What to Eat in Rotterdam: A First-Timer’s Food Guide
Rotterdam’s food scene reflects its character — direct, unpretentious, genuinely multicultural, and significantly better than its modest reputation suggests. The city has one significant advantage over Amsterdam in the food stakes: the Markthal. The vast arched market hall that opened in 2014 has become the finest food market in the Netherlands and one of the best in northern Europe, with vendors covering the full range of Dutch and international food cultures under one spectacular roof.
Beyond the Markthal, Rotterdam’s food landscape reflects the city’s history as the Netherlands’ most diverse city — shaped by waves of immigration from Suriname, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, and more recently from across Europe and the world. Eating through Rotterdam’s neighborhoods gives a more genuinely multicultural food experience than Amsterdam’s more tourist-oriented scene, and at prices that consistently undercut the capital.
This guide is part of our broader Netherlands travel coverage. For city orientation, see our Rotterdam City Guide. For accommodation, see our Rotterdam where to stay guide.
👉 Rotterdam City Guide: Architecture, the Markthal, neighborhoods & getting around →
👉 Where to Stay in Rotterdam: Find the right neighborhood and hotel →
Must-Try Foods in Rotterdam
The Markthal Experience
The Markthal is where Rotterdam’s food culture is most concentrated and most spectacular. Over 100 vendors sell fresh produce, meat, fish, cheese, baked goods, and prepared food under MVRDV’s extraordinary arched building. The experience of walking through the market — the scale of the space, the color and variety of the stalls, the artwork overhead — is as much architectural as gastronomic. Graze through the market for lunch: fresh Dutch stroopwafels from a stall, aged Gouda from a cheese vendor, fresh-cooked stroopwafels, Indonesian prepared food, Spanish jamón, fresh oysters — the range covers the full spectrum of the Netherlands’ multicultural food landscape. For the full context of the Markthal in the city, see our Rotterdam City Guide.
Dutch Street Food — Herring and Frites
The two great Dutch street foods are available throughout Rotterdam. Haring (raw herring) from street carts — brined, slightly cured, eaten with onion and gherkin either on bread or held by the tail — is the most specifically Dutch street food experience. Patat (Belgian-style thick-cut fries) with mayonnaise (or satay sauce, or a combination of mayo, satay, and onion in the famous “patatje oorlog” — literally “war fries”) from frites stalls is the most popular. Both are excellent, inexpensive, and specific to Dutch food culture.
Surinamese Food
Rotterdam has one of the largest Surinamese communities in the Netherlands, and the food — a fusion of South American, African, Indian, and Dutch culinary traditions brought together in the former Dutch colony — is one of the most interesting and least internationally known cuisines available in the city. Roti (flatbread with curry fillings), bara (fried dough with various fillings), and pom (a casserole of taro root and chicken) are the most common preparations. Several Surinamese restaurants operate in the city center and residential neighborhoods.
Indonesian Cuisine
As in Amsterdam, the Dutch-Indonesian connection means excellent Indonesian food is available throughout Rotterdam. The rijsttafel (rice table feast) is available at several Rotterdam establishments; individual Indonesian dishes — rendang, gado-gado, satay — appear at Indonesian and Indo-Dutch restaurants throughout the city.
Kroket and Frikandel
Dutch fast food at its most iconic. The kroket is a croquette of thick meat ragout, breaded and deep-fried, served in a white bread roll as a broodje kroket — one of the most popular Dutch lunch foods. The frikandel is a minced meat sausage, deep-fried and served with curry sauce and mayonnaise. Both are available from FEBO — the Dutch fast food chain that operates through automated vending windows — and from snack bars throughout the city. Not sophisticated food, but genuinely part of the Dutch food culture.
Pindakaas (Dutch Peanut Butter)
Dutch peanut butter is less sweet and more peanut-forward than American versions, and it is eaten throughout the day — on bread for breakfast, as a sandwich filling, mixed into satay sauce. The Netherlands is one of the world’s great peanut butter consumers and the quality of Dutch peanut butter reflects this seriousness. Worth trying alongside Dutch cheese on bread at a market.
