Firma Pekelhaaring

One of the best places in town, serving lunch all day, great prices and service. I highly recommend the fish soup and they have a great complimentary olive oil and fresh bread on the side.
They just offered me some pulpo, just for tasting, love it when you get a little more attention!

Upscale modern-​European restaurant with a hint of Italian influence is the best way to describe Pekelhaaring.
My friend made dinner reservations here for my first night in Amsterdam, and we rushed in from the rain with her dog in tow (dogs are allowed here fyi).
We were starving and immediately asked for the menu, but the waiter was not to be rushed and brought us the drink menu first, telling us the real menu would come later. One thing I do have to say is that service is slow and relaxed — my friend did say that’s pretty typical in Amsterdam though so that’s probably what it was.
We opted to share a delicious four-​course meal of calamari, steak, gnocchi and pannacotta. The portions are a pretty good size, so sharing the meal meant for one was the perfect amount of food. All the food was delicious, fresh, and well-​seasoned. The pannacotta was light and the best end to a heavy meal.
Overall, I would recommend!

The soup of the day is always good. ALWAYS.
Very relaxed place, so prepare for slow service and a long (but great) meal.
There are some good vegeterian options to enjoy. the soup changes daily and the salad every season. I have never been disappointed with either of the two. Try the saffron risotto balls if you are looking for some indulgence.

I really like this place. For some reason the name really throws me off, and then I stop a moment and think — oh yea, that Italian spot with the delicious food. My boyfriend and I always eat way too much — the appetizers always wow, the pasta is strong to quite strong. The staff is 50% fantastic, and 50% typical dutch service ;). Also, a cool vibe that is both family friendly and hip. Good wine selection, and check out the daily specials — always something yummy.

First meal on the Eurotrip and still hasn’t been beat. We had the prosciutto appetizer with mozzarella, beet ravioli with goat cheese, and the rabbit gnocchi. Even after being in Italy, the meal’s still on my mind. We went back a second time and although they were closing, they were still willing to seat us for dessert. Order the white chocolate cheesecake, you won’t be disappointed.

Food was oke, had the vitello Tonato but I missed of finetuning. My friend had the mozerella and that looked great on the other hand :) was’t blow’n Away by this restaurant but I’ll try it again next time To make sure. The waiters were very nice though and the atmosphere was great. Really good olive oil!

Great food.
Had the pappardelle and duck, scallops, steak. All were fantastic for the price. Best of all, the cheesecake! Lekker!!!

Solid three stars. Plus another half for good service and helpful staff. I only had the spinach lasagna and a glass of excellent wine. I was seated at the communal table even though there was a two top open the whole time I was there. Not really a problem but I know the GF wouldn’t have liked it. The food came out quicker than I expected and was good but not exceptional. I walked out feeling satisfied but not planning a return trip anytime soon. It is a large place and that is in it’s favor when looking for somewhere to eat in the neighborhood. It may just take one more trip there to raise my rating to 4 stars.

Perfect ambiance, very helpful people and good food. Our duck and ravioli were the best and the cheesecake is one of the best I’ve ever had (and that’s a lot, only my little sisters cheesecake will survive). A reservation is necessary. There were so many walk-​ins, but they were fully booked. The whole night! So if you will not be disappointed, please make a reservation.
One thing; it was such a small slice of cheesecake. That makes it a little bit expensive.

Very expensive for the quality and quantity of food. It looks like a cute casual place so was surprised at the prices. Would not return.

After a slew of «meh» or downright terrible reviews, I’m so happy we came to the Pekelhaaring (my official opinion of the Dutch delicacy did not influence this review because I think it’s gross! Sorry Dutchies!).
We came here to grab a quick bite when we were feeling lazy. I went with the special — a steak dish with green beans and mushrooms. No points for innovation but this was a delicious, flavourful, well-​cooked and well-​balanced meal! The bf had the pork belly and was equally as pleased as I was!
Service was a bit slow going at first, but that didn’t last throughout the meal so no complaints here! A good, solid, meal a few minutes from my house — I’m a happy person!

Delicious food at a good price. Modern place with good service (we ate late in the afternoon on a weekday). We came at the recommendation of our apartment host, a local. Our group of 5 tourists were all very pleased with our various orders: open faced sandwich, philly, gnocchi (my favorite item), and ravioli. Would come back in a heartbeat! I still crave that gnocchi… it was made fresh!

Heard really good reviews from Firma and went to try it, as I live in the same block. First try was a fail, I haven’t booked and was not able to book a table. So for the second try I booked and had a high expectation. In the end the food was ok. Not really taste or unique but with a beautiful presentation. The atmosphere feels a bit more special than the food itself. Would recommend a try but is definitely not on my top 10 list.

