Amsterdam

Chefs Richard van Oostenbrugge and Thomas Groot have opened a superb new restaurant that serves inventive contemporary Dutch cooking in a more casual format. Diners sit at a U-shaped bar that surrounds the open kitchen. Though you can order à la carte, the best option is the five- or eight-course Menu 212. Highlights of a recent meal here included potato bonbons with crayfish, tandoori-seasoned sabayon and Robiola cheese; halibut poached in smoked rib-eye oil; and a superb cherry dessert of Amarena liqueur-filled beignets with bourbon and lemon. Reserve well in advance.

Indonesian food is to Amsterdam as Indian food is to London — a much-loved edible souvenir of the colonial past. The best place in the city to sample this intriguing cuisine is Tempo Doeloe (a Dutch phrase borrowed from Indonesian that means “the old days”). For the uninitiated, the best introduction is a rijsttafel (rice table), which is a sampler buffet of many individual dishes that may include gadon dari sapi (beef in a gentle coriander-flavored coconut sauce), ajam roedjak (chicken in a spicy chile-coconut sauce) and sambal goreng udang (baby prawns with Indonesian spices). Closed Sunday.

A checkerboard floor and a palette of cream and gold create a refined setting for chef Christopher Naylor’s French-Continental cuisine. Notable dishes have included poached lobster with rhubarb and avocado, halibut with roasted carrots and black garlic, and beef rib with cranberry-shallot chutney, Swiss chard and red-wine beef jus. Closed Sunday.

Owner René Loven’s mission is to offer the sort of Dutch comfort food that his mother made for him. Start with the grilled sandwich of Frisian sugar bread with layers of duck-liver terrine and a garnish of homemade apple syrup, then try a hearty main course like the slow-cooked fillet of veal with veal gravy, stewed turnip tops, aged Dutch cheese, brandied raisins and glazed carrots. You’ll find an excellent sampler of Dutch cheeses. Friendly service adds to the pleasure of the meal.

The latest of fishmonger Fons de Visscher’s four restaurants is located not far from Amsterdam’s flower market and is a great casual dining address for seafood lovers. The bright art nouveau dining room focuses on a splendid raw bar. Otherwise, start with some Dutch shrimp croquettes — these are deep-fried and filled with tiny North Sea shrimp in a Mornay sauce — and then try the cod in mustard sauce.

This chic brasserie with its buzzy atmosphere and postindustrial setting has a slightly louche glamour that draws people from the Dutch arts, cinema and showbiz. Start with the classic fish soup with rouille, then try the beef entrecôte with Béarnaise, or the roasted chicken before enjoying a crème brûlée for dessert. Closed Sunday.