Where to Eat in Rotterdam
The Markthal — Best for Market Eating
The market hall is the obvious starting point — the best place in the city for a lunch of varied market eating at accessible prices. The ground floor vendors and stalls are primarily lunch operations; the restaurants around the periphery of the hall serve into the evening.
Witte de Withstraat — Best for Evening Dining
The cultural main street of Rotterdam has the best concentration of restaurants in the city for evening eating — a mix of contemporary Dutch, international, and neighborhood options. The surrounding streets extend the options considerably. This area is the right choice for dinner in Rotterdam.
Kop van Zuid — Waterfront Dining
The south bank of the Nieuwe Maas, across the Erasmus Bridge, has several excellent waterfront restaurants in the redeveloped harbor buildings. Hotel New York’s restaurant has the most atmospheric setting — the former emigrant departure hall with views over the river. Slightly higher prices for the setting; worth it for a special meal.
Our Recommended Restaurants in Rotterdam
FG Restaurant — Delfshaven (Fine Dining)
François Geurds’ flagship restaurant, one of the most celebrated in the Netherlands, with two Michelin stars and a tasting menu that represents the apex of contemporary Dutch cooking. The cooking draws on local and seasonal produce with French technique and genuine creativity. Book weeks to months in advance for a special occasion dinner.
Restaurant Joelia — City Center (Contemporary Dutch)
Mario Ridder’s well-regarded contemporary Dutch restaurant with one Michelin star, serving seasonal cooking that takes Dutch produce seriously. A more accessible entry point to serious Rotterdam dining than the two-star FG, with excellent tasting menus at mid-to-high-end prices.
Hotel New York Restaurant — Kop van Zuid (Dutch-International)
The restaurant of the landmark Hotel New York serves a broad menu of Dutch and international dishes in the extraordinary former emigrant departure hall setting. The food quality is good rather than exceptional, but the setting — one of the most atmospheric dining rooms in the Netherlands — makes it worth booking for at least one meal. The terrace overlooking the Maas river is excellent in warm weather.
Bazar — Witte de With (Middle Eastern)
A Rotterdam institution — a vast, atmospheric restaurant and hotel in a converted church, serving Middle Eastern and North African food (meze, tagines, grilled meats) at very accessible prices. One of the liveliest dining rooms in the city and an excellent choice for a group dinner or a casual meal in the cultural district.
Markthal Vendors — Various
Rather than recommending specific vendors (they change), the recommendation is to walk the full length of the Markthal and make your own selections from whatever looks freshest and most interesting on the day. Budget €10–€15 for a satisfying market lunch. The cheese vendors, the fresh fish stalls, and the Indonesian prepared food section are consistently strong.
What to Drink in Rotterdam
Dutch Beer and Craft Beer
Rotterdam has a strong craft brewing scene. Kaapse Brouwers (based in the Fenix food hall in the Katendrecht neighborhood) produces some of the best Dutch craft beers; De Pelgrim brewery in the historic Delfshaven district brews in a building dating to the 17th century. The standard Dutch lagers (Heineken, Grolsch, Amstel) are available everywhere.
Jenever
Dutch gin, available at traditional brown cafés throughout the city. Rotterdam has several classic café spaces where jenever and beer are the right drinks alongside bitterballen.
Tips for Eating Well in Rotterdam
- Visit the Markthal for lunch — the best single food experience in Rotterdam and worth planning a morning around
- Rotterdam is cheaper than Amsterdam — restaurant prices across the city run 15–25% below Amsterdam equivalents for comparable quality
- Try the Surinamese food — one of the most interesting and least internationally known food cultures available in the Netherlands, and Rotterdam is the best city in the country to eat it
- The Katendrecht neighborhood (south of the Erasmus Bridge) has a growing food scene in converted harbor buildings — worth exploring for an evening if you have more than two days in the city
👉 Rotterdam City Guide: Architecture, the Markthal, neighborhoods & getting around →
👉 Where to Stay in Rotterdam: The best neighborhoods and hotels for every budget →
For our full Netherlands coverage, visit our Netherlands travel guide.