Guides Amsterdam
Amsterdam has been a trading city for four centuries and that history shows up in what you can buy here. The Jewish pickle tradition, the Indonesian toko, Dutch cheese culture, Moroccan and Turkish grocers that stock ingredients you will not find anywhere else - it is a good city to shop for food in if you know where to go.
These are the shops we actually use. Some are nearby, some are a tram ride away. All are worth it for what they stock.
Pickles and tafelzuur
Pickling came to Amsterdam with Jewish traders in the 16th and 17th centuries. At its peak the city had dozens of sour shops selling pickled cucumbers, onions, and herring from barrels. Only a handful survive. De Leeuw is the last real dedicated sour shop in Amsterdam.
- Where
- Vrijheidslaan 78, Rivierenbuurt (Zuid) - about 20 min from the centre by tram
- Price
- €
- Buy
- Amsterdamse zuur (pickled onions), loose gherkins by weight, mixed pickles
- Note
- Card accepted despite the old-fashioned setting
Isaac de Leeuw started salting cucumbers in old wine barrels around 1850, and the shop has been working to a recipe it won't share ever since. It quietly supplies pickles to restaurant kitchens across Amsterdam. Worth the tram ride if you're in the south anyway - combine with Massimo Gelato or a walk through the Scheldebuurt. Buy loose gherkins by weight and a jar of the pickled onions.
Find on Google Maps- Where
- Aslan Turkish Supermarket, Beukenweg 26, Oost - or any good Turkish grocer in West or Oost
- Price
- €
- Buy
- karisik tursu (mixed pickles), pickled peppers, green tomatoes, pickled garlic
Turkey takes pickling as seriously as old Amsterdam did, and the style is completely different - sharp and salty rather than sweet-sour Dutch gherkin. A Turkish supermarket is where we go when we want fermented vegetables with a different character. The shelves usually have barrels of tursu next to jars of pickled garlic and peppers. Cheap, excellent with grilled meat or cheese, and a genuinely good contrast to De Leeuw.
Find on Google Maps- Where
- Ten Katemarkt, Oud-West (Mon-Sat); Dappermarkt, Oost (Mon-Sat)
- Price
- €
- Buy
- scoop-your-own olives, pickled chillies, cornichons, stuffed vine leaves - by weight
Most of Amsterdam's street markets have an olive-and-antipasti stall where you point and they scoop. Ten Katemarkt in Oud-West and the Dappermarkt in Oost are the two we use most. Not a specialist sour shop, but fresh, cheap, and good to do while you do the rest of the market shop. Saturday is the fullest market day at both.
Find on Google MapsCheese
The Netherlands is a cheese country. The tourist version is a wax-coated wheel in an airport gift shop. The real thing is bought at a specialist and sliced to order. De Kaaskamer is the one we go back to.
- Where
- Runstraat 7, Nine Streets (Centrum)
- Price
- €€
- Buy
- aged Gouda, local farmhouse cheese, French and Spanish selections; also olives, tapenades, wine
Over 400 varieties of cheese from across Europe, sliced or cut to order. The Runstraat shop is in the Nine Streets and easy to add to a walk through the Jordaan area. They also stock wine, homemade salads, olives, and charcuterie. Good for building a picnic on the canal, or for finding a genuinely aged farmhouse Gouda that has nothing in common with the tourist wheel version. They can vacuum-pack for travel.
Find on Google MapsAsian groceries
Amsterdam has a long connection with Indonesia, Suriname, China, and Japan that shows up in what its Asian toko stock. Toko Dun Yong on Zeedijk is the biggest and oldest.
- Where
- Stormsteeg 9, Centrum (near Nieuwmarkt, in Chinatown)
- Price
- €
- Hours
- Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 12-6pm
- Buy
- Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indian groceries; fresh herbs and vegetables; kitchen equipment
Toko Dun Yong has been in Amsterdam since 1959, which is long enough to be a city institution. Six floors of Asian groceries: fresh herbs, galangal and lemongrass, tofu and tempeh, noodles, sauces, rice, dried goods, kimchi, Japanese snacks, kitchen equipment. If you are cooking Indonesian, Chinese, or Japanese food and cannot find an ingredient, it is here. They have a webshop too, but the physical shop is better - easier to browse and you can smell the fresh herbs.
Find on Google MapsMiddle Eastern, Moroccan and Turkish grocers
Amsterdam West and Oost have dense concentrations of Moroccan and Turkish grocery shops that stock ingredients the supermarkets do not carry: fresh za'atar, dried limes, pomegranate molasses, rose water, specific varieties of dried pulses, and preserved vegetables. These shops are easy to find in the side streets around De Baarsjes and Oud-West; most are small family-run operations and there is not one single standout. Just walk and look. The Albert Cuyp market also has Moroccan spice stalls worth browsing.
For Turkish goods specifically, see our Turkish goods in Amsterdam guide.
Delis and Italian
For Italian specialty food - cured meats, good olive oil, pasta, imported cheeses - see our Italian delicatessen guide.
Food souvenirs worth buying
If you want to take something home: a properly aged piece of Gouda from De Kaaskamer (vacuum-packed), Dutch stroopwafels from a bakery rather than a tourist shop, a jar of De Leeuw pickles, Dutch herring if you are driving rather than flying. What to skip: the Delft-blue tins of cookies, the windmill shortbread, and anything sold within 200 metres of the Rijksmuseum.
