The Fat Pelican in Binnenstad-Noord

If you're looking for a break from the hustle and bustle, you can enjoy a delicious meal at The Fat Pelican. Their cheesecake is highly recommended.

We went to dinner with some friends last week. We arrived without a reservation, which wasn't a problem that evening! Delicious beers and delicious food! The portions could have been a bit bigger, because this pelican doesn't get fat on those portions ;) All in all, highly recommended, and I'll definitely be back.

A cozy restaurant with an excellent menu. The staff is very friendly.

So nice, all those restaurants in Leiden. The food wasn't great, but I think the interior is cozy and the staff is very friendly. I had a Social Deal (2-course menu). The price/quality is reasonable.

Didn't try the food, just had chilling time after a walk around the center of Leiden. Great spots, and warm staff.

Very nice place to enjoy a beer and wat something tasty. The people working there were polite and friendly too.

Delicious food for a reasonable price

It was very quiet; we were the only ones there. But we received excellent service, and even though we were the only ones there, we were comfortable.

We had a delicious 3-course dinner with 8 people on October 25th through a social deal. It was, in a word, FANTASTIC. The friendly staff were simply fantastic. Greetings from the people of Brabant.

I was referred to this restaurant by a friend, so I decided to check out their website. It looked great and the prices were reasonable. So, I made a reservation for four people four days in advance. A day later, more family members wanted to join us for dinner. One of us saw on the website that they served a Sunday Roast. I called the restaurant to see if we could change the reservation to eight and then all come and have the Sunday Roast. It's nice to have everyone sharing the same dish at the table with the family. Fortunately, this was possible, and I was told I would receive a confirmation email. We arrived at the restaurant at 6:00 PM. The door opened into a hallway where the restrooms were located. Two swing doors later, we entered the restaurant. The restaurant wasn't even half full; it seemed like a quiet evening, with plenty of tables available. We were seated at a table for eight right next to the swing doors. There were plenty of other tables available elsewhere in the restaurant. Not the most pleasant place to sit. Swinging doors constantly opening and closing, from people using the restroom and people coming in or out. There's also quite a draft there, with the constant cold wind on your neck from the swinging doors being unpleasant. The waitress was incredibly friendly and came to take our drinks orders and bring us the menu. We immediately explained that we'd mentioned in our reservation that we'd come for the Sunday Roast, so a menu wasn't necessary. The waitress briefly stepped back and then returned to tell us that the reservation hadn't been processed correctly and that the Sunday Roast was still available for five people. It's a shame, it happens. Three women would order something else, so we took a look at the menu anyway. Within five minutes, however, the waitress returned to tell us she'd made a mistake and that the Sunday Roast was only available for three people. It's a shame, but unfortunately. Okay, that does dampen the joy of everyone eating the same thing, but we're going to make it a fun evening, so we all order something, and three of us opt for the "Sunday Roast"—two roast beef and one pork belly. Because we have to wait a while for the food to arrive, we order a snack. At 7:20 PM, we've been sitting in the restaurant for almost an hour and a half, still not eating. We ask how things are going and if the food is coming yet. The waitress goes to the kitchen, checks, and comes back with the message: 10 more minutes. At 7:40 PM, 20 minutes later, we ask again, and the waitress goes back to the kitchen, and I follow along. It turns out they haven't even started preparing the food yet and it will take another 10 to 15 minutes. And... Oh yeah, we only have one roast beef left at the "Sunday Roast," can you please choose something else? Unfortunately, our confidence was gone by now, and we left the restaurant at 7:50 PM without having eaten anything. There you are, eight people outside at 8:00 PM with no food. We immediately called Loetje, and they were happy to help. Steak, fries, and salad were on the table within 15 minutes. And after explaining what had gone wrong that evening, we even got a free cup of coffee from Loetje!! Now that's service. Before leaving, I asked The Fat Pelican if the manager was present. Unfortunately, he wasn't. I did get a call, and of course, I called him. Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything for us and was very sorry about the situation. She said she would get back to us. I wonder when? Indeed, the manager contacted us in writing, apologized, and we didn't have to pay for the few drinks we consumed that evening. In any case, it is clear that we will not be coming back here again any time soon.

The carpaccio and the roast chicken were really delicious!

