When you say the name “Amsterdam,” the response is Pavlovian: pot and prostitutes. Before leaving, I received a veritable laundry list of “the best” coffeeshops from friends who have visited there. One of my students who has Dutch ancestry and has been there many times warned me not to go into coffeeshops because “they’re for drugs.” Do people go to Amsterdam for anything else? I did, and I was determined to discover what else the original “Sin City” had to offer.
I’ve heard that Amsterdam is the most culturally diverse city in the world. Although I’ve done some searching, I haven’t been able to discover any research to back that claim. Once you arrive, however, you quickly realize that if it’s not the most diverse, it certainly is a contender. In fact, it’s so diverse that it can be difficult to find much that is traditionally Dutch, though I did manage to find a few absolute gems.
We’ll start where my heart lies: beer. You can, of course, go to the Heineken Experience, take the brewery tour and have a tasting if you’re interested in the Dutch version of Budweiser. However, I want flavor when I drink beer, and it took little more than a Google search for me to find two great little breweries right in the heart of Amsterdam making and serving up great local beer.
We started at Brouwerij de Prael (www.deprael.nl), in the center of Amsterdam on Warmoesstraat, just north of Dam Square. We were actually looking for a place to watch the Netherlands World Cup match against Brazil. Since I’d wanted to try this place, we decided there was no time like the present. It was exactly the type of place I was looking for to watch the game, not crazy or packed; we got a seat, the beers were €2 for a small (20 ml) glass, and they brought hors d’oeuvers around for everyone. The owners were sitting right in front of us and you quickly got the impression that most of the people there knew each other. Regardless, they were extremely friendly to outsiders— though it didn’t hurt that we were rooting for the Netherlands. The beer was outstanding. I really didn’t know much about Dutch beer other than Heineken and Amstel, but that’s like summing up American beer with Budweiser and Miller. Dutch beer is similar to Belgian beer, strong and flavorful. Brouwerij de Prael names all their beers after Dutch pop singers from the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, so you can have a glass of Heintje, Willeke, Nelis, Johnny, or André. It was so much fun to be a part of this day with Dutch fans and to witness their enthusiasm for their national team as they beat one of the world’s best. Everyone got a round on the house when the final whistle blew and the cheering calmed a bit. I highly recommend this place if you’re going to Amsterdam— the beer is great and the people are absolutely terrific!
The other Brewery is called Brouwerij ‘t IJ. “Brouwerij” is obviously Dutch for “Brewery,” but the rest of it? You got me! This place is a little farther outside of town,
but easily accessible by tram (Hoogte Kadijk stop on the #10 line). Public transportation in Amsterdam is very user friendly and you can buy tickets right on the tram. You need to validate your ticket when you get on and off, and you can transfer to another line within an hour. We arrived at the brewery around 2pm (about an hour before they opened) and by 3pm there was a group of people waiting to get in, which was a positive sign. There are tables inside and out, and since it looked like rain, we opted for inside. Once the initial line died down there was very little wait to get a beer. The beers were strong and very flavorful with light and dark options— again, very Belgian-like. The styles they brew year round and have on tap are: Pilsner (Plzen), White (Witt), Double Trappist-Style (Natte), Triple Trappist-Style (Zatte), and a dark beer (Struis). Each is excellent and a fine representative of it’s particular style. Any place that’s open for seven hours every day and still has a crowd of people waiting for it to open has got to be good— this place is great!
Before we went to Brouwerij ‘t IJ, we spent the morning at the Rijksmuseum (www.rijksmuseum.nl). The museum is currently undergoing renovation, so the permanent exhibit was limited compared to normal, but €12.50 to get in was well worth it— I’d say it’s a “must see” museum in Europe. The Dutch Masters (not a pot reference) are obviously well represented— Rembrandt and Vermeer stand out among them. Portraits and landscapes dominate the subject matter, with portraits being far more interesting (in my humble opinion). The floor plan takes you from room to room without having to double back and culminates with Rembrandt’s Night Watch— the Rijksmuseum’s Mona Lisa— the most famous piece in the museum and Rembrandt’s masterpiece. One of the greatest things about the Rijksmuseum is that there is no photography allowed— I love it! You actually have to pay attention to the painting on the wall and savor your experience rather than worry about taking a photo. The building itself is also quite spectacular, from what little I saw poking through the scaffolding.
I’d say the place to get a drink on a nice day in Amsterdam is Café de Jaren (www.cafedejaren.nl). The inside has a modern décor with lofty ceilings and
wide-open spaces. There’s outdoor seating right on the canal where you can sit in the sunshine or under an umbrella and watch the ducks and boaters (some wearing a good ol’ banana-hammock— the Speedo is still alive and well in Europe) cruise by. The outdoor seating fills up fast with little turnover, so get there early or grab a table by the open windows for a similarly sun-drenched and cool-breezed drinking experience. The beer menu is pretty standard for Amsterdam bars— nothing noteworthy, but not bad either. This place is more about ambiance than anything else.
