Choux
Run by the same people who ran pop-ups extraordinaire Repéré and Foyer, they’re back at a permanent location on de Ruyterkade behind central station. The menu is short, with dishes appearing as ingredient lists rather than florid descriptions. The three-course menu is €31, and you get to choose between three starters, three mains and three desserts. If you take the four- or seven-course menu, you get less choice – but who needs it when the food is this good? The menu changes seasonally. A recent starter, pictured, comprised black rice, tiny pieces of pork, and squid sliced so thin it resembled tagliatelle or flat rice noodles. It was delicate and delicious and topped with a few salty-sweet clams for good measure. Hyper-organic, every dish looks like an oil painting.

Chef's podium
The motto here is simple: three ingredients, three courses and one chef. The staff knows and invites the upcoming talent of the city, who are given a single night to shine. Much like “Iron Chef,” each chef uses his or her culinary vision and what is available at the market to create a new, three-course menu each night. Before the meal, the chef de jour describes the ingredients in each dish. From forest mushrooms to edible weeds, ingredients are always a surprise at Chef’s Podium.

Passadis del Pep
Dinner at Passadís is always a surprise. There is no street sign for the restaurant, just a number, under which opens a door that leads to a dark corridor (Passadís means corridor, after all!). Wander to the end and you'll be led to an utterly unique restaurant in which there is no menu: you simply sit down and wait for the stream of food to be brought to you. Eat until you are about to explode and they'll ask you: "So, what would you like as main course?" And they are serious! The mountain of dishes you have just devoured were starters; tapas and entrées (lots of them!). You are then supposed to order a piece of meat or fresh fish that will be cooked to order (although you can skip it and go straight to desert and coffee if you prefer), so maybe save space. The restaurant is owned by Joan Manubens, brother of the famous Pep, from Cal Pep just one block away. The restaurant was in fact named by the brother, who encouraged Joan to open his own venue. The food is similar in both restaurants, but in Passadís it is more elaborate and there is a far better wine list on offer. The meal is more relaxed as well, being a sit down restaurant, rather than bar stool set-up as is in Cal Pep. But it's hard to pick one special recommendation, as the available dishes vary from day to day depending on what is fresh

Kaagman & Kortekaas
Cooking down an alley on picturesque St. Nicholas Street, Chef Giel Kaagman’s style is inspired by contemporary Parisian bistros. He creates a casual and intimate atmosphere highlighted with quality ingredients. His French-European set menu of three to six courses features traditional and seasonal dishes including game and poultry, homemade sausages and oysters at the bar. A highlight is the rabbit: a sweet and succulent rolled loin, richer brown meat served with a slice of barely seared foie gras, a fresh bunny sausage and a bone to nibble on the side. The dish is a veritable protein explosion.

Mary's City
Mary's CBD is pretty much a hole-in-the-wall eatery with no seating and primarily set up for takeaways rather than in house dining. Burgers are the order of the day here and I'd suggest going for the Double Cheeseburger ($16). A Pillow-soft bun with two thin patties that work in harmony with the melted cheese, to provide a yummy balance of meat and cheese. It's not a big burger but I find it's a great one that can stand up to all others in Sydney. It got the stamp of approval from Jeffrey Merrihue when he visited the city.

La Perla Restaurant
Numerous Italian restaurants operate in the center of Amsterdam’s Jordaan area, referred to as “Little Italy.” But for traditional pizza, aficionados crowd the inside and outside seating at this delicious pizzeria. La Perla imports fresh produce from Italy every week, including genuine buffalo mozzarella. Orders are not taken over the phone, as each pizza is delivered bubbling hot from the large, wood fueled brick oven. Foodsters recommend the Calabrese di Spilinga with spicy Nduja salame and the Bianca with prosciutto and arugula. The café also serves pasta, sandwiches, an interesting wine menu and wines by the glass.

La Oliva Pintxos Y Vinos
At La Oliva, you won’t find traditional tapas but rather pintxos, the Basque country’s answer to tapas, generally involving a bread base and a small wooden skewer. Pintxos fans pack the long wooden benches at this modern wine bar to dine on an extensive selection of Northern Spanish-style tapas, each complimented with a carefully chosen Spanish wine.

A-Fusion Food & Drinks
Awarded a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand for good quality and good value cooking, fans head to this Chinese/Japanese restaurant in the heart of Amsterdam’s Chinatown for amazing sushi and dim sum. This restaurant boasts a grill, sushi bar, dim sum and wok kitchen. Do not miss the oysters with ginger. There is something powerfully evocative in sipping the sweet-salty-sharp ginger broth from the shells before squeezing the steamed sensation of sea between tongue and teeth.

Little Collins
This Amsterdam bar and restaurant is a tribute to the owners’ home city, Melbourne, and the many things they love to eat and drink. The brunch menu is available Wednesday to Sunday and the dinner menu, available Thursday and Friday, is a mouth-watering selection of contemporary foods from around the globe. For the best international brunch options, hungry customers head to Little Collins. Don’t miss their Rhubarb Bellini as an aperitif while you wait!

Worst Wijncafé
Worst Wijncafé is named for its sausage-skewed tapas dishes (veal tongue white sausage, chorizo and its famous lobster sausage). This checkerboard-tiled wine bar is the casual sibling of esteemed restaurant Marius next door. The menu features a dozen or so dishes, all of which are small and meant for sharing. There's a fantastic range of mostly French wines by the glass. Sunday brunch is a local event.