My initial post had some errors; they've been cleaned up. My girlfriend and I have been living in Amsterdam since August; our apartment overlooks the Albert Cuypstraat. A few guidelines: the Dutch are largely culinary barbarians and wuss down or sweeten up everything. But there is good food to be had. Really good food actually. Also, don't worry about language barriers. I'd say a larger percentage of the people you'll encounter in Amsterdam speak English than Dutch. Virtually everyone learns English. Here's a rundown of our favorite spots in Amsterdam: Albert Cuyp and surrounds: Haringwinkel: look for the middle aged man with the deep voice (traditional Albert Cuyp Dutch accent) close to Ferdinand Bolstraaat (east end of the market). A tell tale sign is the huge jars of pickles on the counter. You can get it 2 ways: with or without squishy white bread. Diced onions and pickles optional, but definitely get them. I heartily recommend skipping the bread, eating it Dutch sashimi style. €1.80 (regular), €2.50 (broodje). Stroopwaffle: probably the best native dutch food item, and no surprise, it's sugary as heck. Really great right off the griddle (€.80). These things also make perfect gifts for people at home (buy lots!). Look in the supermarket (Albert Heijn or the Dirk) for "roomboter stroopwaffles" and stock up the day before you fly. Around €1 per pack. Frites: Both the Bob's Vlaamse Frittur (purple truck at Eerste Sweelinckstraat) and the orange and white truck at Van Woustraat are delicious. Ask for "fritesaus" (mayonaisse), pindasaus (peanut sauce) or both (called oorlog). Awesome stuff! Around €2. Ice Cream: only open in the summer, Peppino's has delicious gelato just off Albert Cuyp on Eerste Sweelinckstraat. €1.50 cone. Soup and tartelettes: Soupwinkel on Eerste Sweelinckstraat. Fresh soups daily and monthly. Never had a bad meal here. Get the €6 lunch deal (drink, small soup, tart, bread). Olives: Chris' Oliven. Everything is good. We get 300 grams of the Garlic marinated green and black mix at least 2 times a week (“Knoflook, groen en zwarte”), and they rarely last the day. The black tapenade is equally delicious. Everything €1-2 per 100 gram. Cheese: “kaas” vendors abound on the market. There are usually 2-3 a day. Look for “boeren kaas” of any type. That’s the higher grade “farmer’s cheese.” Jong = unaged; belegen = middle aged; oud = old. Dutch cheeses are delicious and go from a soft, elastic swiss cheese style to a very sharp, almost parmesan nuttiness in the oud. All are recommended! Also look for geitenkaas, dutch Goat cheese. Can be with garlic (knoflook). Also good is mostard kaas, cheese with mustard seeds. Fish: this is the place to buy delicious, cheap fresh fish. If you have access to a kitchen, pamper yourself. Great deals and quality are available here. Take your items to the Sarphatti Park just south of the market, but make sure to sit on the human side, not in the dog doo laden dog side! Sit near water and be charmed by the families of ducks swimming by. Thai: White Elephant on Van Woustraat near Stadhouderskade is absolutely delicious. I heartily reccomend this place! Entrees in the low to mid teens. Especially recommended is the Coconut curry souffle, an excellent red curry cooked in a coconut. You'll fight with your friends for the right to scrape the coconut out of the shell. Indian: Balti House on Albert Cuypstraat at Frans Halstraat (west of the market). Best Indian in Holland. You'd have to fly to London to top it. Entrees €10-18. We always order the off-menu vegetable jahlfrazi and a vegetarian biryani, both stellar. We also had a great appetizer of onion fritters last time. Order a Cobra and sit outside if the weather's nice. Good times! Other areas: Falafel makes for a filling and delicious cheap meal. Maoz is the predominant local chain. Eat it at the best Maoz in Holland, Muntplein 1, very close to the flower market and Munt Tower. Very busy which means it’s always fresh out of the fryer. The deal here is to load up on the fresh salad bar! Technique is key. Once the man hands over the sandwich, squash that sucker flat, crushing the balls. That gives you loads of room for toppings. €3.50. Beer: drink lots of it. If you’re boring or simple minded, get pilseners, but if you like flavor, avoid boring yellow beer. All the great names (Chimay, Westmalle, Leffe, Trappe) are really cheap, and in a good café will run from €2-4. In a supermarket a bottle is about €1. The beer obsessed will want to visit the Bierkoning, Paleisstraat 125, a retail outlet with hundreds of beers run by a friendly and knowledgeable beer obsessive. Hard to find in cafes : Orval, Rochefort and Westvletern (sic). Indonesian: I recommend skipping the expense of Tempo Doeloe. We ate there once and only saw other tourists there. Small portions for (what we consider) big money (€25ish+ a person). For a rijstaffel, I’ll send you to a place most gourmands would avoid: Kantjil, Spuistraat 291. Personal preference, but I think this place is a really good deal (€40 for two on a rijstaffel; could legitimately serve most groups of 3) and serves surprisingly spicy and tasty food for Amsterdam. Another cheap option is Bojo, near the Leideseplein. Lange Leidsedwarstraat 49 and 51. Only one of the locations serves alcohol, so look for the crowded spot if this matters (I recommend De Koninck over Amstel, but I prefer dark beer). The menu is the same at both spots. Order your food “lontong” for the sticky rice cubes, in my opinion superior to regular white rice. It's not great but decent for that neighborhood. Fries: The best spot in the city is widely held to be the Saus Meesters, off the Spui on Voetboogstraat. There are 2 decent spots on the Damrak just outside of the Centraal Station; at one of them I recently saw the former fryman from the Saus Meester, making me think we could have a new contender for “best of the city.” Outside Amsterdam: In Den Haag, New Meyva offers the best Surinamese in Holland. Their roti plates are stellar and very cheap. Definitely worth a stop if you make it to the Hague. Unfortunately I don’t know the address, but take the #2 tram to Grote Markt, step out, look for the chinese restaurant on a corner in near you, and walk towards the restaurant, away from the tram (imperfect directions, sorry -- but the restaurant is a stone's throw, so don't walk far). I love this resaurant!
