Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Things we love:
The language, it’s awesome and impossible to attempt without sounding silly.
The North, it’s the Brooklyn of Amsterdam.
Smoking weed isn’t cool or unusual, it’s normal.
Things we wish we’d known:
Bicycles have some sort of legal immunity, they will run you over and it will be your fault.
They aren’t big on brunch here. If you’re hankering for a post party Bloody Mary, Freddy’s or Lovefood are your best bet.
Don’t dangle a raw herring into your mouth by the tail. It’s bad manners.
Bloemenbar
Café 't Smalle
Café Brecht
Café Pieper
Canvas
Door 74
Dvars
Feijoa
Freddy's Bar
Hannekes Boom
LoveFood
Tales & Spirits
Tunes Bar
Vesper
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BloemenbarDuring the weekday there isn’t a lot of after hours action in this town, but BarChick didn’t want to go to bed when she was told to. After being kicked out at last orders, a barman told us this place Read More |
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Café 't SmalleThis is where BarChick lost her Jenever cherry and it made her wince and cry. That’s one helluva local tipple. A precursor to gin as we know it, this stuff is stronger and served straight in a deceptively cute little Read More |
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Café BrechtThis looks like the living room of your nutty, sherry-spangled Granny. She overfeeds you cake and then insists on a game of Scrabble while tucking into the strong stuff. Oh, hang on, that’s us… Daytime drinking gets quirky in this retro Read More |
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Café PieperThis place has been around for, like, ever. Like the wasted, wobbly old men propping up the bar, the whole building leans precariously towards the canal. The sign on the door warns it has a capacity of no more than Read More |
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CanvasMarcel is a DJ in his sixties. He has a bicycle-mounted DJ booth inside a vintage suitcase, complete with a kitsch hula dancing doll, a tiki lamp and a flashing neon pink flamingo sign. He plays old school rock n Read More |
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Door 74There are house rules here, kids. No screaming, no hats and no hitting on other guests. Got it? Sorted. This joint is all about class and character. If you mind your Ps and Qs and behave like ladies and gentlemen, then Read More |
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DvarsWhen we saw the blue rope outside we nearly steered clear, but don’t be put off. Yes, it’s verging on the wrong side of glam, but saves itself at the last minute with the likes of overblown arty porn photos Read More |
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FeijoaThey call this ‘the bartender’s bar’. It’s where the city’s drinks-makers congregate after their night shift to have someone else deal with the matter of mixing. Naturally, they know what they’re talking about and they all seem to have won Read More |
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Freddy's BarOh, Mr. Heineken, you do spoil us. This is one classy joint. The bar baby of the beer mogul, this is where he used to hang out with his mates and drink a lot more than just Heineken. It’s the Read More |
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Hannekes BoomThis rickety wooden shack looks like it should be in some sort of forested wilderness surrounded by bears and men with axes. But somehow this shantytown-style bar has been transported to a waterfront outcrop behind Amsterdam’s railway station. It has one Read More |
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LoveFoodThey’ve got 15 types of Bloody Mary. Need we say more? There’s the classic, which you can DIY from the gear on the bar, and from there they go all out with everything from a Bloody Fairy with absinthe to Read More |
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Tales & SpiritsSometimes plain old drinking isn’t good enough for us, sometimes we want to be entertained too. We want action and drama. We want to be wooed. Well, we came to the right place. Tales & Spirits doesn’t just make damn Read More |
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Tunes BarOkay, the name makes it sound like a disco in a cheesy resort town full of pink-faced men in flip-flops and England shirts. This could not be further from the truth. It’s called Tunes because it’s located in a former Read More |
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VesperMost of the great barmen you talk to in the city will have done some time at Vesper. Before the flurry of New York speakeasy-style cocktail bars hit the city, it was pretty much the only ray of light (that Read More |