Amsterdam tips
JimBeam
Seattle. 2,012 Posts
Hello Strut.
After some time in Slovakia meeting some of the lady's fam, I'll be in Amsterdam from the 22nd through the 26th.
Records aren't the top priority for this trip, but I would like a recommendation on restaurants. Local cuisine is something I'm entirely unfamiliar with, but I'll pretty much eat anything. I figure that I'll eat whatever is nearby when hungry (ie: in mostly casual or street establishments) for most of my stay and I'll probably be looking forward to drinking more normal booze after a week of Slivovitz in Slovakia.
In particular, I'm looking for a nice dining spot where I can make a reservation and the girl and I can eat some good food and get a bit tipsy for one of the evenings. Any recommendations for finer dining establishments (plus a weblink) are appreciated.
Aside from the typical museums (no, I'm not waiting in line for the Anne Frank house) and a scheduled countryside bike tour, I don't have much else on the itinerary. Any and all activity ideas are welcome.
thanks in advance.
After some time in Slovakia meeting some of the lady's fam, I'll be in Amsterdam from the 22nd through the 26th.
Records aren't the top priority for this trip, but I would like a recommendation on restaurants. Local cuisine is something I'm entirely unfamiliar with, but I'll pretty much eat anything. I figure that I'll eat whatever is nearby when hungry (ie: in mostly casual or street establishments) for most of my stay and I'll probably be looking forward to drinking more normal booze after a week of Slivovitz in Slovakia.
In particular, I'm looking for a nice dining spot where I can make a reservation and the girl and I can eat some good food and get a bit tipsy for one of the evenings. Any recommendations for finer dining establishments (plus a weblink) are appreciated.
Aside from the typical museums (no, I'm not waiting in line for the Anne Frank house) and a scheduled countryside bike tour, I don't have much else on the itinerary. Any and all activity ideas are welcome.
thanks in advance.
Comments
i'm not particularly worried about it.
Fraiche - http://restaurantfraiche.nl/
Run by 2 dudes and a server, amazing food with weekly changing menu, and the dudes are super cool. One of the regulars is Rob Admiraal, who's a famous tattoo artist and he donated all the art on the wall. Nice place, but tiny.
Restaurant As - http://www.restaurantas.nl/
A little bit out of the centre, but amazing food. All the leftovers go to the pigs and chickens in the garden, and then you eat them. Really good (quite posh) food.
Will put up more if I can remember any more.
(and offcourse the dutch city Haarlem is were the NY Harlem is named after, it is 30 minutes form Amsterdam).
It is a soul food cafe, they serve hamburgers, chicken stuff like that. Play spul/ funk all night.
Food isn't bad, but it is not haute cuisine... But atmosphere is okay.
If you are looking for records, you can try waxwell...
Good luck!
Noorderlicht Cafe is pretty uniquely situated, though not exactly a culinary highlight but it's a great way to wind down http://www.noorderlichtcafe.nl/
*edit* also, de Bakkerswinkel is great for lunch http://www.debakkerswinkel.nl/amsterdam-centrum
There are some really good Surinamese restaurants. Their food is a mix between Indonesian and South American / West Indies.
Two very Netherlandish things you might wanna try though:
- raw herring with onion and pickles (Amsterdam's signature dish)
- STROOPWAFELS! My favorite shit. You can get them pre-made in any store and those are great. But the move is to get them made fresh from a street vendor at the Albert Cuyp Market.
Other things I recommend:
- Rent a bike. Best way to explore the city.
- Anne Frank house.
- Outdoor flea markets. They're all over the place. There's a great one every Friday morning called Noordermarkt outside Noorderkerk (Northern church) with some records, old books, clothes, toys, etc.
- If your girl likes flowers, rent a car and drive out to Keukenhof.
Definitely go for the raw herring and have it with dutch gin - jenever
for Indonesian check out Kantjil & The Tijger
Vietnamese check out http://www.xinh.nl/
Good Burgers? go for Burgermeester
Good Ribs even? De Klos Grill
Italian? Toscanini - make reservations
Chinese - go to chinatown (duh) near the red light district and do Nam Kee the classic joint is on the 'zeedijk'
Middle eastern Arabic steez with belly dancers and hookahs:Nomads
more of dutch (french bistro really) type steez go to Amsterdam
Thai : Thai Bird
Affordable fine dining - Bordewijk
certified amsterdam eats son i wouldnt steer you wrong
near the anne frank house there is a super good pancake place. again, not fancy.
i forget the name of the place (maybe someone can point it out) that does fancy, gourmet spacecakes and cookies; stay away from the space cakes sold in regular spots.
stop into waxwell if you have a chance for some "boutique digging"
Illegal to sell to tourists now, I believe. Not sure how strictly this is enforced.
I think the law for Amsterdam doesn't kick in until 2013...however it is law now in the rest of the country.
Thats Harry's Bar they can be real sloppy in there
oh - for Surinam flavour do Moksi
That's right...I myself got sloppy in there
Oh shit, forgot about Surinam spots...indeed
Ahh, right you are.
Warung Spang Makandra
http://www.spangmakandra.nl/
Gerard Doustraat 39
- near the Albert Cuyp Market, which is a really cool street market worth checking out in and of itself
Riaz
http://riaz.nl
Bilderdijkstraat 193
- in Oud West. I seriously love the shit out of their rotis, man. So good.
ah, fantastic!
for some reason, i didn't see it when i zoomed in on the map yesterday.
thanks everyone for the great suggestions. i'm pretty excited about this trip-- haven't had a vacation in just about three years.
and yes, i've already got a bike trip on lockdown-- one of those 5 hour through the countryside, to a cheese farm, go get your name carved in some wooden shoes, stop for a picnic near a big windmill things. yeah, it's touristy, but i'm amped on it.
since it's a fairly small city, i also would like to rent a bike for a few hours and just get lost a bit for one of the days i'm there. i find that those sort of excursions lead to the most memorable vacation experiences.
van gough museum is a definite stop. not so sure about anne frank though-- that line is incredibly long, from what i hear.
if any locals are down for a drink or three, i'm all game. i will have somewhat limited internet access (i'll basically be limited to a kindle fire at the hotel), but a PM will get you an email/phone number for texts. voice rates are pffffft.
all of the restaurant suggestions, both casual and yuppie, are awesome. i'll be looking through menus and making reservations in the near future.
thanks again, strut. i don't check in as much as i used to, but this place has never let me down w/ the travel tips!
Agree completely with the Ethiopian recommendation! Never tried the cuisine before but loved it. They also played Mulatu all night!!
Can't recommend the Van Gogh museum strongly enough. I didn't even like him when I went to Amsterdam, but I was traveling with my girlfriend and she was going for her Ph.D in art history, so I had no choice. I had only seen crappy repros of Starry Night and was not impressed.
Seeing these paintings in real life blew me away - it was like they were alive and in motion. We stayed for hours and I couldn't get enough of them. As a bonus, the top floor had a Klimt exhibit going - mind blown again!
Sorry I don't have more recs - I was last there in the 80's. Except tread lightly w/ the hash chocolates!
anyone have lodging recommendations?
ive been to the Dam numerous times for short visits, but ive never ventured outside of the city.
any recommendations of daytrips or overnights in greater Holland?
peace peace thanks thanks
and of course if anyone is gonna be up there, give a holler. i'll be hanging with a crazy hockey announcer from Finland!
Check it:
http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/420724
We're away all of July, so the house is available then.