Category Archives: Amsterdam Tips

Hip Guide to Amsterdam

Royal Thai

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I passed by this inviting place on a cold rainy evening and decided to give it a try. One of the Thai women working there was standing outside the door, as is the custom in this very competitive restaurant district. Business was slow, as this was a Monday and it was pouring rain.

She graciously welcomed me and took my umbrella, saying it was too wet to bring inside! Perhaps she needed it herself, I figured. I sat down and ordered dinner from the menu. Soup was a must to warm my insides, so I decided on Tom Yam Kai, the delightfully spicy lemongrass soup with chicken and mushrooms. It was done perfectly.

As Royal Thai specializes in seafood, I followed that up with Pla Chuchee, pieces of fish, deep fried and covered in a spicy red curry/coconut sauce, which I would classify as Penang (my favorite Thai sauce). There was a LOT of fish, about 6-7 medium pieces, and it was so much I couldn’t finish it. It came with a huge silver colored bowl of rice that I barely made a dent in. The fish was good, clean tasting, and went well with the sauce.

To drink I ordered a jasmine tea, which was served in glass mug instead of teapot, but they did add more hot water, so I got a couple of glasses for 1.90 Euros. A small heineken set me back 3 Euros (big ouch!). The soup was 4.10 and the fish 15.50. Considering how much fish there was, and how good it was, it was well worth it. I’d normally recommend two people split it with another dish.

The decor was a pleasant notch up from most Thai restaurants in Amsterdam. The theme is Thai musical instruments and there are beautiful examples on display as well as other exotic object d’art.

The service here was excellent, but then again, it was a slow Monday evening. As I left the restaurant, the friendly Thai woman handed me back my umbrella and we talked for awhile. The chill of the evening had evaporated…

Check out their very informative website to see the whole menu! Nice photos of some of the dishes. Watch out you don’t drool over your keyboard!

Aneka Rasa Indonesian Restaurant

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The Aneka Rasa is an Indonesian restaurant on the Warmoesstraat in the heart of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. But don’t let that fact put you off your food, some of the best meals in Amsterdam are to be found in this area. Just two blocks from Centraal Station, or three from the Dam Square.

As there were two of us dining, we decided to order a rijstaffel “menu” and enjoyed it greatly for all it’s uniqueness, especially the variety of sauces in each of the many dishes.

We started off with their spring rolls, unusually and delightfully prepared with lime leaf and lemongrass, with bits of chicken and vegetables, they were deep fried to a nice crispiness without being drenched in oil. They were served with a delicious sate sauce.

As we sat in the dining room with our beers admiring the nice wood paneling, the main course arrived with two long heated metal trays down the middle of the table loaded with goodies to eat. There were at least a dozen dishes to choose from, the more memorable are listed below.

Hard boiled eggs, with a dark savoury sauce were in one dish. Another had skewers of chicken satay and a huge puddle of peanut sauce, quite nice and lots of it! There were large portions of rice, both coconut flavoured and stir-fried. A bowl held fresh green beans with a fine zesty sauce and other bits of vegetables and nuts stirred in with it. There was a portion of fried mackerel fish, swimming in it’s own sauce, but that was about the least favorite thing I had. The prawns were great however, with a red spicy pepper sauce, and when sprinkled with finely grated coconut, an amazing treat! A bowl of cabbage and carrots was swimming in some herbal sauce that left me cold, but it was in fact piping hot like all the rest of the dishes. Our most favorite that evening had to be the hot and spicy chicken pieces, with nice chunks of red peppers in its own unique sauce… so it was an evening of many sauces, all unique to say the least.

Afterwards our menu meal featured a dessert with coffee or tea, and fried bananas covered with powdered sugar, a fine way to end the meal. And these weren’t ordinary bananas either, they were the fine red fig variety I love so much when I’m in the tropics, or Amsterdam, and lucky enough to find then in the local market.

Our bill, including four beers, was 61.50 euros. Not bad considering we left the table filled with pleasure!

So, my hats off to the Aneka Rasa, with its great service, fine food, and convenient location.

