De Plantage

This is supposed to be a restaurant guide, but may we take the opportunity to highly recommend the ARTIS zoo in the Plantage neighborhood? Its compact, winding layout is jam-packed and engaging enough to get lost in for hours. And since this is a restaurant guide, you should start or end your visit with a stop by the neighborhood’s namesake cafe. 

De Plantage functions somewhat like your run-of-the-mill museum or tourist attraction eatery, but feels more like the lobby of a nice hotel. The globe-trotting lunch menu has several varieties of shakshuka, a chicken liver parfait with madeira gelée, and Amsterdams pekelvlees, an open-faced sandwich topped with Dutch corned beef, horseradish, and pearl onions.