Restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Plant-forward tasting menu, easier to book than expected.
VanOost is Amsterdam's most accessible serious plant-based restaurant, holding a Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 with a 4.8 Google rating. Chef Floris van Straalen's kitchen commits fully to vegetables and fruit — not as a dietary option but as the entire menu. Book it if the format suits you; flag the plant-based menu at reservation and the team handles the rest.
Getting a table at VanOost is easier than you might expect for a Michelin-recognised restaurant in Amsterdam, which makes it one of the more accessible entries into the city's serious plant-based dining tier. Book it. The caveat: when you reserve, you must specify upfront that you want the fully plant-based menu. This is not a detail to overlook — the kitchen builds your evening around that declaration, and the team takes it seriously.
VanOost sits at Mauritskade 61 in Amsterdam's Oost neighbourhood, a stretch of the city that sits east of the centre and draws a local crowd rather than a tourist one. The address alone signals something: this is not a restaurant positioned for maximum footfall from the Rijksmuseum crowd. It earns its guests through reputation. Chef Floris van Straalen leads the kitchen, and the guiding philosophy — Think Vegetables, Think Fruit , is not a marketing line applied loosely to a menu that still centres meat. It is the actual architecture of the experience. Every plate is built from plant ingredients, and the kitchen's commitment to that constraint is what gives the cooking its character.
The space reads with the kind of considered restraint that serious independent restaurants in Amsterdam tend to favour: not minimal to the point of coldness, but not over-decorated either. The layout rewards smaller groups. Two diners will feel well-placed here; larger parties should check configuration when booking. The room has an intimacy that suits the format , this is tasting-menu territory, and the pacing is designed around attention rather than throughput.
VanOost holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025. That recognition does not carry the same weight as a star, but it is Michelin's signal that the kitchen is cooking at a consistent, technically sound level. For a restaurant operating at the €€€€ price point in Amsterdam without a star, the Michelin Plate is a meaningful anchor: it places VanOost above the general creative-dining field while keeping expectations honest. The Google rating of 4.8 across 162 reviews adds a layer of sustained diner satisfaction that the award alone cannot convey.
For context on where VanOost sits in the broader Dutch fine dining conversation: the country's plant-forward cooking has a serious pedigree. De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen holds two Michelin stars and is widely cited as the reference point for vegetable-focused fine dining in the Netherlands. VanOost does not claim that level of recognition, but it operates in the same philosophical territory and does so within Amsterdam, which makes it the more practical choice for most diners visiting the city. If you are building an Amsterdam itinerary around serious eating, VanOost deserves a slot alongside the starred rooms , see our full Amsterdam restaurants guide for the broader picture.
The plant-based menu at VanOost is not a dietary accommodation , it is the restaurant's position. This distinction matters when deciding whether to book. If you are looking for a creative tasting menu that happens to offer a vegetarian option, you are in the wrong room. If you want a kitchen that has built its entire identity around vegetables and fruit, and has the Michelin recognition to show it has done so with skill, VanOost is the correct Amsterdam answer at this price point.
The requirement to declare the plant-based menu at the time of booking is worth treating as a feature rather than a limitation. It means the kitchen knows exactly who it is cooking for, and the result is a menu that has been designed as a complete experience rather than assembled from substitutions. Guests with additional dietary restrictions should flag these at booking , the team is described as professional and engaged with the philosophy, which suggests the kitchen is set up to handle requests with care rather than reluctance.
VanOost is in Oost, which gives the evening a different shape than a meal near the Leidseplein or the Jordaan. The neighbourhood has its own bar and café culture, and the area around Mauritskade connects to a stretch of the city that rewards some after-dinner exploration on foot. Amsterdam's bar scene is covered in our full Amsterdam bars guide, and the Oost area has options within reasonable walking distance for those who want to extend the evening without immediately heading back to a hotel.
This is not a late-night restaurant in the sense of extended service hours , the hours are not publicly listed, so confirm when booking if you are arriving from a hotel on the other side of the city or pairing the meal with another commitment. What the location does offer is a sense of being in a neighbourhood rather than a dining district, which changes the texture of the evening. You are not leaving through a cluster of competing restaurants; you are stepping into a residential part of Amsterdam that feels genuinely local.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is notable at the €€€€ tier. Reserve through the restaurant's booking process and flag the plant-based menu at the time of reservation , this step is not optional. The address is Mauritskade 61, 1092 AD Amsterdam. No dress code is publicly specified, but at this price point and format, smart casual is the safe assumption. For those planning a wider Amsterdam trip, the full Amsterdam hotels guide covers accommodation options across the city, and the full Amsterdam experiences guide is worth consulting if VanOost is part of a longer stay.
Among the city's other serious creative restaurants , Ciel Bleu, Spectrum, Vinkeles, Daalder, and RIJKS® , VanOost occupies a specific lane. It is the room you choose when the plant-based format is the point, not a workaround. At €€€€ pricing with a Michelin Plate and a 4.8 Google rating, the value proposition holds if vegetables are what you are there for.
