Welcome Vietnamese Restaurant on Zeedijk, the main Asian street on the edge of the Red Light District, is one of very few purveyors of Vietnamese food in Amsterdam.

It's a shame, then, that so little has been done to take advantage of what is essentially a captive audience. The interior is dark and the decor is starting to look dated (the best tables are next to the window overlooking the canal).

Where Welcome Vietnamese Restaurant does score points, however, is its 33-page menu covering fish, chicken, beef and vegetable dishes, curries, rice noodles, set menus and some more daring choices such as frogs legs and eel.

The goi cuon (glass noodles, shrimp, cucumber and lots of fresh mint wrapped in rice paper) and satay smothered in a light coconut-based peanut sauce are both excellent. But main dishes like chicken in a sharp sweet and sour sauce (clearly made with fresh lemons because you have to take care not to crack a tooth on the escaped pips) taste more like something you would get at a run-of-the-mill Chinese restaurant.

Service is quick, if perfunctory, and prices are reasonable, although they tend to be higher than other Asian restaurants on Zeedijk like Little Thai Prince.

Giving Welcome a run for its money is Xinh, which opened on Elandsgracht in 2011 and serves Vietnamese street food in modern surroundings.

Restaurant info

Opening hours:
daily 12.00-23.00

Price indication:

Our rating:

Address: Zeedijk 57
City: Amsterdam
Telephone: 020 638 6234
Web: go directly to homepage

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