Nice staff, good food, it was cozy

Always nice to have a drink or something to eat!

I went there around 2pm, and there weren't many people there, just people drinking beer and chatting. The service was very attentive and friendly, and the pork ribs and roast chicken were delicious! It's just under 20 minutes' walk from Leiden Central Station, so I highly recommend giving it a try.

Very good food, great range of beers.

Fat Pelican is really good restaurant! The food is simply amazing! Love those Korean spice vibes. The variety of tap beers is very good, and the desserts are just as outstanding as the main dishes. On top of that, the service is warm and attentive. Highly recommend!

We sat on the terrace in lovely weather, and the service was fast and friendly! Drinks were provided, and the food wasn't exceptional, but everything was tasty and fresh. My salad was good, but perhaps, for a salad, it should have had a little tomato, etc....? It was a pleasant lunch.

A wide range of beer choices. Got a very nice sour beer that is not even listed on the menu! The Korean ribs really made my day!

Great place for a good budget meal. You can sit outside. The cheesecake for dessert is highly recommended.

It took 40 minutes only for the waiter to show up and then another 2 hours for the food and drinks to show up. And the place wasn’t even packed….

Nice atmosphere and good food. The Gamba’s Pil Pil is especially delicious!

The chicken and Korean ribs are to die for 🙂‍↕️ but other dishes aren’t just okay… amazing place with a great vibe

A super cute place with a lovely terrace. They had some great, tasty beers on the menu, and the food was really good too. Highly recommended!

After seeing the adverts we decided to take our friend there. It was almost 21.30 and they refused service while the staff was cleaning and few sitting outside drinking. Extremely disappointed because the advertised time said it closes at 23.00.

Cozy place. Very friendly staff. For example, I asked for sunscreen on the terrace and they asked me what brand and SPF I wanted! Absolutely fantastic! I had the grilled chicken; it was delicious!

Had a drink and a bite to eat here this afternoon. Friendly staff, good service for a reasonable price. Keep up the good work! Top 👍🏼 until next time. 😁😁

A lovely atmospheric restaurant. Small menu but good quality. The service was remarkably positive, patient, and friendly. I really enjoyed the red potato fries. I recommend the Pelican!

This is really recommended! Nice terrace! The food is delicious, good beers. And the service is really great. A lot of restaurants can take an example from this.

I had a crispy chicken burger, but it wasn’t crispy at all. It was extremely dry and very plain. The price-performance ratio was really poor.

Had a nice lunch, service was friendly and fast. Definitely recommended!

Had a nice meal on the terrace, nice menu. Nice beers. Nice staff.

Good portions, friendly staff, great beer selection.

We stopped for a drink and a snack. We ordered some snacks and beers. Everything went very smoothly. The seats were nicely decorated and we had a view of the open kitchen.

A super nice restaurant in Leinden!!! We were here with social deal for a 3 course menu! You can eat super delicious food here, and the staff is super friendly and civilized. In short, for a nice bite to eat in the evening, this is the ideal place.

Drink and snack on the terrace was fine. Terrace is on a busy road which means there is less atmosphere

Had a nice meal outside after an afternoon in Leiden. Dishes came quickly, were tasty, only point of criticism: the spare ribs, which were a bit on the dry side.

Enjoyed a nice cup of cappuccino in the sun.

Took really long. We had a 3 course menu via social deal, we were there for almost 3 hours. Service was arrogant and never came by. That's probably why it's on social deal

This is a nice place to eat in Leiden. It can be a bit pricey but the food is great and there are a lot of options for drinks. The atmosphere is nice and allows for a nice dinner to catch up with friends.

Delicious Dame Blanche. The chocolate sauce is like a melted bar. Nice staff

Bubbled O.a. limoncello spritz, it contains WAY TOO MANY ice blocks. You want to taste limoncello instead of water

Delicious food and the service is really great! The atmosphere is also very nice and quiet. Definitely recommended!

Had dinner here via Social deal. The food is super tasty and you get a good quantity too. Apart from the fact that the staff sometimes forgot something or mixed things up, this tent is definitely recommended! The chicken they are known for is also highly recommended. My advice would be to go for the classic one.

