On the Oudezijds Voorburgwal sits a restaurant that has been doing the same thing for over fifty years: Cantonese cuisine on a high level, without concessions. Oriental City has been running since 1973 and celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2023. That is almost unheard of in the Amsterdam hospitality world. Red lanterns on the ceiling, wooden tables and chairs, the smell of steamed dim sum wafting through the room. Outside the canal, inside another continent.
Who is behind the kitchen is something the restaurant prefers not to widely publicize, but dedication to the heritage of Cantonese cuisine is at the heart of everything that comes out. That continuity is visible on the plate. The kitchen employs traditional techniques found in few other restaurants in town. In 2013, even KLM noticed: for two years, Oriental City provided Chinese meals in business and economy class on flights from Schiphol Airport to China. That's no small honor.
The interior is decorated in the colors you expect: deep red, wood, lanterns. No attempt at modernization, no Scandinavian influences or industrial concrete. The space overlooks the canal, and the decor tells you without detours where you are. The restaurant's own core values are taste, coming together and heritage. That sounds like marketing-speak, but anyone sitting there on a Sunday afternoon between families ordering dim sum and grandpa reading the newspaper understands that it just rings true.
In 2013, KLM also noticed this: for two years, Oriental City provided Chinese meals in business and economy class on flights from Schiphol Airport to China.
In 1996, Oriental City's front door was immortalized in the Hong Kong film Young and Dangerous 3. A detail that regulars probably already know, but which illustrates well how far the reputation of this restaurant extends. The building on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal is not just any address. It is one of the places in the city where the history of the Chinese community is tangible, simply sitting on a wooden chair at a table overlooking the water.