Speaking of cocktails, BARDAK is a fantastic little bar/restaurant in de Pijp to drink them! As well as the tasty yet unpronounceable Oaxaca Delight (a tequila, lime and pineapple concoction that was, indeed, delightful), we tried several dishes off the “street food” menu. Foreground: broccolini background: lamb kebabs BARDAK Pulled chicken with hummus, pecan nuts, pomegranate seeds and herbs was also delicious, especially when piled onto pillowy pitas. Meanwhile in the meat department, two small kofte-style lamb kebabs were possibly my favourite dish: served with a spicy tomato and herb salsa and more tahini. Roasted beetroot with burrata and pistachio nuts was creamy and wintry, while grilled broccolini with tahini and za’atar tasted fresh and healthy. The mezze-style menu is designed to be shared, and the dishes are split into a longer list of veggie options and a shorter list of meat ones, of which we tried what felt like a representative sample. Bar Mittsīar Mitts is a cosy little place on the Javastraat, with natural fabrics covering cushioned benches and greenery adorning the walls. Obviously I try to be as objective as possible, but I always disclose when I’ve had a freebie. Night Kitchen’s industrial-zen interiorĮditor’s note: I was invited to eat at Night Kitchen as a journalist, and I didn’t pay for my meal. The excellent natural wines are easy to pair with the dishes, too. But fish lovers will also highly rate the grilled sardines and the seabass sashimi. My favourites were possibly the celeriac with feta, za’atar and pistachio, as well as the octopus with spinach, potatoes, smoked paprika and yoghurt.

Your best bet is to order the shareable “dinner with friends”, and relax while dish after dish appears on your table. Night Kitchen is a cosy spot to prop up the bar with a perfectly mixed cocktail, and then wander through to the restaurant with its dark split-tone walls, copper pots and hanging plants. Luckily for us, they do all these things (and more) extremely well. Yes, you’ll find plenty of za’atar, labneh and sumac, but you’ll also find Italian-style gnudi, French-style mussels and Portuguese-style octopus. It’s hard to categorise Night Kitchen, as they dabble in the general Mediterranean area as well as the Middle East. Foreground: beef tartare at Israeli restaurant Bar Bachrach Night Kitchen Food this good is matched by the price tag but it’s well worth every cent. I loved the Alsatian pinot blanc and the Valencian tempranillo that we ordered, too. To taste the full gamut of Bar Bachrach’s impressive skills in the kitchen, order the chef’s menu for a little bit of everything. These were all small, shareable dishes, but there are larger dishes like whole grilled fish and sticky ribs as well. Especially impressive were the beef tartare that was singing with preserved lemons, silky-smoky aubergine from a kamado-style BBQ in the kitchen, and a stunning dish of raw langoustine, pickled cabbage, crispy bulgar and sweet-sour pomelo. This is some next-level Israeli stuff, featuring flavours I’ve not tasted before in Amsterdam. I waited a few months before I visited, but I was not disappointed when I did. Located in the spot once occupied by Eetbar Wilde Zwijnen, Bar Bachrach opened in autumn 2021 to critical acclaim. Many of the restaurants below have their own reservation systems that use platforms like Formitable to book your table, but there are also sometimes good discounts via TripAdvisor. Reservations are crucial in most Amsterdam restaurants. Reserving a table at Amsterdam’s Middle Eastern restaurants Want to eat more than Middle Eastern food in Amsterdam? Download my Amsterdam Restaurant Guide: There are literally hundreds of Middle Eastern restaurants in Amsterdam, but these are some of my favourites. Plus, due to immigration from these parts of the world to the Netherlands, it’s a cuisine that’s well represented here. It’s varied, full of herbs and spices, and with a great balance of sharing dishes ( meze, mezze, mazzeh, mazze, spell it how you will) and grilled meats and fish.

Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Israel, Lebanon – all these countries were once part of the Ottoman Empire and all have similar climates, which probably explains the similarities in their cuisine. If I were to pick one region’s cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it would likely be the Middle East.

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