Rotterdam recommendations

Rotterdam Partners

After university, the first two places I lived in for more than a few weeks were Paris and Cambridge. I got used to their tourist hordes. And when I first moved to Rotterdam, in January 2000, the lack of tourists struck me most. There weren’t any in the summer either. We now see more tourists than we used to

Coffee

The city has plenty of hipster coffee roasters and coffee bars (coffeeshop means something else). You’ll find several in the centre.

• Nine Bar, Botersloot 44A, 3011 HH Rotterdam
• Hopper, Schiedamse Vest 146, 3011 BG Rotterdam
• Harvest, Glashaven 107, 3011 XG Rotterdam
• No 10 Coffee, Hoogstraat 47A, 3011 PG Rotterdam

Drinks

Too many to try. A few of my old favourites:

• Stalles, Nieuwe Binnenweg 11A, 3014 GA Rotterdam
  classic Dutch pub
• De Witte Aap, Witte de Withstraat 78, 3012 BS Rotterdam
  popular and crowded
• Tiki’s, Hartmansstraat 16A, 3012 VA Rotterdam
  classic Tiki bar
• Café LaBru, Hartmansstraat 18A, 3012 VA Rotterdam
  relaxed cocktail bar

Restaurants

You’ll find several good options all within a couple of hundred metres of each other. And loads more in the same street - so if you only go to one place, go here. Avoid Stadhuisplein.

• Proeflokaal Reingoud, Schiedamse Vest 148, 3011 BG Rotterdam
  great beer selection, bar food, many restaurants within 5 minutes’ walk
• Warung Mini, Witte De Withstraat 47A, 3012 BM Rotterdam
  cheap Surinamese food - broodjes (sandwiches) are snacks, or try roti or moxie metie (mixed grill)
• Bazar, Witte De Withstraat 16, 3012 BP Rotterdam
  Turkish/Moroccan fusion

Five minutes walk from there:

• Old Town, Korte Hoogstraat 23, 3011 GK Rotterdam
  Malaysian/Chinese, dim sum, curries and noodles
• Fjord, Blaak 776, 3011 TA Rotterdam
  fancier but great value fish and steak
• What’s Up India,Eendrachtsweg 27B, 3012 LB Rotterdam
  fun Indian restaurant with great food

A few hundred metres further:

• 91 Spices, Gelderseplein 46, 3011 WZ Rotterdam
  high quality Indian food
• Restaurant Fitzgerald, Gelderseplein 49, 3011 WZ Rotterdam
  Michelin star restaurant - very very good
• Hinoki, Keizerstraat 52, 3011GH Rotterdam
  the original and best Rotterdam ramen place

Around Rotterdam Centraal station:

• Angelo Betti, Schiekade 6B, 3032 AJ Rotterdam
  best pizza in town. You can’t book, so drink wine at the bar while you wait.
• Takumi Ramen, West-Kruiskade 9B, 3014 AJ Rotterdam
  reliable option in Chinatown

Boat trips

• Spido harbour tour - the container harbour is really cool, but wrap up warm so you can stay on the upper deck
• Water taxi - fast and exciting; try a single trip in one river zone, or the €10 hop-on hop-off day ticket (ferry services / circle line)
• Kinderdijk tour - a longer more relaxed trip upriver to windmill overload at Kinderdijk
• Splash Tours - outrageous amphibious vehicle gimmick, but expensive and you don’t get to go out on deck

Architecture

Rotterdam’s city-centre was demolished in 1940, rebuilt in brutalist 1950-1960, and upgraded with one or two cool new buildings per year since then.

• Rotterdam Centraal (train station)
• Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen (art depository, 2021)
• Markthal (covered market, 2014)
• De Rotterdam (tower block, 2013) - the nhow hotel’s cocktail bar has a great terrace
• Hotel New York (hotel/restaurants, 1917) - great cocktail bar/restaurant in the basement
• Katendrecht (urban redevelopment) - Gentrified former docks connected to Hotel New York by footbridge, and permanent home of the SS Rotterdam