Utrecht city center is filled with great restaurants and in this blog I’ll share many of my favourites where to eat out. From the best restaurants to the finest quick bite and from hidden-gems to shared dining. Continue reading for lots of restaurant tips!
First tip: when you’ve found your favourite, it’s advised to reserve your table upfront!
Good and Original
Pitot Utrecht
Pitot feels, smells and tastes like the Middle East. The warm terracotta colour on the walls give the restaurant a cosy vibe. Also the dishes are colourful and full of extraordinary flavours, but keeping the taste uncomplicated. Ok, Pitot is a relatively new restaurant in the Nieuw-Engeland district, just outside of Utrecht city center, but still only a 10-minute walk from central station!
Le Jardin
At one of the most beautiful spots in Utrecht city center, under the tall trees of Mariaplaats, you can enjoy a fine dinner at Le Jardin. No menu, but a number of courses to choose from. Where each course consists of original vegetable creations, fine flavours and pairing wines. During warm summer evenings you’re seated on the lovely terrace: big, white table linen and under the green of the trees. In winter time you’re welcomed in the green indoors, in a stylish and cosy interior
Héron Petit Restaurant
Héron is a light and bright restaurant, just around the corner of Park Lepelenburg. In this quiet and beautiful part of Utrecht city center (check this blog for a self-guided walking route through Utrecht city center!) Héron surprises with beautifully prepared dishes, filled with original, seasonal and local ingredients. The enthusiastic personnel shares all you want to know about the food, the wine and the restaurant itself. Héron Petit Restaurant is not for nothing awarded a green Michelin-star!
Shared dining
I like to taste lots of different dishes and flavours, so for me shared dining often is a good idea! And when with a group of friends, it’s just perfect to fill up the table with lovely food. Here I’ll share some cool tips for shared-dining restaurants in Utrecht, with menus that let you travel around the world.
De Zwarte Vosch
When in Utrecht, you’ll eat the best tapas and pinchos at De Zwarte Vosch, a nice tapasbar right at Oudegracht. Inside at the bar, in the wharf cellar or outside at the canal. Tapas can be ordered from the menu, pinchos can be chosen at the bar or from the tray they walk by with. At the end, just count the skewers and you know what to pay.
Rum Club
In the wharf cellars of Rum Club at Oudegracht it feels like you are in the Tropics. You can order lots of Caribbean specialties to share. Rum Club is also a great place for cocktails and has a big terrace right at the canal.
De Utrechter
When you want to catch up with friends or have a nice dinner out with a group of colleagues, then book your table at de Utrechter. In the heart of Utrecht, very close to Utrecht Central Station, you’ll enjoy an endless dinner. The restaurant is big and filled with colourful art and green plants. The dishes are small and to share (or not), to order round after round (endlessly) and seasonal. Nice dishes for the meat lover, vegan and everyone inbetween. De Utrechter is also a nice place if you like Utrecht beers and other local drinks!
Miyagi & Jones
Fancy some Asian street food in a hip, industrial restaurant? Miyagi & Jones is a hotspot located at the ‘Jaarbeurs’ side of the train station and has delicious Asian bites on the menu. We can’t get enough of the Peking duck crepes, crispy mango salad and dumplings. Yum! And, by the way, they serve some great cocktails too.
Drinks & Dinner
Bar Cava
At Bar Cava there is an extensive choice in wines (and cava) to order per glass. And it’s also a very nice place to eat tapas! Situated in middle of downtown Utrecht, at Ganzenmarkt, every moment in the evening is a good moment to visit Bar Cava.
Want to make your day in Utrecht into a weekend, check nice hotel tips in Utrecht in this blog!
Belgian Beer Café Olivier
At Belgian beer café Olivier, you can choose a beer from the extensive beer menu, while standing underneath an immense organ. Very close to Vredenburg and Hoog Catharijne you can eat and drink in Olivier’s church. Really cool place to hang out for a while!
Tastiest quick bites in Utrecht
Even though I don’t fancy the real fastfood, I do love to have a good quick bite every now and then. Like a good cone of fries at Manneken Pis. If you prefer to sit down, then eat at one of the following favourites for a quick, but very good bite in Utrecht center.
Bastacosi
I eat the best pizza in Utrecht at Bastacosi. The cosy establishment on the lively restaurant street De Biltstraat is only a 10-minute walk from the Neude. Every now and then I try the pizza of the month, but most of the time I stick with my unsurpassed number 1: the Pizza Tartufo.
Mr. Smakers
I find the best burger in Utrecht at one of the branches of Meneer Smakers. Lots of choice for a large hamburger, chicken burger or vegetarian burger. With tasty fries.
Kimmade
You can find an authentic Asian quick bite at Kimmade, a Vietnamese cafeteria. Few tables inside, so maybe you should take away. No punishment either. Enjoying this very good Vietnamese food on a bench in the park, while overlooking the wharf cellars or during a lovely city walk.
Japanese Don Dining Kounosuke
Go Japanese! You can eat a perfect Don (rice bowl meat/fish/vegetarian) at Japanese Don Dining Kounosuke. In a cosy place on the Westerkade.
Hidden-gems
And then last but not least: the true hidden-gems of Utrecht! The lesser-known restaurants, but therefor even more fun to reserve yourself a seat. And restaurants that are a tiny bit special, for example, because of a great architectural ambiance.
Trattoria Polpette
In neighbourhood Vogelenbuurt – only 10-minute walk from Neude square – you can have a lovely dinner at Trattoria Polpette. In a spacious but cosy living-room style setting you can sit back, relax and enjoy beautiful dishes. Dishes that contain fine ingrediënts and that are served for a fair price. The Italian menu is small but has something on it for everyone: meat and vegetarian dishes; wine, beer and mocktails; and the best desserts!
Le Mignon
Le Mignon is a petite French restaurant tucked away in the Boterstraat (parallel to shopping street Zadelstraat). A very nice restaurant if you are looking for something authentic and small, with beautiful dishes.
Bunk Hotel & Restaurant
If only because for its design, it’s worthwhile to pay a visit to Bunk. Just like Olivier, also Bunk is a beautifully converted church: a very high ceiling, above the long bar a huge wooden scaffolding behind which the hotel rooms are hidden and a large organ. And oh yes, the worldly menu here is also very nice!
Want some more tips for some fine food and drinks and other Utrecht tips? Follow me on instagram or check out these blogs with:
→ the nicest lunch restaurants
→ the best tips on where to stay: hotels, apartments and b&bs
→ 15x things to do for your day in Utrecht
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