lucky03

Other than wooden shoes, what types of items/crafts are indigenous to Amsterdam and should not be missed.
Also, my husband loves good coffee and good desserts. Are they to be found in Amsterdam? What are local specialties?
Also, any very good rijstafel place where locals eat?

richardab

two things i love in amsterdam are the stroopwafels which are thin little gingerbread wafers filled with chewy sugar syrup. the other is the croquettes at a place called FEBO. FEBO is an automat type place which sells little fried croquettes in lots of flavours for a small cost. they are all over amsterdam. to keep it simple a cheese sandwich is always a treat in holland....

http://www.seethru.co.uk/zine/guides/amsterdam/pics/pic_febo.htm

http://tofz.org/?display=amsterdam%2Fplaces%2Ffebo%2Fdscn0931.jpg

http://tofz.org/?display=amsterdam%2...2Fdscn0935.jpg

Joost

Richardab must be kidding... FEBO is even worse than McDonalds. Croquette (Dutch: "kroket") and a minced-meat hot dog ("frikadel") are typical snacks, that's true. So are French fries with mayonaise ("patat met"). Or French fries with mayonaise, onions and peanut sauce ("patatje oorlog").

Original local specialties (if you're up to it): raw herring with onions(Dutch: "haring") and smoked eel (Dutch: "paling"). The herring is very good when fresh, they are referred to as "Hollandse nieuwe".

Candy: treaclle waffles ("stroopwafels") and licorice ("drop") are my personal favorites. Licorice can either be in a sweet variant or a (very) salt one. If possible, you should try the small tiny pancakes known as "poffertjes".

Other than that, the Dutch cuisine is a melting pot from other cultures. The rijsttafel dish for example was brought over from Indonesia, Maleisie and similar countries.

Plain coffee is okay, but nowhere as good as the Italian specialties. Typical Dutch desserts are impossible to get in a restaurant. Perhaps top of your dinner with a nice coffee and a "grandmother's apple pie".

TracyB

I agree that Febo is not the greatest, however, you've got to try it!! Croquettes can be good if you are starving..My favorite is the Fries and Mayonnaise, the Dutch Pea Soup, and the Haring...Trying a Shoarma at a Middle Eastern type restaurant is also a must or a Falafel...
There are ton's of pastry shops around Amsterdam, you will find that you will spend alot of your time trying out all the interesting things to eat...There are tons of Rifstafel places around...I can't really recommend 1 particular...I really enjoy eating in Amsterdam, hope you will too!!!

Carola22

When we are in Amsterdam we often go to a wonderful small Indonesian restaurant called Kartika, on the Overtoom. A small family place, with great rijsttafels, even a vegetarian one which is wonderful! Acoording to some relatives of mine there is another small Indonesian place close to the Rijksmuseum which is also excellent. Generally speaking, the small family places are usually the best, better than the really big Indonesian restaurants such as Raden Mas. Good luck!

kayd

Ceramic items in the Delft style are everywhere in Amsterdam, but much of it is cheap toruist ware and the high-quality stuff comes at very high prices. I found a few small tiles (2 or 2.5 inches square) that were nice reproductions of classic designs and suitable as Christmas tree ornaments.

Amsterdam is a great art capital, and there are lots of artists selling their work from street kiosks and in small galleries -- attractive small etchings and watercolors of local scenes for $10-50 unframed, far better quality than I found from street artists in the tourist areas of Paris or Rome.

As for food, I too fell for stroopwaffels and bought about 5 bags of the small size in an AHeijn (sp?) grocery store. They made a big hit with my co-workers, too. The FEBO I visited was pretty gross, but worth a few Euro to try something new and to see that the US has a serious challenger in the greasiest-fast-food competition.