A Plant-based Guide to Amsterdam’s Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants

I’ll preface this article by saying that the closest I’ve come to being vegetarian was doing Veganuary – once, a very long time ago. Despite being well aware of the environmental concerns, I am a confirmed omnivore. Not least because I’d find it very hard to be a foodie without eating absolutely everything. That said, I’m trying to become more flexitarian: eating less meat and more plants (especially at home) but never sacrificing flavour or pleasure. So bear in mind that these recommendations for vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Amsterdam are written in that context. Tastiness is top priority!

Planning your trip to Amsterdam

Before you can sample the city’s veg-led cuisine, you’re going to need to get here! Below are a few trip essentials, but I’ve also written a comprehensive post on important things to know before visiting Amsterdam.

• 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.

Best Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants in Amsterdam

According to the powers that be (aka press releases), 1-7 November is World Vegan Week – so when better to go plant-based (or at least flexitarian) for a week? Here in Amsterdam, two vegan restaurants – SOIL Vegan Cafe (on Bilderdijkstraat in West – more on SOIL below) and The Meets (in Sumatrastraat in Oost) are offering a discount on their menu during that period (book via RestauPlant and quote the code WORLDVEGANWEEK). So it’s cheaper to eat out meat-free!

Bonboon

Housed in the Jordaan’s elegant Hotel Mercier but very much a culinary destination in its own right, Bonboon brings fine dining flair to vegan cuisine. The evening I visited, Bonboon had just introduced their summer menu: five seasonally inspired courses, with optional wine or tea pairings. It’s hard to choose a favourite dish: fried courgette flowers with labneh took on sweetness from apricots and chilli jam (which tasted more like homemade ketchup than anything spicy) – a good match for the peachy Albariño from Rias Baixas. Dolmades were soft and smoky, elevated with piquant walnut aioli, tart lemon, fragrant mint and dill, and crunchy, aniseedy fennel – a tricky pairing but the smoky, nutty Pecorino from Abruzzo worked a treat.

Next came “malfatti” – Italian dumplings made, in this case, from Swiss chard and served with chickpeas, artichokes and gremolata butter – coupled with a tart, clarete-style wine from Catalunya. The first dessert (pictured above) was more savoury than sweet: French toast, beetroot, black garlic and cherries with a rich cashew cream, cut through with a cherry-led Pet Nat (an ancestral-method sparkling wine). And finally a vision in peachiness, served with a sweetly aromatic Sauvignon Blanc. An exquisite marriage of wine and food, which can be difficult to achieve without the protein structures of meat, fish and cheese. And an elegant ambience to add to the sense of occasion!

Editor’s note: I was invited to eat at Bonboon 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.

MADRE

Touting modern Mexican dining, MADRE makes no mention of its vegan credentials on the menu – only that it aims to be sustainable, inclusive and respectful. Which is probably why I didn’t even realise I’d eaten a fully vegan Mexican meal until I came to pay the bill at the end. We ordered the Chef’s Choice: a good-value selection of six dishes to share, although all dishes are available a la carte if you’d prefer your own thing. From the spicy beetroot tostadas to the earthy ancho-tahini-ponzu green beans, everything was full of Mexican-fusion flavour. On the taco front, I couldn’t get enough of the artichoke barbacoa – grilled artichokes, spiced with mojo de ajo, topped with guasacaca salsa, served on blue corn tortillas. I was also mesmerised by the “3D printed pork” tacos with a smoky dipping broth. I have absolutely no idea how they did it, but the texture was pure pulled pork. I even loved Madre’s funk-free natural orange wine – a Grüner Veltliner from Austria’s Niederösterreich region. The meal was magic – almost literally.

In the mood for Mexican food? Take a look at my guide to Mexican restaurants and where to eat tacos in Amsterdam.