Antiquariaat Kok

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Amazing bookstore, filled with ancient treasures on the Oude Hoogstraat in Amsterdam. Here you will find books and prints dealing with almost every subject relevant to Amsterdam and it’s history.

Info:
Located between the Kloveniersburgwal and the Oudezijdes Achterburgwal on the Oude Hoogstraat. The Damstraat begins at the Dam, opposite the Royal Palace and continues through some of Amsterdam’s most colorful neighborhood to the east.

Toko Dun Yong

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Amsterdam’s Chinatown is growing daily, with new shops opening along the edge of the district, servicing the booming restaurant trade and immigrant population as well as the growing interest in Asian food among Europeans.

Toko Dun Yong, a multilevel department store, has been selling a wide variety of products made in China since 1957. This is the class market in Amsterdam’s Chinatown, with far more items than the other, smaller markets carry.

Their excellent selection of food, kitchenware, ceramics, furniture, books, music, restaurant equipment and decorations are without peer in Amsterdam. Whether you’re looking for just the right size wok, or that special kind of tea you’ll find it here or nowhere.

If you can make it past the first floor’s enormous selection of edibles, venture downstairs to the basement’s treasure horde of kitchen and restaurant items. You’ll be sorely tempted to buy that long desired kitchen implement. I was amazed to see such a range of items, including things I didn’t expect to find in a Chinese store, like Paella pans (in 2 sizes!).

With all the other Chinese specialty stores around, the prices might not be the best on certain items, but it’s hardly worth the time to shop all over to save a few cents, when this place has it all.

Info:
Open: 9am – 6pm daily, Sunday Noon-6pm.
Metro: Nieuwmarkt

Address:
Stormsteeg 9
Amsterdam 1012 BD
Phone: +31-(0)20-622-1763

Floriade

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This vast park/exhibit is a great place to take the kids or just explore on your own with a camera. The scenery is awesomely photogenic, and teams of landscape artists are constantly roving the grounds making sure everything is perfect.

Floriade is a fantastic presentation from the Netherlands to the world of its scientific mastery over gardening and evidence of the Dutch role as a leading horticultural knowledge center. The 65 hectare space is filled with gardens, greenhouses, technological displays, lakes, waterways, paths and mazes ~ and all these can be seen from high atop Spotter’s Hill. Held once every ten years – this is the fifth Floriade! The major attractions of the exhibit are the Horticultural Experience, Wonderwaterland, Spotter’s Hill, and the Gardens of Emotion.

Of the two park entrances I chose to enter at the South Entrance, and quickly found myself in another world of beauty and space perfumed by billions of flowers. This is the Holland you dream of – miles and miles of lush landscaped areas with flowers everywhere.

At the South Entrance you are on the banks of the Harlemmermeer Lake, which is surrounded by the most natural areas of the park – if that’s possible. Walking around the shore you’ll find nature areas and a variety of garden examples, and a fine open-air theater in one corner.

Comfort and enjoyment are planned into this experience, with nice wheelchairs available to cruise the easy pathways and areas of the park. Amongst the gardens and paths are nicely designed cafes literally covered with baskets of flowers, offering cold drinks and more stuff for tourists – with places to sit and relax under umbrellas or shady plantings. In the main area under the Roof is a fine restaurant, and you’ll find ice cream stands here there and everywhere through the park.

After touring the lake area, I walked across the bridge to the other side of the park and checked out Spotter’s Hill with its amazing views all the way to Haarlem. From here you get a great vantage point of the entire place and if tired or curious, spend 1.50 euros to ride up and down the pyramid shaped hill in a futuristic air-conditioned battery-powered self-driving car. The sculpture dominating the top of the hill is a good reference point to use when wandering around lost in this maze.

A visit to the Horticultural Experience gives an amazing educational insight into the growers, traders and organizations that make Dutch horticulture such an important part of their economy – and life. The underground exhibits are found in the center of a maze of islands covered with examples of how they do it Dutch style.

You can’t miss the Wonderwaterland exhibit, the path runs right through it – and inside is the “Timeship” which takes you through 10,000 years of geology explaining the area, and then details how the Dutch have worked to hold back the sea and drain more and more land for agricultural and living space over the ages.

