Good food on Rembrandtplein

Rembrandtplein is a place that most Amsterdammers—apart from the late-night greasy snack—try to avoid when it comes to food. You mainly find tourists there, and perhaps the occasional lost businessman. So you might not expect to find a good restaurant right in the middle of the square. And yet, it’s there.

When you walk into Kitchen & Bar Van Rijn, you enter a space you would never have expected to find on this touristy square. The large restaurant naturally offers plenty of room for dining, but there is also a communal reading table and the floor-to-ceiling bar is enormous. During our main course, the nightlife crowd starts streaming in, taking a seat at the bar for a cocktail. The place has a high glamour factor, especially when the DJ starts spinning records around ten o’clock.

Chef’s menu

The menu features French dishes with the kitchen’s own twist. You can go there for carpaccio or steak, but if you feel like being surprised, go for the chef’s menu. You can choose between four and eight courses, and we go for five.

To start, we are served monkfish ceviche with herring roe and deep-fried soft-shell crab. As it should be, it is beautifully acidic, and the crispy crab is a great addition. The second course, featuring lobster and gazpacho ice cream, is served with much fanfare and smoke. Fun, but in the end, it’s all about the taste. Fortunately, it does not disappoint—especially the ice cream is a real surprise.

Two favorites

Very nice: there is always catch of the day on the menu. A good initiative, and the brill we are served is beautifully seasoned. But the absolute favorites are the final two courses. The veal entrecôte is cooked perfectly, incredibly tender, and the deep-fried sweetbread on top makes us extremely happy. Dessert is a fennel panna cotta with green apple sorbet and tarragon sponge cake. The fact that the cake is more like meringue doesn’t matter at all, because that crispness pairs very well with the dish. The flavors are fresh and surprising, and we declare it the tastiest dish of the evening. And I don’t even like fennel.

So there you have it: a trip to Rembrandtplein is definitely worth it every now and then. Van Rijn is open for dinner, but you can also go there during the day for lunch or breakfast. Or have a cocktail before heading out—in that case, we recommend the lemon meringue.

Kitchen & Bar Van Rijn
Rembrandtplein 17
Amsterdam