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Tabac used to be a brown café but has recently succumbed to the lounge trend. Locals notice, visitors may not.

Save this restaurant located in Anoushka Hempel’s upmarket hotel for a special occasion. The food is a fusion of French and eastern – highly creative, but at a cost (see Blakes).

Vegetarian restaurant run by American Sikhs offering a range of Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican food with a homecooked feel.

The best breakfasts in the area are served in this bright and airy café. Perfect before tackling the nearby Waterlooplein market, or for a caffeine break midbrowse.

Despite its quiet location and deceptive size (it’s huge inside), this superb Italian restaurant gets quickly booked up. The cooks create delicious dishes from an open kitchen.

One of the best Indonesian restaurants in the city. Superb and extensive menu.

Treating yourself to an Indonesianrijsttafel (’rice table’) is an absolute must in Amsterdam – and this one is outstanding. Enjoy a feast of 18 deliciously spicy dishes, from mild to explosively chilli-filled, flavoured with coconut and ginger, peanuts and lemongrass, all served with mounds of rice.

Join in a jolly sing-along (the sort of happy, beery songs you feel you know the words to even if they’re in a foreign language), and have a drink with the real, pre-gentrification Jordanese.

Pick a number of courses, choose a range from simple to gastronomic, and leave the rest to the wine connoisseur and cook duo who run this unusual eaterie.

The décor may be plain, but the dishes are rich and elaborate at this gourmands’ paradise, which for years was known only to insiders but recently acquired an international reputation when it picked up a long-deserved Michelin star. Expect to feast on goose-liver, suckling pig, pigeon breasts, sweetbreads and other delightfully wicked fare.