I went to Semhar with 13 friends for my birthday and it was by far my favorite Ethiopian experience…read more(mu sample size is 8 restaurants). Service: They were extremely accommodating for our large party and everyone was warm and welcoming. They really went the extra mile to provide a special experience for us, from the unveiling of the platters to the coffee ceremony. Food (most important part for me!): The vegetarian and meat platters we ordered were out of this world. Everything tasted fresh and well seasoned and the injera was the best I ever had. We loved the various spices used and each dish was cooked exactly how I like it. The date cake and Ethiopian coffee were also amazing. Ambiance: This also stood out for us. The lighting, scents, artwork and design added to the overall excellent experience. It was the perfect combination of cozy and lively. Price: The price per person was very reasonable for Amsterdam. There are a number of Ethiopian restaurants to choose from in Amsterdam but I highly recommend giving this one a try! Thank you Semhar for helping to make my birthday extra special :-)

I wanted to try Ethiopian food so I went here... twice!…read more We ordered something that was basically a sample of everything for two on a big round platter covered with what they called "pancakes", which is indeed pancake-like bread (but not sweet at all), and then topped with all the different kinds of sample portions on them. Very different and quite nice! The second time I went here I ordered it to be extra spicy. The restaurant itself is conveniently located with a canal view on one side and a street view on the other side, near the entrance. The restaurant is very clean yet it has a warm feel. The staff is also very friendly. Also, they have banana beer! Go figure.

Fantastic restaurant. Went with four friends and was treated like a King. Had the five-course…read more"mystery" menu. Just asked if we can't eat something. The waiter was enthusiastic, exciting and very attractive - which helps! He explained each meal very carefully as well as the wine. He reminds me of my attorney. I thought the food was incredible and we had a special "guest chef" that night. So I am not sure if they swap in and out chefs weekly but the meal was lekker. The portions were big for European standards but not too big. The wine was very good as well. They were very generous with the bread on the table....with lekker olive oil and butter. Odd thing I found about the place is the big shaker of salt on the tables. Right off the supermarket shelf. I would think that if you're confident of the way the food is prepared, salt would not be recommended or needed, but this is a big-boy thing of salt. HUGE space in West Amsterdam. Near an old dyke and canal. It must really rock in the summer time with that outdoor location. I will be going back for sure. (Review 383 - 395 overall) 13 Feb 2020

Very good food in a cute, French style but still casual ambiance. I'm not a great fan of stuffy,…read moreput-up restaurants, so this was the perfect combination. Great food, good company and friendly staff. Yes. I can understand why this is a populair spot.

Visiting the city with friends, and as we were searching for an open restaurant, we stumbled upon…read morethis gem!! I'm from a city that has excellent Ethiopian food, and this lived up to those standards. Delicious, flavorful, and rich food, huge family-style portions weren't even the highlight. What really inspired me to write this post was the incredibly kind woman who served us. She was so sweet and motherly; it really felt like a warm home-cooked meal. Oh also, they have adorable outside seating with cute tables and benches. Get a glass of the white wine too! So glad that we stumbled upon this place, will definitely be a must next time we're here :)

Quiet and personalized service. Food was delicious and prices were good.read more

We ordered the paprika appetizer and two main courses of lamb with veggies and couscous and some…read moremerguez. The appetizer came with homemade bread and as a bonus, he brought out some cow brain. The cow brain was a bit spicy and the most flavorful dish we had! It seemed to be a one man show and he was suuuper nice, always asking for freedback on how to make the food better :) I would def go back!

"Wilt u wat hersenen proeven?", says the merry waiter/chef/owner of this small little 4-table…read moreAlgerian restaurant in De Pijp as our journey through Northern African cuisine began on a cold rainy February night... If you are like me and have never had Algerian food before, think of Moroccan with a twist. And if you haven't had good service in a while, you're in for a treat here! So homeboy chef is the ONLY person here; I'm talking one-man shop! With only four tables in the place, not only is this doable, homeboy does it with a smile and will make SURE that you are enjoying your food! Oh and don't forget to call and make a reservation!! Our conversations were in Dutch, English and Arabic, but no matter which language we conversed in, homeboy was willing to accommodate. Oh and once you order from homeboy, he walks back to the kitchen to prepare everything. This guy does it all!! Now, on to the food!!! We had the following: Bread - This is homemade by homeboy and was great with the meal Brain - Kind of like brain tapenade that you smeer on bread. This was DELICIOUS!! Roasted Red Bell Pepper something - also like tapenade but it reminded me of yemenese stews with okra?? Lamb Tagine - Reeeeeeaaaaaally soft lamb, ground lamb balls, fennel and other veggies. The flavoring was great and one more time, the lamb was reaaaaaaaaaaaaally soft Couscous - mixed veggies with couscous and a big chunk of some kind of meat that also melted at the sight of your fork Algerian Dessert - Not sure how to describe this... if you took grains and processed them fine like cracked black pepper and put them in honey... that's the dessert we had. It's served with lemon ice cream which went perfect with it. Of course the alcoholic in me needed some booze and homeboy is fully stocked with Algerian Red or Grey wine. My lush instincts prompted me to get red and I wasn't dissappointed! Since my reviews are notoriously long, I will sum it up like this. Five stars for service (you really can get whatever you want!) and three stars for food. The brain was definitely my favorite and the meat was nice and soft, but everything else was slightly bland for my taste pallete. Not an OMG-I-HAVE-TO-COME-BACK-NEXT-WEEK place. So I would say four stars for being unique in Amsterdam, friendly service, some interesting food and I would recommend it for people looking for something different and not so much all about the food. Oh and of course if you are feeling a bit zombie-ish and are looking to eat some braaaaaaains! Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