The most amazing greenhouse I’ve ever visited is located near the Roof, and the high-technology inside rivals anything that NASA is doing. Displays of hydroponic miracles are here to be seen, with tomatoes as large as your head. Cucumbers as long as your arm dangle from vines high overhead, and peppers glowing red and green decorate their bushes like Christmas tree ornaments. Huge trays of plants on moving beds are constantly rotating to get the best sunlight, with electronic keypads at the row ends to computer control the flow of nutrients and water. This is an amazing greenhouse, with a computer controlling the windows opening and closing for air, and shades in case there is too much sun. Heaters come on line at the computer’s will, maintaining a perfectly controlled environment with virtually no pests – therefore this greenhouse garden is completely organic according to the technicians I interviewed on the spot.

And finally I entered the Roof, which the energy firm Nuon built with 30,000 square meters of solar collecting electricity producing cells. At one end of the “Roof” is the Great Taste Restaurant, which supposedly offers organic edibles from the gardens. The size of four football fields, the interior of the Roof is filled with the most amazing displays of decorative plant and flower arrangements you’ll probably ever see in your life. These displays from around the world vary from desert landscape scenes to elaborate Chinese and Thai pagodas replete with decorations of orchids and other exotic flowers. But don’t let the kids miss the collection (HUGE) of carnivorous plants! They’re here for you to actually touch and enjoy – stick a twig into a Venus Fly Trap and watch it snap shut!

Just past the Roof is the North Entrance, collection of tourist shops and cafes, restrooms and a nice place to have a seat and relax. The visit to Floriade was fun, and if you’re stuck in the city all summer, at least visit Floriade to get some relief.

Info:
Open daily from April 6th 2002 until October 20, 2002. Park opens at 9:30 am and closes at 7 pm. Ticket price is 17 euros for adults, 8.50 for kids. To get to Floriade it is easy to go to any ticket window of the Nederlands Spoorwagen (Dutch Railway) and buy an entrance ticket as well as the transportation tickets for around 22 euros from Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol via train, then the Zuidtangent bus to Floriade. Buses and trains run every half hour. If you must drive, there is parking.

Address:
Harlemmermeer Lake
Amsterdam

Phone: 0900 0555

Oosterpark

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The Oosterpark is located on the east side of Amsterdam, in a culturally diverse section of town. Thus it’s a popular venue for cultural activities involving various groups including Surinamese, Indonesians, Indians, Muslims and others.

But anyone can enjoy this beautiful park. I found the design intriguing as the paths lead to sudden viewpoints offering different perspectives on each section of the park.

Another interesting feature of the park are numerous metal sculptures like the one above. One statue honors a sheepdog named Albert, who helped track down 200 fugitives for the Amsterdam Police department. A new monument will be unveiled July 1st, 2002 to commemorate the Slave History of Holland, which brought the ancestors of those who live around the park to the Netherlands.

You can view a variety of birdlife in the ponds at the Oosterpark.

Amsterdam Historical Museum

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A visit to Amsterdam should include a visit to this unique museum located near the Dam Square. How can you possibly understand Amsterdam as it is now without a look at it’s fascinating history?

The Amsterdam Historical Museum moved into this building in 1975. It was formerly the municipal orphanage (founded in 1520), and a brief history of the building’s previous existence is told in and around the governors room. An interactive program about the orphanage also contains several old photos.

Exhibits of special Amsterdam historical significance are displayed here at the museum.

Info:
Open daily.

The two museum entrances can be accessed from Kalverstraat 92, Sint Luciënsteeg 27 and Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 357. The museum is a twelve-minute walk from Amsterdam’s Central Station, via Damrak, Dam Square and Kalverstraat. Trams 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 24 and 25 also go to the museum, stopping at Spui.

The Makro

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If you’re one the fortunate few who have a Makro card, you can shop at one of the best stores in Amsterdam. Like its distant cousin, Costco, the Makro specializes in quality goods at wholesale prices. The catch is that you must have a registered business to qualify to shop there. That means a KvK number (Kamer van Koophandel – Chamber of Commerce).

