Recently, my team and I went for lunch at Restaurant De Kas in Amsterdam. De Kas recently earned one Michelin star for their refined sustainable cuisine. Since I hadn’t been to De Kas in many years, I was very much looking forward to it. Spoiler alert, De Kas did not disappoint.
The menu at Restaurant De Kas
Every week Restaurant De Kas serves a different vegetable based menu, using ingredients picked fresh from their own gardens and from other local suppliers. While the menu changes weekly, two things holds true – vegetables are always the star and there’s never an a la carte menu. That being said, the fixed menu can be easily adjusted to suit any dietary needs. In our party we had vegetarians, vegan and keto eaters and all were happy.
In addition to the set menu, there are cocktails, starters, desserts and cheeses as well as an extensive wine list to customize your meal.
The ambience
Restaurant De Kas is located in Amsterdam’s Frankendael park in East Amsterdam in a renovated old greenhouse. De Kas is actually the Dutch word for greenhouse. Many people think it’s the Dutch word for cheese, but that’s kaas, easily confused. I suggest visiting for lunch rather than dinner. Not only is it cheaper, you really get to enjoy the full atmosphere in daylight.
When we visited, we had an excellent table in a quieter section of the restaurant. It was surrounded by greenery, orchids and even an orange tree with farm to table vegetables labeled in pickling jars in the distance. To be fair, I’m not sure there’s a bad table in the house. Whether you’re seated in the main room or the second attached greenhouse, the structure is so architecturally appealing, it’d be hard to be disappointed. When we were there, it started snowing outside, big fluffy white flakes. The true meaning of gezellig, just the place you want to be on a cold but beautiful day.
The service
In addition to delicious food and ambience, the hospitality is top notch. At Restaurant De Kas, they don’t try to rush you out the door, instead they like you to take your time. They really want you to enjoy the full experience, and not just come to eat. They do a good job explaining each course, they listen to your requests, make good suggestions and may even throw in a laugh or two.
What we ate for lunch at De Kas
Since the menu changes every week, I won’t bore you with the details and go into full on foodie review mode. Here are just a few of the highlights to get you salivating. We started with rice crackers with a delicious neon green dip, this was probably my favorite individual bite of the whole meal, as well as sourdough bread and butter. Next, a cold beet amuse bouche, local oysters with a zappy mignonette and another fun preparation of beets. This was followed with an interesting mix of mussels with cabbage, a sea bass with fregola and the finale, a sorbet and cheese assortment for dessert.
Reserve a table at Restaurant De Kas for lunch or dinner.
Looking for other great places to eat and things to do in Amsterdam? Start here.