If there was a 2.5 star rating, that’s what I’d give… the appetizer was greasy and boring followed by a bland pasta and gnocchi. Everything about this place was average at best except for the service, which was quite good :)

I’m struggling between 3 or 4 stars. I think this restaurant is a solid choice for good food and nice ambiance. The restaurant is spacious but homey at the same time. It’s the type of place you can take your parents for a good meal, and I feel like the menu is extensive and creative enough that everyone will find something to like.
Our food was excellent — my sister and I shared the amazing roasted pork salad with figs — it was a decent portion to share but we both probably could have each had our own, it was so good. I had the linguine with shaved fish and lemon — delicious. She liked her wild boar «polpetine» (aka meatball) pasta but thought my dish was better. For dessert she ordered the lemon tart with lavender cream which was a bit disappointing as she was hoping for a lemon curd consistency and it was rather like a cheesecake. I had the apple tart with licorice ice cream. Though I’m not a fan of licorice in general, the dutch have a salty/​syrupy version that I rather like, and it went really well with my hot fried apple pie.
So why a less-​than-​stellar rating? The service was really disappointing. It took a minute to be seated but another 5 minutes to get menus (which we had to ask for). When they asked what we wanted to drink, only then did they realize they hadn’t given us a wine menu. At one point, our waiter simply disappeared and we didn’t realize until afterwards that someone else had taken over service of our table. This was after we’d asked another staff member for assistance but she insisted on fetching our server. In general, I found restaurants in Amsterdam appeared understaffed compared to New York, but in this case, the place wasn’t particularly busy and they had plenty of staff.
I’ll round up to 4 since I hope they improve and because for now, I think I’d go back again and suffer the service just to eat the exact same meal.

A friend of mine suggested this place because he wanted to eat here one more time before he left the country. I had never heard of the place but am always open to new places & plus the Unilocal reviews looked promising!
I’ll start with the bad and it’s nothing shocking here in the NL. Bad service but to add oil to the fire it was bad service and it wasn’t even busy?!? I just don’t get it? But that’s another rant I won’t bother to get into and will just leave it at that.
The food… Amazing! I had the linguine with some sort of shaved fish (sorry forgot the name) and lemon. I also had the soup of the day which was a celery root soup.
The linguine was just perfect! A healthy dousing of extra virgin olive oil with a salty fishy (in a good way) and the beautiful scent and taste of subtle lemons. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite of it. The celery root soup was also a delight to eat. Creamy and full of mashed celery root. Not to salty which I appreciate. It came topped with some buttery garlicky croutons and a bit of chives. I sprinkled some pepper on it and again loved every bite of it.
Man I wish they could get their service right and just maybe give a shit and realize that a good dining experience also comes with good service… Not just the food. And because of this I can only give 3 stars… Other wise it would have been an easy 5 stars! But, alas, I will return to try more of their amazing food!

It is hip, industrial and really good food where the price is just fine! ;) They have pasta, salads, awesome rib-​eye, vegetariam and too delicious baked potatoes!
Most of the times it is pretty busy in the weekend but also sometimes in weekdays. Therefore I recommend you to reserve a table in advanced!
They also have a big table where everyone can sit next to eachother… Less privacy, but cozy with other people!
Service is great and really friendly. Menu is also changing in time of period which will impress you continously!

Not every meal in Amsterdam was so oolala, but Firma Pekelhaaring was so good it warranted two trips in two days, both for lunch.
Lunch # 1… Smoked sprat open face sandwich on the best dark bread farnished with romaine, baby tomatoes (they actually tasted like a flavorful home grown tomato), avocado cream. I would order this again and again. Fresh tomato soup with an herb I could not identify was A=. Spanish white wine, cold and crisp.
Lunch#2…Pea ravioli garnished with smoked sprats (love them!) and fresh peas in lemon butter sauce. Vegetable salad consisting of grilled artichoke hearts, giant fava or lima beans, baby string beans, radicchio, pine nuts, shaved parnesan. Cold Italian white wine.
Very good service.
A big plus. After lunch you can stroll down the street and hang out with the locals at a ganja bar, but that’s a whole other experience and review…

Love this popular hip restaurant near my home. Great for lunch, dinner or just drinks. They also have seats outside! Great quality food, cool interior (vintage, industrial, lots of light). The people are very friendly and the restaurant attracts a young crowd. Prices are fine.

On my first visit to Firma Pekelhaaring a friend and I stepped inside and inquired about dining outside. We got an affirmative nod and moments later beers we had not ordered were brought to us. We looked at one another, mildly confused, but smiled at our good fortune and commented about how much we liked the Dutch style.
When a server then appeared we asked about food and were sad to discover that the kitchen had closed before we’d arrived.
On my next visit, I arrived much earlier with two dining companions in tow. We started with drinks at the bar before moving to a communal table where we got the amazing aracini (an appetizer not to be missed) and the caprese salad.
Other highlights of my meal included pasta with bacon and chili and, for dessert, white chocolate cheesecake (this coming from a person who disdains white chocolate on regular occasion!)
Firma Pekelhaaring’s food is rustic, straight forward and in a word, delicious. Also, vegetarians are well cared for here.