Food was very good, only complaint is probably we had a new waitress, but our orders were wrong, like three including fries, we got 2, ordered the oriental chicken, we got the classic one

Food was delicious. Both the starter and main course. Atmosphere was less than good. Also because we were there on a Monday evening. Although there were still a lot of people there.

Delicious food and drinks. Staff super friendly and super good chef.

Good food, good atmosphere and friendly service

Nice place to eat with a group. However, the wait staff often had to be called and several servers came to the table who were not aware of each other's orders. Arrangement is clear and simple, you know what to expect. This is appreciated if you are with a larger group. However, we would have liked to see the package menu again at the table so that the entire group was aware of the choices.

Fijne service. Hoofdgerecht erg lekker en mooie tapbiertjes. Dame blance lekker met chocoladesaus. Wij waren met kind en zij had ook lekker gesmuld.

Had a nice meal with my daughter. Friendly service.

Nice meal! The Burger was very tasty and so were the fries. Friendly service. Please note that you cannot eat Pelican here.

Great ribs. Please Keep up with the good price vs quality ratio 🙏

Great burgers! They have a good variety and tasty food but quite highly priced. We waited some time for the food but the staff is very friendly. It’s fun to sit outside, they have a big outdoor space, but inside is also nice.

Great atmosphere, quality food and wide offer of beers. I will repeat no doubt. Thanks.

Did the beer tasting: definitely recommended! We could indicate our preferences (e.g. no black beer) and whether you each wanted to get a whole beer or whether they would share different beers with each other (then you taste more). The barmaid took us on a journey through different types of beer, always with a good explanation. It's also nice to be able to compare something, for example a wheat beer and a weizen, or a traditional IPA and a modern one with a twist. And of course great tasty dishes. Really great!!

The high beer and high cocktail are highly recommended, along with delicious snacks

Nice smooth operation. Nice beers

Really good food and attention. In the weekend a bit busy and noise..

Great fun thing. We had such a delicious meal here. Employees were very friendly.

staff and service were great...the spare ribs were mediocre at best. it was packed (and noisy) but the food came quickly. yabba dabba doooo...someone, after a few weeks, replied...maybe i should remove a star from the service? just kidding...yeah...i heard the chicken was pretty good from one of your very good bartenders...quien sabe? maybe...someday... i finally made it back for the chicken and you were right...it WAS very good...so i changed the rating. hope it registers...thanks.

Had some delicious sandwiches here, would recommend!

Cool place! Food very good. Our server was so nice and accommodating. Atmosphere is fun. This is definately a must! Thank you.

Nice to have a beer but I wouldn't eat there.

A perfect place to spend a night with your friends. Nice variants of beers, good snacks, and a hospitable crew.

Excellent service! The food was really tasty and great value for money. I can recommend the spicy half chicken. I will be back soon.

Went for a Sunday roast, last week, and really enjoyed it. The beef was fabulous, gravy too, veg was spot on and the yorkshire pud was great… the potatoes were fine but it would have been even better if there had been oven-roast potatoes/parsnips. I really hope this will be a recurring item on the Sunday menu as I will definitely be back

Called on the Tuesday to book a table for sunday for roast dinner and specifically asked is it possible to have a roast with a vegi alternative and was told by the pleasant girl on the telephone that would be no problem . When we made our order on Sunday the waiter told us the chef doesnt want to do that! Ok i said can we maybe just have the roast without the meat but extra potatoes and veg or yorkshire pudding to which the answer was a NO! I think this is a horrible way to treat customers and will never go back again to the Fat Pelican with the unhelpful chef !

Nice place, very nice staff. Our group had a delicious high beer and high wine. The accompanying snacks were also really tasty. Worth repeating.

Slow service and a long wait fot the food. main courses were not good. No other way to say it. A big disappointment. We'll not come back

Had a delicious chicken on Maru's advice. I can definitely recommend The Flat pelica!

Tried the snack of the day here today. Smokey ribs. Truly delicious! Wonderfully seasoned and the meat fell off the bones. Portions are adequate. It is strange that there are two different prices for the daily snack on the site. 12.50 and 13.50. We had to pay 13.50.

Delicious burgers and schnitzels

Chicken was delicious, starters too, but the fries were the worst ever.

Nice atmosphere. Ate here via social deal. Friendly service. Tasty food. Definitely worth going back again.

