Simpel is a modern restaurant in a very hip part of Amsterdam called de Pijp. The decor runs slightly more expensive-looking than Ikea with clean lines and materials ranging from plastic, wood and metals. The result is a surprisingly cozy restaurant.

The dishes combine dutch simplicity with a touch of nouveau such as ham filled with potato and quail egg. Old stand-bys are available for the comfort-food fanatic looking for a top quality beef carpaccio with parmesan or steak with pepper sauce and french fries. For those more adventurous, try the catfish filet or the Guinea foul fillet with potato pie and balsamic sauce. Being in Holland for such a short time, I opted for more dutch-style food including the Potato mustard soup and the steak with fries. It was cooked to perfection at a reasonable price for such a nice restaurant (17 euros for the steak).

We kept things "simpel" with the duo of white and dark chocolate mousse although if you're looking for a nouveau dessert for after your nouveau dinner, you might want to try the ice cream with strawberries and chili pepper jam or the tarragon parfait with coffee syrup. Dutch coffee is much better than standard american coffee. So stay and have a cup with a dessert. Portions are also smaller here so you can easily have the 3 courses and go out afterwards. I recommend getting the caffeine so you can party at the nearby bars until the wee hours of the night. The bonus is that the bars in this area are not touristy, so you'll get a real taste of the amsterdam social scene.