Grand Café de Tropen

(Image credit: TBC)

last updated 26 July 2022

To be frank, Amsterdam’s Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, more informally known as the Royal Tropical Institute, is not the first place you’d think of for a lunch of pulled chicken marinated in hoi-sin and star anise.

The stately Dutch Gothic Revival pile was designed by J.J. van Nieukerken in 1926 as a centre for promoting trade in Holland’s colonial territories, but the opening of the Grand Café de Tropen is likely to draw a new demographic to the edge of Oosterpark.

Local practice Piet Boon has been careful to keep the bones of the original restaurant intact; the silhouette of the arched doors is reflected by the graceful curved windows that open onto park views, while natural timber floors and white-streaked black marble, a green stone bar and glass cabinet of objets add a contemporary touch.

The star attraction, of course, is chef Robin Tiemessen’s all-day Asian-inflected menu of oak-smoked salmon with pickled sweet and sour cucumber, and tuna served with a seaweed mayonnaise.

ADDRESS

Linnaeusstraat 2

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Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.

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