Great location, good and beer! What else could you want

Gezellige en ongedwongen sfeer. Omdat het rustig was, lagen er nog allerlei dingen in het restaurant die opgeruimd moesten worden. Muziek stond te hard en is, op verzoek, wat zachter gezet. Eten was ‘ok’ maar niet fantastisch. Leuk om een keer geweest te zijn maar komen niet snel terug.

Great place for a snack and a drink!

Climatic place to drink some beer with friends along with eating warm snacks

They have Paulaner on tap! Other good beers available too. Recommend a visit!

I love this place and always stop for a good beer and bites when I’m in Leiden. It’s super laid back but cozy, both inside and outside. The patio is spacious with various seating options. They have a great selection of beers for every taste and food is great - bites, sandwiches, burgers, I haven’t tried anything mediocre here. Service is also great and fairly fast compared to most places.

The best chicken in Leiden, with a variety of sauces on offer. Great beverage selection, and a wonderful terrace to sit outside on sunny days

Me and my partner came here for the first time today (for his 21st birthday). We were half an hour early but were immediately welcomed and allowed to choose our own seat. It was very quiet but the atmosphere was nice. The food came quickly, I had the fish and chips, the chips (fries) were tasty and warm, the fish was a bit less so. Had little flavor and still had the skin (not usually the case with fish and chips). Other than that it was fine. We also had the cheesecake for desert, which was tasty and soft. Good atmosphere and nice waitress.

Had a nice sit down with some friends. Unfortunately the service was very slow. We waited at least half an hour before we could order. Furthermore, nice and okay.

First time here, I like it. Enough choice to eat and drink

Food is delicious, portions are a bit small for the price, but that's the case almost everywhere these days. The ambience is of course great on the water, there are deductions for cleanliness (tables not wiped, toilets, smell).

Good cocktails, excellent nachos, service a bit slow. 1 cocktail was completely forgotten several times, but was neatly resolved and compensated.

First night we arrived we went here, burger and chips were really good, beers were great too! Service was really friendly and unsurprisingly spoke really good English, would highly recommend

Great tent, we were here via social deal. Main course takes a little longer than normal, otherwise good to eat and drink.

Great fast service and nice place.

The food we ate via social deal was delicious, but we didn't get any dessert. A pity

Nice place with friendly service. The food was excellent, the brownie for dessert is highly recommended 😃! There were television screens showing football, I found that less pleasant, but that is of course different per person. All in all a successful dinner.

We went to The Fat Pelican for dinner and it was fantastic! We first sat on the terrace where we had bread with spreads. Then we moved to a spot inside the restaurant. We started with the carpaccio and Korean boneless ribs. Both were delicious and perfectly prepared in the open kitchen. As a main course we chose Fatty's dog and fish and chips, on the recommendation of the lady serving. The fatty's was her favorite and I hesitated between the chicken burger and the fish and chips, to which she indicated that they were both very tasty, but that I still opted for the fish and chips. The flavors were well balanced and the portions generous. Tastiest fish and chips I've ever eaten! Finally, we had the cheesecake for dessert; he was delicious! The staff were incredibly friendly and caring, which made the experience even better. Highly recommended!

It was really great. The service was good very friendly. The food also was very nice. Liked the atmosphere in the place. Also not too pricy. Overall a great night out. We will go back.

Even though we had not made a reservation for 4 people, it was still possible to have a nice bite to eat here, received a very friendly welcome, excellent food and drinks. We'd love to come back for more.

The restaurant boasts nice surroundings and very pleasant service, creating a welcoming atmosphere. The food was good, with dishes nicely prepared and flavorful. Overall, a delightful dining experience!

Extremely bad service. Empty glasses are left on the table for 20 minutes without anyone coming by, and the food only arrived 45 minutes after we ordered.

Lovely sunny terrace. Friendly staff and very tasty vegan bitterballen.

super nice tent, delicious food atmosphere is nice and relaxed and prices are very reasonable!

Really good food, great friendly staff and a great atmosphere. Reasonably priced and the food is of really high quality. Highly recommend the rotisserie chicken , cooked to perfection and wonderful flavour.

Cozy restaurant, nice staff. Good food. Parking nearby at the Albert Heijn. Paid