This restaurant is allways a Wonderfull experience. You get good food and drinks, but most…read moreimportant a very human service. I had a roasted vegetable sandwich served with the sweetest smile ever.

excellent food and service. we were a group of 4 and each got something different and shared and…read moreall was delish! dont let the mental health thing put you off, the staff is wonderful and very kind and deserve a chance to show what they can do. and boy, what a superb meal it was. we will be back.

This was our favorite meal during our 9-day stay in Amsterdam. Don't expect to rush through this --…read moreit's a leisurely paced meal, but each course is so worth the wait. Relax and enjoy! It's visually pleasing and beyond exquisite.

Just a great little place that does not get the accolades they deserve. It's a quaint little place…read morewith tons of gluten-free and vegetarian options. It's also a bastion of in redoble friendly service. Honestly, Bloem Cafe is a real gem that gets lost in the sea of restaurants and overly hyped farm-to-table establishments in AMS. It truly deserves more notoriety - or maybe it's better kept as one of Amsterdams little secrets.

If you you are of the opinion that the amount of Italians frequenting a place is the best…read moremeasurement of authenticity, Uliveto should be your go-to destination for real Italian food. And in fact it is. Unbothered by hipsterism, yet undoubtedly modern, this little corner shop will resemble any busy tratoria that you will find in Bologna, Verona or Florance, but with a design twist. Featuring a range of authenthic Italian dishes, Uliveto is in somewhere in between a sandwich shop (freshly made), take-away tratoria (daily made), lunch place (they warm up the take-away and) a shop (they have some really nice wines and foods). They'll serve you real espresso (don't expect filtered coffee here) and/ or wine during for lunch along side a number of Italian juices. I used to work close to this place and frequent it quite a lot. Although the sandwiches are good, my favourite is in fact the warmed up take-away food with a nice glass of wine (like the italians do). Although the take-away menu changes regularily, there will almost always he a veal and a chicken dish somewhere there, as well as a frittata or vegetarian option. Also nice is the home-made tiramisu (or sugar brick, as I like to call it), which tastes owerwhelming and delicious if you have the stomach for it (and not too many new-years resolutions). Sharing is also an option:-). Additionaly (and expectadly), they also have a very decent collection of cold-cut meats which is great for the afternoon snack to be shared with a nice glass of Chianti (and fava-beans;-)). Service is also very Italian (some of which also of Italian origin), meaning that you'll probably have to the register every time you want to order something. In fact the only thing not authentic about this place are its prices, as it doesn't come cheap. But in the end, what does come cheap at such a great location in the center of town.

Fantastic hidden gem with the most friendly staff. Had a fantastic time at the big table and we…read morewere served with such friendly and fast service. Also the food is delicious! Absolutely recommend!

We decided on this restaurant because of the yelp reviews saying how great it was. Big mistake…read morelistening to yelp reviewers. The service was slow and the restaurant didn't look very clean. The menu items were inexpensive which my party were happy about, but when we made our selections it took so long for the food to come. I ordered a chicken meal with rice, and the chicken had bones in it that I almost choked on- it didn't say it ok the menu-guess I wasn't expecting it. The rice tasted okay but I was turned off from eating once my sister found a long black hair in her food. Once there's hair in food my stomach turns and I don't eat anymore. When my sister complained about the hair- the staff were staring at her like they didn't understand why she was upset- and were making it seem like she threw the hair in there. We also ordered some bread with our meal which never came and had to be sure it was taken off our check. Overall this experience was terrible and I wished we had gone to the steakhouse around the corner that I wanted to go to- but the people I was with wanted this place.

I really wanted to like this place, but it really let us down. The food was not fresh and tasted…read moreoff, and the portions were tiny. The staff were nice enough, but I think that slightly raising the prices and quality would serve this location well---the current version doesn't really meet anyone's needs.