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Los Pilones is a simple Mexican restaurant with great food and a bar-style atmosphere that delivers exactly what you would expect from a Mexican.

Good, honest food - tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole, tacos and enchiladas. In a Mexican style interior with small tables, beach and palm tree motives, Inca symbols and Corona and Tecate commercials.

Los Pilones has a good selection of Mexican beers, including Tecate, Pacifico, Negra Modelo, or XX. They also do the classic cocktails such as Margaritas and Daiquiris. And offer a fantastic selection of Tequilas including rare aged ones.

Los Pilones is located near Leidseplein and is a welcome change from the many touristy places in the area charging lots of money for bad food. They have has been around since 2001.

Make sure you make a reservation - Los Pilones can get very busy even on a school night.

Great place for lunch when you’re shopping on Schönhauser Str.

I was very impressed by the friendly service. The place is very well known and was buzzing when we arrived. Still we were received personally and had a table quickly.

The food is Vietnamese. To ensure freshness and quality there are only five dishes on the menu plus a daily special.

The decor is modern chic, dominated by a big, somewhat perplexing poster of a Vietnamese adolescent that seems to keep an eye on the guests in a friendly yet determinedly don’t-mess-with-me kind of way…

Great restaurant off the beaten path, in Eimsbüttel, one of Hamburg’s liveliest and most interesting neighborhoods.

The name is unusual, referring to swimming lessons, and there is a bowling alley in the basement. It’s this quirky personality that makes the Freischwimmer charming.

The decor is a sort of simple chic that reflects Hanseatic understatement. The food is interesting and well executed - a combination of German and Mediterranean. The wine list short but quality. And the service is knowledgeable, attentive and friendly.

One of the four best restaurants in Amsterdam alongside Balthazar’s Keuken, De Kas and Marius.

De Witte Uyl is different. From the 1920s interior in which no two chairs are the same to the unusual menu from which guests pick two main courses but no starters. Knowledgeable hostess Annemieke is the glue that ties it all together. De Witte Uyl has a seasonal menu that changes four times a year and often is inspired by recent trips of the owners to far away places. The dishes are a combination of tradition and inspiration, prepared form the finest but also most ecologically sustainable ingredients. The wine list is extensive and Annemieke makes great recommendations. The chocolate board - hunks of chocolate that you will attack with an ice pick - is legendary.

One of the four best restaurants in Amsterdam alongside De Kas, Marius, and De Witte Uyl.

Balthazar’s Keuken is a small and crowded restaurant located in a former blacksmith’s workshop in the heart of the Jordaan. The staff tries hard to make all guests feel at home and the setting is certainly intimate, if slightly crammed. The food is a set three course menu. The first course usually is a mixed appetizers platter, presented on a sort of elevated stand as the large plate hardly fits the table. The crowd is mixed, from tourists to locals and from young to old. There is a bohemian feel to the restaurant that is designed around an open kitchen with an ominous “no access” sign.

One of the four best restaurants in Amsterdam alongside Balthazar’s Keuken, Marius, and De Witte Uyl.

De Kas is a large restaurant and nursery, located in a former greenhouse on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The concept is based on serving only food produced on associated farms around Amsterdam. There is an annex with an herb garden that you can visit in between courses. The food is a healthy and organic 3 course fixed menu, prepared meticulously and presented with lots of attention to detail by the attentive service. The inside spacious and hip, as is the crowd. The wine list is extensive.

One of the four best restaurants in Amsterdam alongside Balthazar’s Keuken, de Kas, and de Witte Uyl.

Marius is a small restaurant with a provincial style decor and located somewhat off the beaten path. A Chez Panisse trained chef runs Marius with a small staff, serving a semi-set four course chef’s menu that changes daily but leaves some options. The kitchen is organic, modern French. The mood is fun and upbeat, dominated by the chef’s laid back attitude and the guests high spirits from being rewarded by the food for having made it all the way over to Marius.

Agree with comrade that Feduzzi is great, although slightly on the expensive side. Even though you’ll pay for quality, I consider it five stars!

Their own import prosciutto is the best in Amsterdam - very smooth, light on the salt and literally melts in your mouth!

They also make very good sandwiches - interesting combinations, lusciously garnished and served on their own ciabatta.

They also have salads, pasta, dessert, wine and much more - all available to eat right there or to go.

Wagamama has been in Amsterdam for a while. I liked it in the beginning - perfect for a quick eat, decent food, different atmosphere and always kind of fun.

Unfortunately, it keeps getting worse!

The service is terribly unorganized. We were asked to wait so that staff could check for empty tables even though the restaurant was half empty. And getting us the check and change seemed to take forever. It’s really a bunch of underpaid kids running around.

The food was no better. A dish that was new on the menu and that I tried was so bad that I sent it back. The noodles were overcooked, the veggies undercooked and the sauce cold and just slapped on top of it. In their defense, they took it back without complaint and offered a different dish.

My feeling overall was that the place is run down - dirty and falling apart. I won’t be back.