Amsterdam’s Best Fish & Seafood Restaurants

Gone are the days when fish restaurants meant starched white tablecloths and stuffy waiters. Today’s seafood restaurants and fish cafés are catering to an altogether less formal clientele. Plus, with meat consumption looking like a less and less sustainable option, fish and seafood has become the protein of choice among the younger generation of climate-conscious diners. And with the Netherlands right on the North Sea, there are plenty of pescatarian options in Amsterdam nowadays.

Planning your trip to Amsterdam

Before you can sample the city’s seafood, you’re going to need to get here! Below are a few trip essentials, but my Amsterdam travel planner covers everything from transport to the best time to visit.

• Getting to Amsterdam: Schiphol airport is well-connected, and Expedia and Omio are good starting points for comparing flights and rail options. If you’re coming from London, Paris or Brussels, the Eurostar is a relaxed alternative to flying, though Dutch national carrier KLM has direct flights from most major cities in Europe, the US and beyond.
• Getting around: Amsterdam is compact enough to walk, and public transport covers everything else. Skip the rental car unless you plan to leave the city – use GVB to plan your route, or do as the locals do and rent a bike!
• Where to stay: From canal-side luxury (Pulitzer) to boutique quirkiness (Hotel Not Hotel), there’s plenty of choice. Browse the full range on Booking.com or visit my neighbourhood guide for specific hotel recommendations.
• Tours and experiences: A canal boat trip is a must – find options on Viator or GetYourGuide. For food tours, I recommend Eating Amsterdam plus any of the other Amsterdam tours and experiences in my dedicated article.
• Further reading: For restaurant and wine bar recommendations, grab a copy of my Amsterdam Restaurant Guide or Amsterdam Wine Lover’s Guide.

8 of the Best Fish and Seafood Restaurants in Amsterdam

Whether you’re looking for classic French fruits de mer, freshly caught North Sea fish, the best Dutch oysters or Peruvian ceviche, Amsterdam has something for every seafood lover.

The Marlin Bar

You show your age when you can remember a restaurant several incarnations ago. Way back in the day, The Marlin Bar on Van Baerlestraat used to be Brasserie Bark – the lobster tanks are gone, but the old-school classy Oud-Zuid charm and seafood-led menu remains. We enjoyed the traditional Bouillabaisse that was gently fragrant and comforting, the generous portion of gravadlax with potato rösti and buttery sauce laced with fish eggs, and the seasonal halibut with white asparagus, clams, peas, mint and samphire. Plus, there’s an impressive wine cellar, from which we picked a rich Roussanne blend from the Languedoc. It all felt rather French and elegant and like a throwback to my younger years in Amsterdam (in a good way).

Transparency disclosure: I was invited to eat at The Marlin Bar as a journalist, and I didn’t pay for my meal. Obviously I try to be as objective as possible, but I always disclose when I’ve had a freebie.

La Douzaine

Perhaps you can guess what La Douzaine specialises in from the name: the menu features several different breeds of oysters, from classic Normandy fine claires to Zeeland’s North Sea finest to molluscs from Ireland and Portugal. You can also opt for an oyster tasting, working your way through half a dozen oysters of varying provenance – with bone-dry bubbles to match.

But if you’re less of an oyster fan (or, like me, only fancy a couple) don’t worry – there’s plenty more fish and seafood on the menu. I particularly enjoyed the paling (smoked eel) and foie gras on brioche toast for pure luxury. The salty crunch of anchovy pasta was simple but extremely moreish. Both went wonderfully with the white Rioja we drank alongside. I was less impressed with the mussels, which were overcooked. And while the wine list was well curated, the wine service was a little shambolic. The staff were friendly and extremely well-meaning, but their youth and inexperience could use some training.

Pesca

While Pesca calls itself a “Theatre of Fish”, it could perhaps be better described as a market: on entry, you’re invited to peruse the catch of the day, and choose your fish by weight or by the piece. There’s no menu, as the seafood on offer differs depending on availability. Plus, Pesca’s dynamic pricing policy means the price of the fish decreases during the day so as to sell out and avoid food waste. Having selected the fish (each of which is prepared differently) and side dishes, you then step into a wine market, where a member of staff is on hand to help with wine selection. Once at your table, the food is prepared and served to be shared. On the Sunday lunchtime I visited, I loved the softshell crab with mango and jalapeno, the fresh oysters and the grilled octopus. Plus, Pesca’s patatas bravas were also some of the best I’ve ever tasted.

The Good Companion

Tucked at the end of Westerstraat, this cosy neighbourhood find has been serving up its signature fish & chips since 2017. And while the Brits among us are thrilled at this (the cod and chips that I tried came complete with mushy peas, Sarsons vinegar and tartare sauce – exactly as they should), The Good Companion in fact serves seafood that’s almost exclusively caught off Dutch shores. Their menu features not only the fantastic fish & chips, but also feisty ceviche, plump oysters (prepared a few different ways – it’s definitely worth venturing away from the classic lemon), grilled seabass and home-canned sardines. The ultimate in comfort seafood.

Transparency disclosure: I was invited to eat at The Good Companion as a journalist, and I didn’t pay for my meal. Obviously I try to be as objective as possible, but I always disclose when I’ve had a freebie.

Vis aan de Schelde

Despite what I said about the death of white linen tablecloths, Vis aan de Schelde is probably the most upscale of all the fish restaurants on this list – smart, chic and with a price tag to match. But it’s definitely worth it: in addition to oysters, caviar, lobster and fruits de mer, diners can select the monthly changing chef’s menu from three to five courses. The day I went, my favourite dish was the haddock with scallop, pata negra ham and black venus rice, although I also enjoyed the monkfish wrapped in pancetta and served with fish croquettes, kohlrabi and purees of aubergine and peas. The service and wine pairings were also top-notch.

The Seafood Bar

You can’t really go wrong with a huge platter of fruits de mer and a bottle of chilled Sancerre so long as the seafood is unfailingly fresh. And that’s exactly what you can expect at The Seafood Bar, now with multiple locations in Amsterdam. The “Fruits de Mer Seafood Bar” was a colourful sculpture of fishy delights arranged artistically over ice. The gamut ran from heavy hitters like lobster and oysters through to understated molluscs like winkles and clams. A true treat with a bottle of bubbles.

Brut de Mer

Also worth checking out is the aptly named Brut de Mer on the always-bustling Gerard Douplein in De Pijp. As well as plateaus loaded with fruits de mer, they specialise in oysters, lobster, freshly caught fish, Champagne and other wines. Lovely pavement terrace, too.

Sjefietshe

I’m not sure what’s so difficult about pronouncing the word “ceviche”, but apparently were a Dutch person to say it phonetically, it would sound something like Sjefietshe. Luckily, the rest of the restaurant is far more Peruvian than it is Dutch. The ceviche itself was just as I’d anticipated: it came in six different versions, all of which sounded heavenly. Sadly I could only manage two, so I made it the classic ceviche – with crunchy chulpe corn and red onion that had been slightly pickled from the acidic leche de tigre – and the shrimp and haddock ceviche, which came with a slightly sweeter (but still pleasantly sour) combination of pumpkin purée, coconut milk, hot yellow chillies and crispy puffed rice. Both were full of delightfully bright, feisty flavours, and went wonderfully with a pisco sour. A cosy neighbourhood gem in De Pijp that does Peruvian food very well.

Other seafood restaurants in Amsterdam

I’ve not been to any of these restaurants yet, but they all come highly recommended and are worth a punt!

• Visque
• John Dory
• Barracuda

Want to eat more than just seafood in Amsterdam? Download my Amsterdam Restaurant Guide: