Concierge.com's insider take:

While the College Hotel's guest rooms are uneven (the lucky get a freestanding tub, the less fortunate get power showers, and poor insulation often means noisy quarters), it's the restaurant that's quickly become a city landmark. Don't be fooled by the dining room's flamboyance (mirror-backed banquettes, mammoth candelabras, Italian chairs upholstered in green velour); there's a serious mission underlying the high style. Originally a 19th-century school, this red-brick building down the street from the Concertgebouw operates as a training ground for students in hotel and restaurant management. It's also part of a patriotic movement, along with the estimable, retro Restaurant Greetje (23-25 Peperstraat; 31-20-779-7450; www.restaurantgreetje.nl), to reclaim underrated Dutch cuisine from tourist traps and homely cafés. Most dishes on the New Dutch menu reinterpret traditional dishes and ingredients, but the seasonally-changing menu occasionally includes classics: Start with chilled pea soup that distills the vegetable's sweetest essence, follow with roast leg of lamb over white asparagus, and you've pretty much tasted Holland's signature meal. Plus, since everyone from your waitress to busboy is angling for an "A", you can count on the most enthusiastic service in town.

Open for lunch daily noon to 2 pm, Mondays through Saturdays for dinner 7 to 10 pm.