Dining at Mama Kelly Amsterdam

If you saw my blog a few months ago about The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Hawaii, this would have to be the restaurant equivalent. I present to you, the pink restaurant of my dreams – Mama Kelly! I saved this place on Instagram when it opened three months ago and knew we had to stop by here while we were in town. So here’s a little review from our visit!

Mama Kelly is located in an up and coming neighbourhood in Amsterdam. It was about a half hour drive from the centre of town in peak hour traffic. The drive lead us to a relatively quiet spot where it appeared that Mama Kelly was the only thing around. Our driver told us that the spot Mama Kelly is located in had been changing hands for so many years, so hopefully Mama Kelly is finally here to stay.

First of all, the restaurant is massive. It’s three storeys! We didn’t realise this until we went inside to see how huge it was. And even so, it has been booked out most nights since the grand opening. We booked two days in advance for a Monday night reservation. During our visit, it managed to get quite busy, so I assume bookings are essential for most nights of the week. Especially weekends. I also believe that they recently opened lunch reservations, so perhaps try that if you’re looking for a last minute spot.

Beyond the millennial pink everything and stunning gold detailing, the restaurant is quite classy. However, what I love about Amsterdam is how chill everyone is, people can either dress up or dress down in a place as fancy as Mama Kelly and no one really minds. The restaurant also has a DJ who plays 70s & 80s funk all night which had our shoulders doing some dancing for most of the evening. I really loved the vibe!

Now for the menus. From the drinks menu, the mocktails & cocktails we had were delicious. The specialty here for the food would be the chicken and the lobster, so we had to try both. I ordered the lobster soup & the truffle risotto. Our friends ordered the chicken, lobster risotto & also the truffle risotto and we all nibbled at eat others to taste. I would say that the food is not quite fine dining, which the interior would imply, but it was definitely an upper class meal. My soup was great, perhaps a tad salty, and the risotto was delicious too. As for price, it was in the mid to high range, as the meal cost us 180 euros total, with everyone each ordering a starter, main, and a drink. No dessert. I thought that the plates could have been pink or gold to jazz it up a little and match the interiors, instead of the more rustic plates that the food was served on, but that’s just personal opinion! It’s definitely not somewhere one would go every weekend, but worth a visit for the funk vibes, pink insta goals, decent food, and good company! I’d recommend going in a group so you can nab a booth, which is exactly what we did!