Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [115]
Café Esprit Spui 10. Attached to the chain clothes shop, this is a swish, modern café, with wonderful sandwiches and rolls and superb salads. Mon–Fri & Sun 10am–6pm (Thurs till 8pm), Sat 10am–7pm.
Hofje van Wijs Zeedijk 43. A hidden treasure, this eighteenth-century courtyard sells Indonesian coffee and countless different tea blends. The home-made delicacies are mainly made with organic ingredients. Tues & Wed noon–6pm, Thurs 10am–10.30pm, Fri & Sat 9am–10.30pm, Sun 10am–7pm.
De Jaren Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20. One of the grandest of the grand cafés, overlooking the Amstel next to the university, with three floors, two terraces and a cool, light feel. A great place to read the Sunday paper – unusually, you’ll find English ones here. Reasonably priced food too, and a great salad bar. There are sandwiches and snacks downstairs and a full restaurant upstairs. Daily 10am–1am (Fri & Sat till 2am).
De Jaren
Latei Zeedijk 143. Homely shop and café selling bric-a-brac as well as serving good coffee and decent lunches. Quite a find if you fancy something different from the Chinese restaurants that dominate this end of Zeedijk. Mon–Wed 8am–6pm, Thurs & Fri 8am–10pm, Sat 9am–10pm, Sun 11am–6pm.
Luxembourg Spui 22. The prime watering hole for Amsterdam’s advertising and media brigade, this is a long, deep café-bar with a pleasant pavement terrace and an elegant, if faded, area at the back overlooking the Singel. Competent, reasonably priced bar food – and possibly the best hamburgers in town. Very popular. Daily 9am–1am (Fri & Sat till 2am).
’t Nieuwe Kafé Eggerstraat 8. Adjoining the Nieuwe Kerk, this straightforward, modern café is popular with shoppers and tourists, serving good, reasonably priced breakfasts, lunches, light meals and great pancakes too, plus mountainous sundaes and ice creams. Daily 8am–6pm.
Puccini Staalstraat 21. This lovely café serves great salads, sandwiches, cakes and pastries, a few doors down from its sister chocolate shop (see "Bread, pastries, chocolates, sweets and ice cream"). Mon–Fri 8.30am–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–6pm.
Restaurant 1e Klas Platform 2b, CS. Located in Centraal Station, this is more of a fully fledged restaurant than a café, with a sumptuous turn-of-the-twentieth-century interior and a solid menu of omelettes, sandwiches or more substantial meat and fish offerings at lunchtime. Certainly the best option in the station’s immediate vicinity. Daily 8.30am–11pm.
Staalmeesters Kloveniersburgwal 127. Cosy, if slightly cramped, café, with wooden tables and a large replica of Rembrandt’s The Syndics of the Clothmaker’s Guild on the wall. Breakfast until 4.30pm for the genuine night crawler and a small selection of cocktails. The frites are served in paper cones. Daily 10am–10.30pm.
Tisfris St Antoniesbreestraat 142. Colourful, split-level café and bar metres from the Rembrandthuis – and minutes from Waterlooplein. Youthful and popular, with hot rolls, sandwiches, salads and so forth. Daily 9am–7pm.
Villa Zeezicht Torensteeg 7. Small and central, this pastel-coloured café serves excellent rolls and sandwiches, plus some of the freshest apple cake in the city. Daily 8am–9pm.
Vlaamse Friethuis Voetboogstraat 33. This hole-in-the-wall takeaway has a long-established and pretty much undisputed reputation for serving the best frites in town. Mon & Sun noon–6pm, Tues–Sat 11am–6pm.
Eating and drinking | Cafés and tearooms |
Grachtengordel west
Buffet van Odette & Yvette Herengracht 309. Neat little place decorated in attractive, modern style and serving tasty snacks and light meals, from home-made quiches, soups and pastas through to fruit tarts; cheese omelettes are the house speciality. Mon & Wed–Fri 8.30am–4.30pm, Sat 10am–5.30pm.
Greenwood’s Singel 103. Pocket-sized café serving up a tasty line in salads, omelettes and cakes. Look out for the daily specials and order an English-style pot of tea. Mon–Thurs 9.30am–6pm, Fri–Sun till 7pm.
Lunchcafé Winkel Noordermarkt