Hotel de Goudfazant, Amsterdam: Fantastic restaurant in an old car garage

Hotel de Goudfazant is confusingly named. It is not a hotel. It is, however, located in Amsterdam-Noord, so we took a taxi to reach it – journeying under the river by tunnel and out into an industrial estate on IJ waterfront, my companions started getting rather nervous about where we were going! Even when you get there, it still looks like a warehouse! But in fact Hotel de Goudfazant is located in a former car garage – there are a still a few cars jacked up around the place, in great contrast to the huge luxe lighting installation!

It’s a huge space, with ceilings that are incredibly high, hulking rusty beams, and the original roll-up garage doors still in tact.

Hotel de Goudfazant, Amsterdam: Fantastic restaurant in an old car garage - complete with cars and mechanics’ machinery! Excellent dinner spot | Recommended by HYHOI.com: Have You Heard Of It? | A curation of design-led hotspots around the world, tried and tasted

Photo by @neilmartin

Take a seat on a red plastic chair and enjoy the atmosphere (it was packed on our Wednesday night visit) and most unusual surroundings.

Photo by @mattbarnesphoto

There’s no point in me giving menu recommendations, as every single thing we ate was incredible! I definitely suggest going all out and ordering three courses – you won’t be disappointed and the pricing is reasonable (three courses for around €30, if my memory serves me correctly).

If you love Hotel de Goudfazant, check out Cafe Modern (located in a former bank) or Citroën Restaurant (in a former Citroën garage), both from the same owners.