Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [111]
Kapitein Zeppos Gebed Zonder End 5. This hangout is tucked away down a tiny street off Grimburgwal and is very easy to miss. It’s a bar and a restaurant and boasts a theatricality worthy of its place at the top end of Amsterdam’s small theatre district; regular live music too.
De Koningshut Spuistraat 269. In the early evening, at least, it’s standing room only in this small, spit-and-sawdust bar, popular with office workers on their way home or to dinner.
Lime Zeedijk 104. Right in the middle of Chinatown, this cool yet comfy hangout is the ideal place for a post-dinner cocktail or pre-club livener.
Lokaal ’t Loosje Nieuwmarkt 32. Quiet, old-style brown café that’s been here for two hundred years and looks it, with an attractive old tiled interior. A pleasant atmosphere, and always busy. Daily 9am–1am (Fri & Sat till 3am).
De Ooievaar Stolofspoort 1. Old proeflokaal that’s a civilized escape from the nearby sleaze of the Red Light District – and handily situated for Centraal Station. Boiled eggs at the bar go down well with the gin, and there’s beer, too.
Het Paleis Paleisstraat 16. This bar is a favourite with students from the adjoining university buildings. Trendily refurbished, it also serves food – focaccia sandwiches, salads and suchlike.
Poco Loco Nieuwmarkt 24. One of the liveliest cafés on the Nieuwmarkt, with a cheerful retro interior attracting a matching clientele. Also a good selection of tapas and daily specials from €11. Daily 10am–1am (Fri & Sat till 3am).
Scheltema Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 242. Formerly a journalists’ bar, but since all the newspaper headquarters along here moved to the suburbs, its faded early twentieth-century interior, including reading tables, isn’t quite the hub of activity it once was. It’s cosy and atmospheric, though, with an outdoor terrace in summer.
Schuim Spuistraat 189. Popular and spacious bar-café with retro furniture and a young and unpretentiously boho crowd, popular with students from the nearby university.
The Tara Rokin 85–89. Amsterdam has quite a few Irish pubs these days, but this is one of the best on several levels: decent food (including a great all-day breakfast), regular football and other sports on TV and live music from 10.30pm on Saturdays during the winter. It’s very central too.
In de Wildeman Kolksteeg 3. This lovely old-fashioned bar has a barely changed wood and tile interior that still boasts its original low bar and shelving: a peaceful escape from the loud, tacky shops of nearby Nieuwendijk. One of the centre’s most appealing watering holes. Daily noon–1am (Fri & Sat till 2am).
Wynand Fockink Pijlsteeg 31. This small, intimate bar, hidden just behind the Krasnapolsky hotel off Dam Square, is one of the city’s older proeflokaalen, and it offers a vast range of its own flavoured jenevers that were once distilled down the street. It’s standing-room only here – you bend down at the counter and sip your jenever from a glass filled to the brim. Daily 3–9pm.
Eating and drinking | Bars |
Grachtengordel west
Brix Wolvenstraat 16 020/639 0351, www.cafebrix.nl. Chic, basement bar-café featuring jam and jazz sessions twice weekly, plus Asian fusion cuisine (starters only) for around €8. Daily from 5pm.
Café ’t Arendsnest Herengracht 90. In a handsome old canal house, this bar boasts impressive wooden decor – from the longest of bars to the tall wood-and-glass cabinets – and specializes in Dutch beers, of which it has 130 varieties, twelve on tap. Attracts an older clientele. Daily 4pm–midnight, 2am at the weekend.
Hegeraad Noordermarkt 34. Lovingly maintained, old-fashioned brown café-bar with a fiercely loyal, older clientele. The back room, furnished with paintings and red plush seats, is the perfect place to relax with a hot chocolate.
Het Molenpad Prinsengracht 653. Recently revamped café which hasn’t lost its laidback atmosphere. Fills up with a young, professional crowd after 6pm. Daily