Amsterdam Jordaan Food Tour: 12 Tastings & Canal Cafés

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/17

Duration3h

GroupUp to 12

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Jordaan’s flavors, stories, and cozy cafés in Amsterdam

You’ll taste your way through Amsterdam’s Jordaan district with 12 Dutch specialties — from legendary apple pie to Gouda cheese and herring — while relaxing in cozy cafés along scenic canals. Local guides share stories that bring each bite to life. Expect laughter over jenever and new friends by dessert.

Step-by-step itinerary

Amsterdam Jordaan Food and Canal Tour

Start with apple pie and coffee
Taste four Gouda cheeses
Try homemade Surinamese rotirol
Enjoy fresh poffertjes with sugar
Taste fresh herring prepared locally
Walk along Herengracht canal
See De Gangen Willemstraat alleys
Stroll Brouwersgracht canal
View Anne Frank House exterior
Pass through Nine Streets area
Walk Haarlemmerdijk dyke route
End with bitterballen and jenever

The Experience

Someone slides a plate across the old wooden table — apple pie, still warm, with a cloud of whipped cream that melts just a little too fast. I’m not usually a dessert-for-breakfast person, but our guide (Marije) grinned and said this brown café’s pie is “the real Amsterdam handshake.” So I took a bite. The cinnamon hit first, then something lemony? Anyway, it was gone before my coffee cooled. Funny how quickly you forget to be polite when something tastes like home you didn’t know you missed.

We wandered out into the Jordaan’s narrow streets — brick underfoot, bikes everywhere, someone laughing in Dutch behind us. At Café de Poort, we tried four types of Gouda cheese. I thought cheese was just cheese until Marije explained the aging process; the oldest one nearly crumbled in my hand but tasted like caramel somehow. There was this moment where everyone went quiet except for the clink of glasses (beer for some, wine for others). It felt like we’d all known each other longer than an hour.

Mama Jane at Mama’s Koelkast handed me her Surinamese rotirol with this proud little nod. I tried to say thank you in Dutch — she laughed and corrected me gently (I probably butchered it). The spices were softer than I expected, almost sweet at first. We watched poffertjes puff up on the griddle outside Pat’s stand; powdered sugar dusted everything including my sleeve. Not complaining.

I’ll admit I hesitated with the herring — raw fish isn’t usually my thing — but watching the fishmonger slice it so carefully made me curious. Salty and soft and way less scary than I’d built up in my head. We walked along Herengracht and Brouwersgracht after that; sunlight flickered off the water and there were these old canal houses leaning at odd angles. Marije pointed out places from WWII history near Anne Frank House, but didn’t linger too long on anything heavy.

The last café had bitterballen (crispy outside, molten inside) and jenever that burned just enough to make me laugh out loud. Sitting there with everyone else — strangers two hours ago — sharing food stories over sticky tables… yeah, I still think about that view through the window sometimes when I’m back home making toast.

What’s included

Your day covers 12 Dutch food tastings at six authentic spots around Jordaan — think apple pie at a 400-year-old brown café, Gouda cheeses at Café de Poort, Surinamese bites from Mama Jane’s kitchen, fresh poffertjes from Pat’s stand, herring prepared by a local fishmonger (except Sundays/Mondays), plus drinks like beer, wine and jenever along scenic canals with an English-speaking culinary guide leading every step.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Eating Europe Food Tours Amsterdam