Where to Eat the Best Vegan Food, According to Vegans Themselves

Going out for vegan food no longer means ordering the salad with bacon bits and goat cheese, minus the bacon bits and goat cheese. Amsterdam offers plenty of choice, but inspired animal-free spots are also springing up like mushrooms across the rest of the Netherlands. Here are our tips, along with those from our die-hard vegan friends.

Amsterdam

Yerba

No burgers or snack food here, but rather elegantly presented plates with little dollops and powders. Aesthetically top-notch, with interesting flavors and great cocktails. This is where you go when you don’t need to watch your spending that evening. The crowd ranges from ultra-hip Japanese visitors to international theater makers and families from Het Gooi and Amsterdam-Zuid.

Mr. & Mrs. Watson

Vegan cheese is often inedible (sorry), but that doesn’t apply to Mr. & Mrs. Watson. They’re famous for their vegan cheese riffs: they can recreate all kinds, from cumin cheese to cream cheese and goat cheese. And it tastes so good! Dinner and lunch focused on culinary comfort food, plus those cheese boards…

Marit’s eetkamer

A homely, intimate dining room with a changing monthly menu, run by Marit and Gino, who both have a background in fashion. So expect a setting and design that’s been carefully considered, as well as colorful, surprising dishes.

Morris & Bella

This is proper dining out, with linen tablecloths and beautiful tableware, yet still affordable. An extensive wine list and a vegan set menu. Omnivores can also find something to enjoy by ordering supplements.

Men Impossible

At a long communal table, you eat vegan ramen here: incredibly rich and filling, so think twice before you supersize your order. A super-friendly Japanese chef does everything himself, which is why you also need to make a reservation.

Deer Mama

A cheerful spot with vibrant colors and amazing shakes (boozy or not), burgers and fries for your vegan fast-food fix. With the happy message that we’re all welcome in this world—and that we’d better celebrate it with soft serve, too.

Rotterdam

Spirit

A light, fresh buffet restaurant where you can serve yourself according to your taste and appetite. Seasonal, with so much choice that you could genuinely sit here eating incredibly well for hours on end if you felt like it. Massaman curry and mango-red-pepper ice cream to finish? Bring it on. There’s also a location in Amsterdam.

De Oude Plek

An old-school-looking Chinese restaurant with a modern twist: a fully vegetarian menu, with plenty of vegan options too. Nostalgically craving the special spring roll from your childhood? Here you’ll find a little of the past, and a whole lot of the present.

Utrecht

Gys

With two locations, it’s really booming. Simple, tasty and covering all bases: from high tea to a vegan kapsalon, there’s plenty of choice for everyone! Still the only 100% organic restaurant in the Netherlands, they hope more and more others will follow suit.

Wakuwaku

Festival favorite The Dutch Weedburger is always on the menu here. Grab one before a concert at Tivoli Vredenburg, or go for a delicious lasagna, for example. You can do it all at this colorful, popular spot—and be sure to order one of those incredible cocktails too.

Oproer

Shiitake arancini, ma’am? Yes! Deconstructed tiramisu? Yesss! A sour Berliner Weisse from their own craft beer brewery? Hell yeah! Seriously delicious beers + beer food at this urban brewery with a local focus.

Dordrecht

De Kop van ‘t Land 

Many friends had already beaten us to it; they all returned hugely enthusiastic and recharged from a romantic weekend at this beautiful inn in De Biesbosch. Vegetarian and vegan menus available on request, with wine pairings for a little marital bliss; win-win!

Daantje

Sandwiches, salads and approachable main courses at this fully plant-based restaurant. According to many enthusiastic followers, it absolutely had to be included on the list. Still the first and only one of its kind in Dordrecht, it’s a great place to eat all day.

Appelscha

Het Volle Leven

Let’s stay in inn territory with this guesthouse, where you can breathe in nature all day long. Then, after a three-course dinner made from produce from their own vegetable garden, you can roll straight into bed—only to roll back out again for the homemade breakfast.

Header image: The Dutch Weedburger

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