Exactly what a neighbourhood winebar should be.

Rating: 6/5
Cuisine: Global, seasonal
Price: Starters €15–25, Mains €28–45

Chef Ricardo van Ede has been around. Michelin-starred at 21, kitchens in Amsterdam and beyond. And now, he's just cooking remarkably good food. At Marius Wijncafé, tucked on a quiet corner, the menu is short, sharp, and changes every month.

Service is relaxed, well-informed. Tables are close but not crowded, it is exactly what a neighbourhood winebar should be.

Next door is their wine store, and here’s the genius: pick any bottle off the shelf during dinner, bring it to your table, and pay a modest corkage. Suddenly that Burgundy is dinner material, not a daydream. It’s a smart and generous setup, and it works.

Van Ede’s cooking is clean, confident, precise. Nothing showy. Just serious depth of flavor. One dish remains my Everest. Lamb rump with garlic jus and cime di rapa. Tender lamb bathed in a garlicky jus, surrounded by bitter and nutty greens. The sauce: deep, umami, beautifully complex, perfectly balanced. One of the best things I’ve ever tasted. It brought me to tears then and there (the wine might have helped)..

Marius Wijncafé is a wine lover’s gastronomic hideaway. Thanks to Ricardo’s mastery, ordinary ingredients turn into magical courses. The wine‑store tie‑in? Brilliant.

‍