Amsterdam
Last Updated: September 5, 1999
Amsterdam is a great place to just hang-out. There are lots
of restaurants and lots of cafe's and bars with outdoor seating.
I don't drink and I didn't know many people here, so I didn't
do much of this (in fact, I regarded the people sitting outside
of restaurants/bars as a nuisance since they blocked the streets
and sidewalks). However, a few words of advise:
- Get off of Damrak, get out of the red-light district,
and head over to the four encircling canals
(Singel, Herengracht, Keisersgracht, and Prinsengracht). It's
a much nicer atmosphere.
- "Cafe" means bar. "Coffee house" means dope shop.
Restaurants
There are lots of restaurants in the central city. However,
I didn't eat out much. Here's a capsule review of the few
places I tried.
- Speciaal. An Indonesian restaurant in the Jordaan. The
Rijsstafel is a lot of food. I ate take-out from there four
times. It was quite good, although hard to keep warm despite
their styrofoam containers. But you get a LOT of food - the
Rijsstafel Speciaal for one should be enough for 2 or 3
people, although your milage may vary depending on appetites.
- Koh-I-Nor. An Indian restaurant in several locations.
I went to the one on Raadhuisstraat. I was disappointed.
- The Albatross. A seafood restaurant in the Jordaan.
Reasonable seafood, but not cheap. However, when
I asked for a reservation, they did ask if I wanted
smoking or non-smoking (a rarity in Amsterdam).
- Mystery Tapas Restaurant on Westerstraat. I went here with
some friends after I had already had dinner, but it was
very crowded and is suppose to be quite good.
- Lieve (a Belgium restaurant).
I had dinner here once. Good food. The bill ran about
f50 per person.
- Baton Espresso Corner. I had lunch there my first day in
Amsterdam. It was reasonable.
- The Pancake House. This was down the block from me on
the Prinsengracht. They make all sorts of pancakes,
appropriate for any meal. However, they won't serve
you water unless you buy a drink from the bar, so I
put them on my black list and
won't go back. Inexpensive.
- Tourist food. There's lots of pizza by the slice (New
York Pizza seems to be the big chain). Fries and ice
cream are common, too.