TGC de Visbar | The Good Companion — Restaurant in Amsterdam

TLDR: amazing staff, delicious food, and cozy interiors.

Make sure to make a reservation!

We walked in on a Sunday evening and were lucky enough to get a reservation for 8pm.

The ambiance was nice- it’s a pretty small place with a cozy atmosphere. You can get a peek into the kitchen as well, and watch the chefs shuck the oysters.

I was extremely impressed by the level of service and quality of the food. Absolutely all the seafood we had here was superb. And there were only 2 chefs and 2 front-of-house staff! Our server was a very nice, diligent and hardworking guy who gave excellent recommendations. The service was quick, we had a short wait for everything and I really admired how the limited staff took such great care of all their guests.

Now the food:

Oysters - Dutch oysters are a little more affordable (6 for 19.50€ as opposed to 24.50€ for the sampler). They come with vinaigrette and a few different sauces, all of which were very nice. The oysters were very fresh and refreshing. Could I have eaten 2 dozen of them? Yes I could have.

Mackerel -

I find that white fish tends to be dry or bland unless prepared really well. Let’s just say the chefs here know exactly what they’re doing. The mackerel was served cold in some tangy sauce. This dish is not for those who prefer very well cooked dishes, as the fish was pink on the underside. That aside, I think that’s why the texture was so nice. It was very tender and flavorful, but light and not overpowering.

The “seacuterie” is cured fish, thinly sliced. Similar to salmon lox, but less salty and salami-like texture. Topped with lime zest, it was a delight to eat. For a true “charcuterie” type experience, you may want to order crackers or bread on the side to accompany it. I liked it just fine alone.

Lastly, the mussels. They were prepared in wine, butter, cream, herbs. Surprisingly, steamed mussels maintains the texture of the mussels much better than boiling, which sometimes makes it more chewy. These mussels were soft, and almost fluffy? You can also taste the notes of parsley and celery, along with the creaminess of the milk/cream that they used. Usually mussels tend to be very garlicky and buttery - I appreciated the unique taste profile of TGC’s version.

Absolutely a nice evening with great food, would recommend to any...

I wasn't at all sure about going out for 'Fish 'n' Chips' for our first day's main meal in multi-cuisine offering Amsterdam but I'm so pleased that my family persuaded me to change my mind. We have some very good such restaurants & takeaways in our part of North-East England but you'd have to go some to find anywhere as good for both food & service as this place (no pun intended, honest 🙄). All four of us were well pleased with our meals with the chips being particularly impressive. The fish a couple of us chose was the 'By-catch' of the day. This may not sound overly appealing but it meant we were getting Red Bream on this occasion and it was very tasty indeed. The batter was a little darker than I would have preferred, being a dark reddy brown rather than a mid-gold, but the fish was actually expertly cooked. Also, the portion of mushy peas may seem a little on the small side but it was perfectly adequate from my point of view. So 'all good' for The Good Companion and that includes the cheesecake that was shared at the end of the meal - we couldn't manage any more than the one portion between us. (Such lightweights!) Very likely to return when we're next in Amsterdam, which says a lot, and it'll probably (& justifiably) have been renamed 'The Excellent Best Friend' in the meantime. Well, possibly not but you get the...

My partner and I are basically what people would consider "foodies". We eat out once a week in the UK, and usually go on holiday to try amazing food. We thought the exception to that was our trip to Amsterdam... We weren't expecting to find anything special there.

We were surprised in the best possible way - after walking about 20 minutes away from the centre of Amsterdam into a quiet (almost empty) restaurant we sat down to eat one of the best meals of our lives. To start we had the oysters, ceviche, and razor clams. They were all honestly exquisite. The oysters tasted unlike anything I've ever had before, the ceviche was fresh and light, and the razor clams were beautifully cooked. The next course was the fish and chips. I'm unsure how they cook their fish but it must be something special - perfectly soft fish and the crispiest batter I've ever had. Better than any fish and chips I've ever had in the UK. They even made the mushy peas from scratch - and true to form, they were amazing.

We didn't care that we had to walk through storm Ciara to get there - it was well worth it. Definitely worth the walk out of town - do not miss...