We were in Amsterdam Oct. 5-7, and this sounds like our trip. We too stayed at the Aalders and did the museum thing, as well as almost getting run down by bicylcists! A very nice city!

Enjoying this report!

Tom18 - Isn't the Aalder on a pleasant street?


I’m a foodie, so I have to give a brief summary of our food and dining experiences (I’m in the “local cuisine” foodie group, not the high-end, expensive camp). The Dutch seem to be practical people, and so is their food. That was ok, though we found lunch choices to be a little bare-bones for our usual tastes.

The Dutch pancakes, called poffertjes, were delicious - we had them for lunch and for a snack. They’re puffy, dollar-sized pancakes, more doughy than typical American pancakes. Have them with a little molasses (stroop), as the Dutch do. We ate at 't Singeltje Old Dutch Pancake House, Singel 494, old-fashioned and cozy, perfect for a chilly day.

‘t Smalle, Egelantiersgracht 12, was also a delight. It is small – climb the ladder-like stairs to the additional “mezzanine” seating, overlooking the rest of the bar, for drinks and/or small dishes. They also have tables outside, right on the canal (order and obtain your drinks inside).

Winkel, Noordermarkt 32, had fantastic appelgebak, which you could translate as apple pie or apple tart, but I would say was more like an apple cake, but more doughy and moist, almost like an apple pudding. This place was constantly packed, both indoors and out.

Café Schiller, Rembrandtplein 36 was a bar/café with a more adult feel, with lovely Art Deco décor and (American) jazz playing in the background. Totally appropriate for kids, though – ours wasn’t the only one there. Very good beer selection.

De Prins, Prinsengracht 124, was a good dinner destination. Also cozy, but bigger than ‘t Smalle, with tables for dinner in back and bar seating in front. DH and DD shared a fondue – we meant to order it for two people, but they misunderstood, and gave us a serving for one, which was more than enough. We also tried the shrimp croquettes, which seem to be on every menu in Amsterdam; those at De Prins were mostly Gouda cheese, with a little shrimp. I had the Dutch dish of hutspot; good thing I knew what it was, as the description the waiter gave wasn’t quite accurate. It’s a tasty “comfort dish” of mashed potatoes, pieces of carrots, cabbage and bacon, and, at De Prins, topped with sausages. The portion was huge.

Le Pecheur, Reguliersdwarsstraat 32, was our nicer meal. It was a lovely, not-too-formal seafood dinner, and everything we ate was excellent. We particularly liked the house-made smoked salmon and the langoustine soup. My sea bass, from local sources, was delicious.

Vleminckx French Fries, Voetboogstraat 33. I know, we were in Amsterdam! They were pretty good, but we all thought the fries we had in Brussels were better, and the Belgian version of the sauce was much better than the Dutch version. But still a nice snack; we joined the long but quick-moving line of Dutch to buy our cones of fries.

The Orient, Van Baerlestraat 21, was our rijstaffel (rice table) dinner. We had originally planned to go to Restaurant Blauw, but that was farther away, and the Orient was just down the street and recommended by our hotel. Now, it could be that we ate at a substandard rijstaffel place, but neither DH or I was greatly impressed by the experience. We regularly eat quite a bit of Asian food, primarily Indian, so Asian food was not a novelty for us, though we’ve never had Indonesian food (though, of course, rijstaffel isn’t Indonesian either – it’s the Dutch version of it). And Indian, Thai, Malasian and Indonesian are two different cuisines, though many ingredients and even dishes are similar (for example, we received eggrolls and satay with peanut sauce). Nothing was very spicy, and it just seemed like various things in various sauces. Which is, I guess, what rijstaffel is, basically. It was good to try once, but someone who’s familiar with Asian food may not find it so interesting (at least if they go to The Orient).

Pastries that we liked, which we bought at the bakery down the street from our hotel and at the supermarket, were pepernoten (the Dutch version of pfeffernuss, I think) and speculaas, a lightly-cinnamon flavored cookie that is found everywhere. Often, one cookie would be served when we ordered hot chocolate or coffee. Neither are for those who like their sweets very sweet, but I found them very tasty. I regret not buying more of each of these items to bring home!

Very nice report, thank you! I spent a couple of days in Amsterdam this past June after having only visited for an afternoon one December. Try it again when it's light so late--you'll love it.

Nice report. The hub and I were in Amsterdam for the first time just last week. We only had about 2.5 days so it was just a scouting trip, but we decided we definitely will return! We stayed on the Singhel canal at the Hotel Brouwer, which we liked very much.

The people in Amsterdam were all friendly and helpful and spoke wonderful English.

Would you agree that Amsterdam at night rivals Paris for beauty by illumination? The yellow streetlights and canal bridges and tunnels lit with rows of bulbs... so pretty!!