Yes, and the restaurant's setup is well-suited to handling them carefully. The entire menu is plant-based, so the default position already removes a significant category of dietary concerns. Flag any additional restrictions at the time of booking , the team's engagement with the Think Vegetables, Think Fruit philosophy suggests the kitchen treats these requests as part of the cooking challenge rather than an inconvenience.
Bar seating details are not publicly confirmed for VanOost. Given the tasting-menu format and the intimate room layout, the experience is primarily table-based. Contact the restaurant directly when booking if bar seating is a priority , at this price tier in Amsterdam, counter seats are often a separate allocation worth asking about early.
It is a reasonable solo option at this price point. The tasting-menu format works for one, and the room's intimacy does not make solo diners feel conspicuous the way a large, loud restaurant might. For a solo diner who wants a more counter-focused experience, RIJKS® is worth comparing. VanOost is the better choice if the plant-based format is specifically what you want.
At the €€€€ price point with a Michelin Plate and a 4.8 rating across 162 reviews, the answer is yes , provided you are there for the plant-based format. If you want a tasting menu that centres meat or fish, this is not the room. If you want a kitchen that has built genuine technical skill around vegetables and fruit, the price is justified. For starred tasting-menu experiences in Amsterdam, Ciel Bleu and Spectrum are the comparisons to make.
Yes, with one condition: both diners (or your group) should be on board with a fully plant-based menu. If everyone is, the combination of Michelin recognition, a focused kitchen philosophy, and an easy booking process makes it a strong special-occasion choice at the €€€€ tier. The intimate room suits a celebration dinner better than a large, high-energy space would. If the occasion calls for a more traditional luxury setting, Vinkeles is worth considering instead.
For plant-forward creative cooking at a lower price point, RIJKS® is worth checking. For starred creative dining at €€€€, Ciel Bleu and Spectrum are the natural comparisons. Outside Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen is the benchmark for plant-based fine dining in the Netherlands if you are willing to travel. Our full Amsterdam restaurants guide covers the wider field.
At €€€€ with a Michelin Plate, a 4.8 Google rating, and an easy booking process, the value holds for diners who want this specific format. You are paying for a kitchen that has committed fully to plant-based cooking at a serious technical level, not one that treats it as a secondary offering. If the format matches what you are looking for, it is worth it. If you want the most bang for your €€€€ in Amsterdam across all formats, compare it against Daalder and Spectrum before deciding.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| VanOost | Chef Floris van Straalen has it! Vanoost is a new hotspot in Amsterdam where you can enjoy tasty vegetable preparations and a completely pure plant menu. It is important to mention when making your reservation that this is your choice. Too bad the menu is not yet announced on the website, because this should really be shouted out. The Think Vegetables! Think Fruit! philosophy is warmly embraced by the entire professional team. Nice.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€€€ | — |
| Ciel Bleu | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Bolenius | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| De Kas | Michelin 1 Star | €€€ | — |
| Wils | Michelin 1 Star | €€€ | — |
| Ron Gastrobar | €€€ | — |
Comparing your options in Amsterdam for this tier.
The entire menu is plant-based, so it is the default format rather than an accommodation. That said, the restaurant asks you to flag the plant-based menu preference at the time of reservation, which suggests they still need to know your choice upfront. If you have restrictions beyond plant-based eating, check the venue's official channels before booking.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in available data for VanOost, so it is worth checking at the time of reservation. At the €€€€ tier with a Michelin Plate, the format leans toward a structured tasting experience rather than a casual bar setting, so plan for a full sit-down meal.
Yes, VanOost is a reasonable solo option by Amsterdam fine-dining standards. Booking difficulty is rated easy, which removes the friction that can make solo reservations awkward at comparable venues. A plant-based tasting menu is a natural format for solo diners who want a structured, paced experience without needing a group to justify the covers.
If you are committed to the plant-based format, yes. VanOost holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, which signals kitchen consistency at this price point. The caveat is that the full menu is not published on the restaurant's website, so you are booking on trust in the concept and the team's execution of the Think Vegetables! Think Fruit! philosophy rather than a known dish list.
It works well for occasions where the guests are already on board with plant-based eating. The €€€€ price point and Michelin Plate recognition give it the formality a celebration warrants, and the Oost neighbourhood setting keeps the evening away from the more tourist-heavy central dining zones. Confirm the plant-based menu format with all guests before booking so there are no surprises on the night.
De Kas is the closest comparison if the plant-driven philosophy is what draws you, with a greenhouse-grown produce concept at a similar tier. Bolenius also leans heavily on vegetable-forward cooking with stronger Michelin credentials. If you want to move away from plant-forward entirely, Ciel Bleu offers two Michelin stars and a conventional fine-dining format at a higher price point.
At €€€€ with a Michelin Plate and easy booking availability, VanOost offers reasonable value relative to how difficult it is to secure a table at comparable Amsterdam restaurants. The price is justified if the all-vegetable format aligns with what you want from the meal. If you are looking for a plant-forward concept at a lower price, De Kas sits at a less demanding price point.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
