‘t Nieuwe Kafé: Drinks on Dam Square Beside the Royal Palace

‘t Nieuwe Kafé is on Dam Square, facing the Royal Palace, right in the centre of Amsterdam. The W Amsterdam, where we stayed for a few days, sits just behind the palace, so I walked past this terrace more times than I can count. It was packed every time.

On 1 May, after a long day of walking, we finally sat down. We kept it to drinks and bar snacks, though the café serves food too.

‘t Nieuwe Kafé at a Glance
📍 Where · Eggertstraat 8, on Dam Square, set into the Nieuwe Kerk and facing the Royal Palace.
☀️ The draw · A large terrace in the sun most of the day, right on the Dam — prime people-watching.
🍸 Order · A borrel: gin and tonics, a Grolsch, regular and sweet-potato fries, and a bowl of mixed nuts.
🕐 When · A daytime café — listings put closing around 6–7 p.m., so it’s for an afternoon drink, not a late one.
💶 Worth knowing · You pay a little extra for the location, and the raspberry gin and tonic was mostly raspberries.
⭐ Bubbly’s rating · 4 / 5 — the view, the fries and the Grolsch earn the stop; the cocktails are ordinary.

A Café Inside the Nieuwe Kerk

The pale stone building behind the terrace is part of the Nieuwe Kerk, the church that stands next to the Royal Palace. ‘t Nieuwe Kafé occupies a section of it, which gives the café its address on Eggertstraat.

The Eggert name turns up twice here. Willem Eggert was the wealthy Amsterdam merchant who provided the land for the Nieuwe Kerk and helped pay for it, and he was buried inside the church in 1417. Upstairs from the café is the Eggertzaal, a function room the café rents out for dinners, lectures and receptions, with windows over the Dam.

Han and Itel de Jong opened the café in the early 1980s, and it is still a family business.

The church next door to the terrace is where Dutch monarchs are inaugurated. Every inauguration since 1814 has taken place inside, most recently King Willem-Alexander’s in 2013. By the time I took these photos in the late afternoon, nearly every table outside was taken.

The View Across Dam Square

The terrace is large and faces straight onto the Royal Palace, with Dam Square spread out in front of it. It also gets sun for most of the day, and people come here to sit in it and unwind. It is a good spot for people-watching, and an easy stop between landmarks, since the palace and the church are both right there.

The raspberry gin and tonic came with ice, a black straw and a separate bottle of Fever-Tree Indian tonic.

The raspberries were the main difference from a regular gin and tonic. Beyond them, it was not noticeably more flavoured.

The palace itself was partly under wraps that week. When I photographed it, scaffolding surrounded the cupola and an orange cherry picker stood in front of the facade.

Gin and Tonics, Grolsch and Two Kinds of Fries

The Dutch have a word for drinks with snacks: a borrel. The small plates that go with it are borrelhapjes, which translates literally as “drink snacks”. That is more or less what we ordered.

The second gin and tonic was the regular kind, in the same balloon glass, with cucumber slices instead of raspberries.

There was also a Grolsch on the table. The glass is printed in Dutch with a short claim from the brewery: Grolsch is brewed with two kinds of hops, one for a pleasantly bitter taste and one for the aroma. Grolsch takes its name from Grol, the old name for Groenlo, the town where the brewery started in 1615.

Then the fries arrived: one bowl of regular fries and one of sweet potato fries, both in blue glazed bowls with a small pot of dip on the side.

The sweet potato fries were coated and a deep orange, and the regular fries were thick-cut. A Pepsi Zero Sugar rounded out the table.

Later we added a bowl of mixed nuts, served the same way on a blue glazed plate.

It was a relaxing break after a long day of walking, and a good seat for watching the square.

Service on the Terrace

Service was quick and good, and our waiter was very polite.

Here is the thing about Amsterdam terraces: people hog the chairs and tables, and on nice days it gets a little crazy. Once someone has a seat, they keep it.

The upside is that nobody rushes anyone either. We sat, had our drinks and watched the square, and nobody hurried us along. If there is no table, the only option is to wait or come back later.

Bubbly Tips

• Look for the white planters. Several terraces share this side of the Dam. ‘t Nieuwe Kafé’s tables sit behind white planters with the café’s name on them, under cream umbrellas reading “Coffee – Drinks – Pastries”.
• Bring sunglasses. The terrace gets sun for most of the day.
• Expect to pay for the location. Guide listings note that prices here run a little higher than average, which is the usual trade-off for a table facing the Royal Palace.
• Plan for a daytime drink, not a late one. This is a daytime café. Listings put closing time between 6pm and 7pm, so check the café’s website before planning an evening round.
• Pair it with the Nieuwe Kerk. The church next door hosts changing exhibitions. Check what is on and the opening hours on the church’s website before you go.
• Know about 4 May. The national Remembrance of the Dead ceremony is held on the Dam every year on 4 May, and the Nieuwe Kerk has closed to visitors on that date in past years. Expect a very different square that evening.
• Snacks or a meal, your choice. Bar snacks are enough for a break between sights, but the café serves food as well if you need a proper lunch.
• Getting there. Several tram lines stop at Dam. From the W Amsterdam, the square is a few minutes’ walk.

Final Thoughts

I walked past ‘t Nieuwe Kafé for days before sitting down, and the full terrace stopped surprising me long before I got a table. The reasons are simple: sun for most of the day, the Royal Palace across the square, and a building with the Nieuwe Kerk’s six centuries behind it.

The raspberry gin and tonic was mostly raspberries. The fries, the Grolsch and the view of the Dam were worth the stop.

Until next time!

xoxo,
Bubbly 🎈