Food Blog | Cultureel Eetcafe Skek | Amsterdam
I was in Amsterdam a week ago for the Keukenhof tulip festival and one of the most worth it meals was at Cultureel Eetcafe Skek! This is a student-run cafe that has the vibes somewhere in between a boardgame cafe and a lively pub.
Where it Is
This is a cafe that is a 7 minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal. No need for trams or anything, but of course I will just mention that if you ARE planning to take the metro to Amsterdam Centraal, it is worth 9 Euros to get a Bus / Tram / Metro 24 hour pass - which does really help get around the Amsterdam City Center.
Address: Cultureel Eetcafé 'Skek, Zeedijk 4-8, 1012 AX Amsterdam, Netherlands
What it Costs
I would say that this is definitely one of the most worth it meals that me and my girlfriend had in Amsterdam. Our whole meal came up to 28 Euros for the two of us - the breakdown was like this:
1 Chef’s Choice (19.50 Euros)
1 Nachos (8.50 Euros)
Just a note - when we were there, there were NO meat dishes on the menu. The menu was purely vegetarian - but I will say that with a caveat that their vegetarian / vegan options are actually super good (even to a meat lover like me). The Chef’s Choice is actually just 3 dishes from their menu section. It is actually cheaper than ordering dishes one-by-one (and I would say that for estimation purposes, I think around 2.5 dishes per person is probably the right amount).
With the Chef’s Choice, it is 19.50 Euros, but if we ordered the dishes given to us, this would have been the breakdown (you don’t get special dishes, you just get a random selection of dishes from the menu):
Sweet Potato and Spinach Salad (7.50 Euros)
Cauliflower nuggets (7.50 Euros)
Grilled Oyster Mushroom Skewers (7.50 Euros)
This would have been 22.50 Euros if ordered individually - but what you are giving up is basically choice - when it comes to ordering. I personally think it is super worth it to just go with the chef’s choice, because everything we had was delicious! You can take a look at their full menu here:
How it Tastes
Note: Sorry if some of the photos are a bit dark (there isn’t that much light in the cafe)
Cauliflower Nuggets
All of the dishes are super yummy. My personal favourite was the cauliflower nuggets - and basically you can think of them as a vegetarian version of fried Korean chicken. Super crunchy exterior, very luxurious sauce coating the cauliflower, and it almost perfectly replicates meat - so this was super satisfying for a meat lover like me.
Nachos
Next up in my personal rankings was the nachos. I would say that at 8.50 Euros, maybe it’s not the most worth it dish - but I really liked their toppings. Has that very savoury and sweet combination that actually make this a very filling dish.
Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad
Thirdly, I would pick their sweet potato and spinach salad. Fresh would be the one word that I would describe this dish. I also really like how that sweet potato goes with this salad and their salad dressing is also very light and refreshing!
Grilled Oyster Mushrooms
I would pick the grilled oyster mushrooms as my least favourite dish - not because I didn’t like it, but rather because I thought the other dishes were more unique! This basically reminds me of Japanese Yakitori and I think it’s a nice, simple dish to enjoy at this cafe.
Star Rating
8.5/10. Probably one of my number 1 recommendations in Amsterdam. Reasonably cheap, a wonderful spot for people looking for Vegan / Vegetarian food, and great vibes!