Why I Stopped Going Out to Eat in Amsterdam

Do you still go out to eat much?

Yesterday I thought: I'd actually kind of like to go out to eat again. Because it's been a good while since I last did that. 

And I have my reasons.

Harry and I used to go out to eat regularly. But eating out alone just doesn't appeal to me.

And there are more reasons why I haven't been out to eat in ages. In fact, I don't even go for a drink on a terrace anymore. I think hospitality has gotten too expensive. Too expensive, at least, for what you actually get. Especially in Amsterdam. And I keep hearing that complaint more and more from people around me — including people who have (much) more to spend than I do.

A market vendor I often buy from at the Dappermarkt recently told me that for his birthday he took his family of four out to eat at a well-known steakhouse in Amsterdam. "I had to fork over 200 euros, and my daughter turns to me and says, 'Dad, I actually like the steak you make better.'" I had to laugh when I heard that, because my own daughter has told me the exact same thing more than once after a meal out at an Amsterdam restaurant. And honestly — it might sound arrogant — but I agreed with her!

The food is often not even that good, it's crazy expensive, and the service usually isn't great either. Something that really bothers a lot of locals in Amsterdam these days is being forced to speak English. It might sound strange, but it's true: in a lot of cafés and restaurants in Amsterdam, you can no longer order in Dutch. And it's not just in hospitality, either — plenty of shops in the city center have stopped speaking Dutch too. The reasoning given is that they can't find Dutch staff anymore, so they're forced to hire foreign students instead.

I've lived in Amsterdam myself since the early nineties, and I have to say this city never really struck me as having a particularly high-end culinary scene. But one thing it did have back then, which I haven't seen in years, is the ordinary, affordable "dish of the day." I mean a simple plate of everyday Dutch food — potatoes, vegetables, and meat. That was something you could get at pretty much any neighborhood café back then for, let's say, the equivalent of about 12 euros in today's terms. And it changed every day, hence the name "dish of the day": one day maybe a spinach hotchpotch with a meatball, the next day a hamburger with broccoli and fried potatoes.

But these days, the menu at one café looks basically identical to the next: steak, hamburger, beef stew, mussels (or some other fish), always served with fries and salad. Often you even have to pay extra for the fries and the salad. For vegetarians, maybe a pasta or a quiche. Per person, including one drink, you're quickly at 50 euros. And believe me, that really is literally just one drink included! Because that drink has become just as ridiculously overpriced as the rest of the "experience." I say that with a wink, because people sometimes call eating out a "total experience" — and the irony is that even that part of the experience is missing when you're barely served at all. More often than not you end up wandering over to the bar yourself to grab something. There is staff — they just ignore you.

Speaking of drink prices: I'm someone who genuinely loves a good glass of wine. Before the meal I like a white — preferably an oaked Chardonnay — and with the meal I enjoy a Merlot. But these days you're paying 6 or 7 euros for a single glass of wine! And that's exactly why I won't even go sit on a terrace anymore. Because on my own, that's still something I could actually enjoy. But I'm not going to drop 5 euros on a beer that I'll most likely have to go fetch myself at the bar anyway, thanks to staff shortages or staff that just doesn't function.

No — I refuse to pay these kinds of prices for that sort of "total experience." So I've stopped going out, and I'm definitely not the only one who feels this way. (Click the link and scroll down a bit for a funny little poem.) There's even someone on Reddit jokingly asking for recommendations for a really bad but expensive restaurant. 😉

But... there's hope. Because if I can believe this independent journalistic platform covering food and drink in Amsterdam, there seems to be a small revival happening of the classic "eetcafé" and its dish of the day. Maybe I should go check one out sometime. (I really hope it doesn't disappoint too much...)

Do you still go out to eat, and how's the hospitality scene in your city? I heard from some Danes I met in Sicily that it's pretty much the same story in Copenhagen. 

 Photo: Nathaniel Zimmerman