RFK Rankings · Amsterdam
Best View Restaurants in Amsterdam 2026
Window, water and skyline rooms · Amsterdam · 6 ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 18, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Ciel Bleu looks out over the whole city from the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura, the highest two-star view in Amsterdam and the easiest way to explain what this list is about. A great view here means water more often than skyline: the IJ behind Centraal, the Amstel at dusk, a former shipping wharf turned beach. The rooms that earn a place cook as well as they sightline. Here is who each suits, what to order, and exactly what is out the window. Six, ranked on the view and the food together.
1.Ciel Bleu
The highest two-star view in the city, from the Okura's 23rd floor. The grand view dinner.
Ciel Bleu looks out over the whole of Amsterdam from the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura, the highest fine-dining view in the city and a two-star kitchen to match it. Executive chef Arjan Speelman and chef de cuisine Mike Klaassen send out modern French cooking, with king crab and Baeri caviar a signature, and the discovery menu opens around 215 euros before wine. The panorama runs from the canal belt to the harbour, best at dusk. This is the grand view dinner in Amsterdam, the room that pairs the widest outlook with the best cooking on this list. Reserve a window table two to three weeks ahead and time it for sunset.
Book on the Okura site; ask for a window table at dusk.
2.Moon
A revolving room over the IJ with a real menu. The moving view, best at sunset.
Moon turns a full circle every 45 minutes on the 19th floor of the A'DAM Tower in Amsterdam-Noord, giving every table the IJ, the harbour and the skyline across the water in turn. Signature chef Jaimie van Heije builds a four-course dinner around 70 euros, with Dutch-Indonesian flavours such as a slow pork belly with Dutch lemon. It is the only rotating room in the city and the most novel view on this list. This is the booking for a sunset dinner that moves with the light, a short ferry hop behind Centraal. Reserve a window seat on the ring two to three weeks ahead.
Book on the A'DAM Tower site; ask for a window seat at sunset.
3.Mr Porter Steakhouse
A steak terrace over Dam Square. The central city-rooftop view.
Mr Porter crowns the W Amsterdam off the Spuistraat, a top-floor steakhouse and terrace looking over the canal houses toward Dam Square. The kitchen dry-ages its own beef across eleven cuts from ribeye to Japanese Wagyu A3, with dinners north of 100 euros a head, and the terrace is the seat to ask for. The view is a central city-rooftop rather than water, the best from the middle of town. This is the booking for a steak with a roof over the old centre rather than a canal at eye level. Reserve a terrace table for the early evening.
Book on the Mr Porter site; ask for the terrace.
4.Hotel de Goudfazant
A former garage on the IJ harbour with a three-course bargain. The industrial waterfront pick.
Hotel de Goudfazant occupies a vast former garage on the Aambeeldstraat in Amsterdam-Noord, opening to the IJ harbour with an industrial, hangar-like room and water at the door. The French-leaning seasonal menu is one of the city's value plays, a three-course dinner around 30.50 euros, with a seafood stew the most-cited dish. The view is raw harbour rather than a polished panorama, which is the point. This is the booking for a relaxed waterfront dinner with a working-harbour backdrop and a bill that leaves room for wine. Open Tuesday to Saturday for dinner; book ahead for a table near the water doors.
Book ahead; ask for a table by the harbour doors.
5.Pllek
A shipping-container room with a beach on the IJ. The casual waterfront sunset.
Pllek sits on the NDSM wharf in Amsterdam-Noord, built from shipping containers with a sand beach right on the IJ and big windows onto the water. The kitchen leans sustainable and largely vegetarian, around 50 euros for two courses, with responsibly sourced fish and meat alongside. The food is good rather than fine dining; the setting, water at your feet across from the city, is the reason to make the trip by ferry. This is the booking for a casual waterfront sunset rather than a grand dinner. Walk in for a drink on the beach, or reserve a window table for dinner.
Take the NDSM ferry; reserve a window table for sunset.
6.Ode aan de Amstel
The former Riva, with an Amstel-side terrace. The river view at the city's eastern edge.
Ode aan de Amstel sits at Amstelboulevard 1 on the east edge of the city, the room that took over the former Riva premises in 2021 under the In de Waag team, with chef Nick Schouten cooking an all-day menu of classics with an Asian turn. The draw is the riverside terrace on the Amstel, with boat traffic and water views from the ground and first floors, and a daily chef's menu of three to five courses at mid-range prices. This is the booking for an Amstel river view away from the centre, on a terrace made for a long summer evening. Reserve the riverside terrace and check the name, since some guides still list the old one.
Book the riverside terrace; ask for the Amstel-side seats.
Not for the view alone
Famous room, ordinary window
Wils near the Olympic Stadium. Joris Bijdendijk's one-star fire kitchen is one of the best in the city, but its third-floor windows face the stadium, not water or skyline. Book it for the cooking, not the outlook.
De Kas and Rijks. Two lovely Amsterdam rooms with no real view to speak of: De Kas looks onto its own greenhouse garden, Rijks onto a museum courtyard. Both worth booking, neither for a window seat.
How to get the window seat in Amsterdam
Ask for the view when you book, not when you arrive. At Ciel Bleu the whole 23rd floor looks out, but at Moon the window tables on the rotating ring are the ones to request, and at the waterfront rooms the terrace seats go first in summer. Time it for dusk: the IJ and the Amstel both look their best as the light goes.
Match the view to the meal you want. Ciel Bleu and Moon are full dinners with a skyline; Hotel de Goudfazant and Pllek are casual, water-level rooms on the IJ where the setting carries the night. For the Amstel at Ode aan de Amstel, the river terrace is the booking, weather permitting.
Frequently asked
Which Amsterdam restaurant has the best view?
Ciel Bleu, on the 23rd floor of the Hotel Okura, has the best high view in the city, a full panorama paired with two Michelin stars. For a moving view, Moon revolves over the IJ from the A'DAM Tower, and for the water at eye level, the IJ-side rooms in Amsterdam-Noord are hard to beat.
Where can I eat by the water in Amsterdam?
The IJ waterfront in Amsterdam-Noord is the place: Hotel de Goudfazant in a former garage on the harbour, and Pllek on the NDSM wharf with a beach right on the water. For a river rather than the harbour, Ode aan de Amstel has an Amstel-side terrace on the city's east edge.
Does Amsterdam have restaurants with a skyline view?
A few, since it is a low-rise city. Ciel Bleu gives the widest city panorama from the Okura's 23rd floor, and Moon turns a full circle over the skyline and the IJ from the A'DAM Tower. Most Amsterdam views are water rather than skyline, which is its own kind of view worth booking for.
Which Amsterdam view restaurant is best for a date?
Ciel Bleu for a milestone evening with a panorama, or Moon for the novelty of a revolving room over the water at sunset. For something more relaxed, Pllek's beach on the IJ and the Amstel terrace at Ode aan de Amstel both trade fine dining for a memorable setting by the water.
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