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Although this area of Holland is home to some of the country's most worldly restaurants, keep in mind that most bars also offer house specials whose prices are usually cheap enough to keep students and young people sated (keep an eye out for the kleine kaart, or lighter meal menu, usually offered in the bar area and available throughout the day). Perennially popular dishes such as satay and pepper steak never come off the menu.
This airy high-ceilinged restaurant inside a monumental stone-facade building provides the perfect setting for daily changing modern Dutch tasting menus. You can guide the choices according to taste, or opt to be surprised, whether you go for four, five, six, or seven courses.
The interior of this brewpub is spectacular enough with its exposed stone walls and foundations, but it is the setting for its beer garden---on Heilige Geestkerkhof beside the Oude Kerk---that makes it truly worth stopping here for a scenic snack or lunch. Toasties, rolls, and burgers dominate the lunchtime menu, while if you drop by later the dinner menu expands to more substantial fare, such as pork stewed in a house beer.
The spacious and high-ceilinged Grand Café Brinkmann offers baguettes, pancakes, and other light snacks. Windows edged with stained glass overlook the Grote Markt and Sint Bavo's church across the square.
This long-standing city favorite, housed in the hotel of the same name, is a showpiece for the talents of chef Mark Gratama. The spacious, airy dining room is a seamless blend of modern and traditional, with wood-paneled walls, crisp linens, and chic furniture—the perfect backdrop for sampling an endlessly changing menu of cutting-edge and creative dishes that are as big a treat for the eye as they are for the palate.
In business for more than half a century, Stads-Koffyhuis looks out over the oldest and one of the most beautiful canals in Delft. Inside, you'll find a stamtafel, a large table laid out with newspapers and magazines, where anyone may sit and chat, as well as smaller individual tables where you can enjoy good coffee, delicious pancakes, and terrific apple pie.
