip: Studenten bekommen nicht unerheblichen Rabatt;-)

lockere atmosphäre, essen eher mau…

Hier war ich schon oft und gerne, mit Kollegen oder sogar mit Kunden. Das Sjek ist ein unkonventionelles Studentencafe mit Restaurant mitten im Rotlichtviertel. Dort arbeiten Studenten — quasi selbstverwaltet — und das Essen ist für Studenten auch wesentlich billiger. Das Ertaunliche: hier schmeckt es durchdie Bank lecker und die Gerichte sind of ausgefallen und liebevoll angerichtet. Das es manchmal ein wenig chaotisch ist oder auhc mal ein wenig länger dauert haben wir bisher immer gern in Kauf genommen. Der stets freundliche und prompte Service von allen Mitarbeitern sucht seinesgleichen in Amsterdam. Und sie haben dort eine wunderbare Espressomaschine, mit der die Angestellten auch umgehen können. In der Regel gibt es eine Tagessuppe und eine kleine, aber feine Auswahl an Sandwiches, Fleischgerichten und vegetarischen Gerichten. Natürlich auch Süßes zum Nachtisch. Wer es gerne gemütlich und typisch haben möchte, dabei noch wirklich gut und preiswert speisen möchte, dem sei das SKEG an’s Herz gelegt! Note 1 in allen Klassen.