If you can pass that hurdle, you’ll be amazed at what you can buy all in one place, and how marvelous the prices are! The store is divided into two sections. A food store and a department store. You must visit each separately and checkout twice, a real hassle.

The food section has a very good selection of quality wines. After consuming numerous cases I can state unequivocally there were no bad bottles in the bunch. And prices are very good too. Their selection of hard liquor and sweet liquers is likewise good. Unlike the wine, beer and soda is sold here by the case only.

You’ll want to stock up on their canned goods at great prices. Of course just like Costco, you must be prepared to buy by the case. This means you must bring a car to shop here. And you should have enough storage in your Amsterdam flat to put all this stuff! Otherwise go easy on the large items.

Their produce section is good with very high quality the rule. Prices vary, but certain items can be very cheap compared to the supermarkets.

The frozen food section is unsurpassed anywhere! It’s huge! On my last visit I scored 800 grams of 20-29 count shrimp for 12 Euros, and they were really good, too! There’s also fine deals on other seafood and prepared frozen items.

Their bakery and cheese selection is good too. You can easily spend 1-2 hours just in this part of the store.

But hopefully you’ve already visited the dry goods section, because you don’t want to have perishables sitting in your car while you explore the department store which is even larger than the food section!

The department store has household goods, electronics, major appliances, clothes, toys, computer supplies, an excellent selection of glassware, bakeware, cooking items, etc. It’s all spread out on two floors, so be prepared to spend another hour or two exploring this part of the store.

There’s a nice restaurant upstairs if you need a break or to catch a bite while shopping.

Parking can be a nightmare here! Either arrive early, near opening time, or wait for a spot to open, or just hoof it in from the far reaches of the lot.

The worse part of the whole thing is the checkout. They don’t allow you to bring in boxes or bags, so everything must be loaded on to the conveyer belt one item at a time. If you have a lot of wine (like me) this is a big hassle.

Then you must stand in another line so someone can review your register receipt against what’s in your cart (like Costco). But here they count every item. And you stand there praying it matches the total on your receipt.

Hopefully you remembered to bring boxes or bags in your car, otherwise you’ll have to be careful how you load up bottles, produce and other items…

And just when you’ve gotten that put away in your car, you get to come back in and do it all over again on the otherside of the store! What fun!

Koninklijk Paleis

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Open daily during the summer for tourists, the Royal Palace is not the home of any royalty, it’s a museum and venue for important state events held by the Dutch royals. Recently renovated and spruced up for the wedding of Willem-Alexander and Maxima this place is worth a visit if you haven’t been inside before.

Of note are rooms replete with their period furnishings, carvings, bas-reliefs of bizarre historical notes and artworks left behind when the royals abandoned the place.

Apotheek Jacob Hooy

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In the Nieuwe Markt area is an ancient apothecary and drugstore named Jacob Hooy at Kloveniersburgwal #10. Operating on this spot since 1743, the shop offers medicinal herbs and various natural remedies. The staff is on hand to help you with explanations of the herbs and their uses, and will help you find what you need.

Check out the barrels and drawers all labeled in Latin with their contents. Now imagine the wonderful aroma of all those dried herbs and flowers – you can sneeze, wheeze or shout with glee – but you will definitely notice it. In fact the interior of this shop is nothing but wall-to-wall drawers, barrels, and jars of herbs, salves, and other personal care items.

Jacob Hooy is also noted for their licorice, in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They say the selection of the sweet sticky black stuff here is Amsterdam’s best, except maybe for the sticky black stuff in the coffeeshops, but that’s another kind of “candy.”

Jacob Hooy offered all sorts of items in the past that we don’t consider medicine today – note the jars with names like OPIUM and TABAK.

This area of Amsterdam was always a market, especially for herbs and spices relating to medicine. Across the courtyard in the fanciful castle named the Waag, Dutch physicians operated a theater for the public dissection of human corpses. This rather grim practice no longer takes place over there, it’s now an internet café and restaurant! Before that the area was known as St. Anthony’s Gate, until the 1600’s when the city tore down it’s perimeter walls.