9 Best Restaurants in Rotterdam, Netherlands

In a tastefully modern, semicircular building, with bay windows overlooking the Maas, this posh restaurant run by chef-owner Erik van Loo is one of the Netherlands' finest eateries—with service as effortlessly attentive as you would expect. Luxuries such as truffles are added to the freshest ingredients, with the day's menu dictated by the availability of the best produce at that morning's markets.

Reputed by locals to be the city's best Cantonese restaurant, Asian Glories serves lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch in a tasteful modern interior or outdoors on its terrace. It's hard to choose what is most delicious: their fresh oysters, mussels in black bean sauce, and Peking duck consistently get raves from fussy eaters, but make sure you also leave room for an exotic dessert such as ice cream with rice and red bean sauce.

Lofty ceilings, a cavernous warehouse interior, long reading tables stacked with international magazines and papers, and a mezzanine at the back looking out over the Rotte River—it's little wonder this place attracts an artsy crowd. It is perfect for a lazy afternoon treat of delicious homemade pastries, but you can come here for breakfast, lunch, high tea, dinner, or even a snack after midnight, and they also offer a small selection for vegetarians.

Adjacent to the Stadsschouwburg (Municipal Theater), this popular spot—a favorite with local and international regulars alike—doesn't look too inviting from the outside, but the interior is modern, light, and airy; the staff are friendly; and there's a beautiful garden at the back, complete with birdsong. Better still, the kitchen produces excellent food using fresh seasonal produce.

This large self-serve café on the top floors of a glass-fronted building at the heart of Rotterdam's main shopping precinct offers everything from simple rolls to grilled meats at reasonable prices. There are plenty of delicious pastries to accompany your morning coffee, and good lunch options including fresh-made rolls.

In the grand style of Rotterdam's cafés, Loos—in business since 1988—has a range of international magazines and newspapers on reading racks, and in a fun gesture, six clocks with different time zones decorate one wall. As for the food, steak tartare and Breton oysters are perennial favorites.

On an elegant riverfront terrace, the charming "Sea Salt" mirrors the freshness of its oceanic menu, with crisp linens and a spotless open kitchen where the bustle of the staff whets your appetite. A large fish mosaic on the wall looks out across the river to the floodlighted Erasmus Bridge; a window awning adds to the romance of the view.