Amsterdam has a table for every mood, from candlelit brown cafés — beloved pubs with warm wood interiors — to casual canalside bistros to formal fine-dining establishments. Chefs are increasingly leaning toward plant-forward menus, with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients taking pride of place. Indonesian culinary influences remain important, with rijsttafel feasts offering a bold contrast to European flavors.

Bak
» A hyperseasonal multicourse menu with beautiful water views

Overlooking Houthaven’s docks, Bak occupies a repurposed warehouse in a former timber port west of the city center. Its rugged dining room, which features simple wood tables, slanted beamed ceilings and large windows framing views of the IJ River, has the coziness of a family home. The chef changes the hyperseasonal multicourse menu daily; there is no à la carte option. Each dish arrives like a work of art, as in the tart beet confit with samphire-parsley cream beneath a fresh bay leaf and the superbly juicy chicken in a vin jaune beurre blanc with morels, chard and barbecued fennel. When the waitress described the dessert — grilled plums with roasted-potato purée and Guinness ice cream — my mouth failed to water. What arrived, however, proved an utter delight. The luscious purée balanced the sour plums, while the stout added a robust kick. We hadn’t expected such a delectable meal in so unassuming a setting. Bak is not a place you will find by chance, nor does it often appear in guidebooks, making it a real hidden highlight. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Bak
Van Diemenstraat 408. Tel. (31) 20-737-2553