Amsterdam steakhouse Piet de Leeuw has been selling horse fillets as beef for 63 years, owner Loek van Thiel admitted to the Parool on Friday.

On Thursday, Van Thiel had denied the charges, saying the cafe only sold  South American beef. The Parool had various pieces of meat tested and concluded the cafe’s popular steaks were horse.

Van Thiel came clean on Friday, saying the cafe has sold horse since 1949 when his father, a horse meat butcher, bought the premises.

Staff at the cafe have a contract which states they are not allowed to say anything about the use of horse. ‘I’ve never considered saying ‘horse steak’ on the menus,’ he said. ‘People enjoyed their food, business was good, so why should I?’