Veganees

I’d walked past Veganees a hundred time (it’s on my street, on the way to the supermarket) before I finally went inside, and now I’m not sure what took me so long. The interior has that industrial look that’s characteristic of the Wibautstraat (lots of concrete, accents of scaffolding) but it still manages to feel cosy. The menu is an Asian-fusion range of plant-based small plates and mains, with natural-leaning wines and cocktails to drink. We plumped for dumplings: mandu filled with kimchi and tofu with a wasabi kick, and gyoza that were gingery and eminently dippable. Next came Korean fried cauliflower florets, which were as spicy-sweet-sticky as their fried chicken brethren, but without the meat. And baby Szechuan potatoes with a generous sprinkling of salty-crispy chilli and a cooling lime-mayo dip. It was all pretty damn good, and I’d happily go back to try more.

Hearth

I actually went to Hearth, tucked behind OLVG Oost, in search of vegan sushi (more on that below). But when I arrived, I found lots more to tempt me – including some delicious cocktails and natural wines. First, we tried the red quinoa roll with aubergine, tofu, spring onions and wasabi mayo, plus the green spirulina roll with avocado, black beans, chipotle mayo and sesame. Then we moved onto cauliflower tartare and broccoli gnocchi with cashew garlic cheese, paired with a biodynamic French blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. It’s not fully fine dining, but it’s a cut above your average eetcafe.

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

SOIL Vegan Café

The one and only time I did Veganuary, I ate a lot of veggie burgers. They all tasted (and felt afterwards) like carbs upon carbs upon carbs. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then, and you can now find vegan burgers that genuinely hold their own (indeed, are preferable to) their meaty predecessors. One such example is the kimchi burger at SOIL Vegan Café: I was told the patty’s made from chickpeas, peas and soy protein, and I have no idea what they did to make it taste so good but it worked. Moreover, the brioche bun was the perfect size and texture, the kimchi was wonderfully spicy, and there was a hint of creaminess from some vegan cheesy mayo combo. My only complaint was that it was so juicy (I think from the kimchi) that I couldn’t eat it like a sandwich without taking a bath in it, so I resorted to a knife and fork.

Vegan Sushi Bar

Possibly the biggest sushi trend in Amsterdam is vegan sushi – something I never thought I’d like but strangely do. And no one is making it better than the aptly named Vegan Sushi Bar – offering up a menu of 10 meat-less and fish-less signature red rice rolls plus various other inari, maki, gunkan and side dishes. Try the flambé salmon for an extremely convincing vegan replica of sushi’s favourite fish, or the shrimp-less tempura for a roll that’s more guilty pleasure than vegan virtue. The gyoza are excellent too.

Morris & Bella

Located in the trendy Spaarndammerbuurt, Morris & Bella does what it calls in “slow fine dining”: offering a regularly changing, seasonal menu made up of local Dutch produce served over four, five or six courses. The evening I dined there, I loved the starter of fresh peas and root vegetables with butter-bean purée and pea juice – it felt very clean, while still hitting the spot. My tussengerecht was cabbage rolls stuffed with carrot and leeks, and served with a curried lentil and mustard seed dressing – delicious even without any meat. And lovely wines, to boot.

Saravanaa Bhavan

Although there’s only one branch in Amsterdam, Saravanaa Bhavan is in fact a global chain of vegetarian Indian restaurants. The décor is bright and spartan, which means the ambience isn’t great. But the dosas are what you’re here for, and I’ve been raving about them ever since I first visited Saravanaa Bhavan several years ago. If you’ve never had a dosa before (or even if you have), this is the place to try one. A South Indian speciality, these enormous crepe-like discs are filled with everything from cheese to potatoes to lentils. One of those to yourself would probably fill you up till your next meal for just a few euros. But if you do have room left (I suggest sharing), order one of the thalis for a full gamut of veggie-tastic Indian flavours.

Golden Temple

I’d biked past Golden Temple on the Utrechtsestraat dozens of times before I ever went in. It looks like a hippie place, and I guess in a way it is – you could well be eating your dinner on a sheepskin rug with a small dog curled up next to you. But the food is something even us meat-eating folk can get on board with. I really liked their Mexican tacos, filled with beans, sweet potato, guacamole and salsa – they were fresh, citrusy and brimming with flavour. But there are also Indian dishes like the tofu tikka masala, and Southeast Asian dishes like fresh spring rolls and coconut curries. Something to please everyone.

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

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