My food experiences were pretty much all worthwhile. The first night we ate at Aneka Rasa Indonesian restaurant (on Warmoesstraat just north of Dam Square). I’ve read mixed reviews, though the majority were positive, as was my experience— good food, friendly and attentive service, and reasonably priced. We had lamb satay, spring rolls, and a mixture of lamb, egg, and scallions wrapped in flaky pastry and deep friend— all solid choices.
We followed that up the next night with a place near our hotel called Tasty Asia, which I think may have been a chain, but you couldn’t tell from the quality and flavor of the food. This place is on Wagendtraar between Amstel and Amstelstraat. After a long day and everyplace packed with drunken people celebrating Oranje’s big win, we just wanted a quiet place to eat. I got fried noodles with pork in a spicy Kong Po sauce for about €6— large portions, good quality, and lots of flavor for a good price. That and a couple of extra large beers set me straight and put a bow on my day.
The third night we had Malaysian food at a place called WAU on Zeedjik. I was excited because I had never had Malaysian food— and while that may be like coming to New York for Chinese or Sushi, I really didn’t care. We had the meat satay, which consisted of chicken, lamb, goat, and beef skewered and grilled. The chicken was a little overcooked and dry but the rest of the meat was excellent and very tasty. The satay came with a spicy peanut sauce that was neither necessary nor very good (it tasted like spicy peanut butter). We followed up with mussels in an extra-spicy sauce that was flavorful with just the right amount of heat. This was a very enjoyable meal, even if the tables were a little too close together.
One of the best things I ate was a Döner kebab that I missed out on in Germany. This is as good a late-night drunk food as I’ve had anywhere! There’s pizza in NYC and Döner in Europe— SO freakin’ good! Shaved mystery mean in a pita with a cole-slaw-like substance (minus the mayo), tahini sauce, and some spicy sauce (optional) that was just as tasty as can be.
We had breakfast the first day at a place called Lanskroon (www.lanskroon.nl). It’s a small Dutch bakery and café frequented by locals. I had a wonderfully flaky and tasty ham and cheese croissant, a latté, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. The second day we ate breakfast at Kwekkeboom in the shopping section near Rembrandtplein. Like the name “Quickie-boom” implies, it did the trick, but wasn’t very satisfying— it wasn’t actually bad, it was just touristy, more expensive, and not as good as Lanskroon. The last day we sat outside by a canal and ate breakfast at the Pancake Bakery (www.pancake.nl). This isn’t your typical American pancake, and it’s difficult to describe—not fluffy, more egg-like, but not like an omelet; it wasn’t sweet, so you could add anything to it— such as ham and cheese or banana and Nutella (I had the latter).
- Westerkerk is much more impressive from the outside than from the inside. Its spire, soaring above the canals, is an often-depicted sight in Amsterdam. It’s free to get in, so you might as well, but there’s nothing but an enormous organ to see.
- Oudekerk costs €5 to get in, but it’s worth it for the stained glass windows and beautiful woodwork. The windows are bright and beautiful pictures that look like Renaissance paintings with their vibrant color and perfect perspective.
The Anne Frank House does not get put on a list with bullet-points. This was the saddest place I have ever been in my life and I had to fight back tears several times as I walked through the rooms where the Frank family and their friends hid out for over two years. Eventually, someone turned them in— they were found, arrested, and sent to concentration camps. To this day, however, no one knows who betrayed those hiding in the secret annex above Otto Frank’s office. Blackout curtains have been kept in place so you get an idea of what everyday life was like without sunlight. Anne’s pictures of theater stars she admired still hang on the walls of her room and quotes from her diary have been put up everywhere. You get a sense of the frustration of being cooped up with no privacy, the longing to be able to lead a normal life, and the constant fear of discovery— but whatever sense you get can’t even come close to what they must have felt. Otto Frank (Anne’s father) was the only person, of the eight living in the annex, to survive the concentration camps. Anne died (thinking her whole family had perished) just one month before her camp was liberated. I don’t know how Otto Frank could have gone on after that, though maybe dedicating his life to Anne’s diary, the museum in the annex, and the memory of his family and friends gave him a purpose and resolve. It’s been a long time since I read The Diary of Anne Frank— students at my school read it in 8th grade, I think I read it in high school, and I think it’s time I read it again. On a practical note, there’s an enormous line to get into the museum all day long, so either buy your tickets online in advance for a specific entry time or go very early or late. This is something that everyone really should see.
Amsterdam is a city rich in history and culture— witness to economic boom and the atrocities of war. The architecture of the canal houses and the canals themselves are beautiful and serene. There’s a tradition of incredible fine art and an influx of culinary delights from around the world. Oh yeah, it’s also legal to smoke pot and solicit prostitutes, but if that’s all you’re seeing, you’re not seeing Amsterdam!

































