dutchgrub, Author at dutchgrub

Perfect Sunday Afternoon at Brouwerij ‘t IJ

Brouwerij 't IJ Amsterdam - wind mill

The weather in Amsterdam has been great throughout April and May. And Sunday was one of those perfect, lazy afternoons at Brouwerij ‘t IJ: Sitting on their terrace in the sun, enjoying home-brewed beer, spending time with friends amidst the friendly and laid-back crowd, right under a typical historic Dutch windmill. What else can you ask for?

Brouwerij ‘t IJ – or The Brewery by the IJ River – is different. It’s a Dutch microbrewery making Belgian style beer. It’s located close to the city center, just a few tram stops to the east, but will make you feel as if you were out in the countryside. The brewery and pub are located in a historic bath house and wind mill with a large terrace. The decoration is minimal, mostly a collection of beer bottles from all over the world. Guests sit on simple beer benches and happily stand in line to get their own beer.

Its simplicity and quirkiness has made the brewery very popular. On sunny weekend afternoons the terrace literally spills over as the thirsty crowd claims each and every inch of the brewery’s pub, the terrace and the pavement of the nearby streets. There is an interesting mix of regulars, locals, families, beer enthusiasts and tourists. Most of the staff have worked at the brewery for many years. And somehow, what must look like utter chaos from the outside, gels to an incredibly friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

The secret behind Brouwerij ‘t IJ is its beer. Owner and brew master Kaspar Peterson started the brewery in the 80s and has managed to give the beer a very distinct and individual character. All beer types are yeasty – drinking them is almost like eating a loaf of bread. In general, they also are strong flavored with a very present hopsy bitterness.

Brouwerij 't IJ Amsterdam - beer

My favorite kind at this time of the year is the IJwit, a very smooth and drinkable wheat beer that is slightly cloudy and deceivingly strong for a wheat beer at 7% alcohol. The name is a pun. The name of the river IJ sounds like ei, Dutch for egg. And eiwit – or egg white – is Dutch for protein.

The most popular beer is the Plzen, a light and bitter blond with 5% alcohol. Then there are the two Trappist beers – a bittersweet Trappist dubbel called Natte (wet one) at 6.5% and the 8% strong fruity brownish triple Trappist Zatte (full one). Completing the lineup are two 9% strong, take no prisoners ales – the Struis (ostrich) with dark color and winter flavors and the amber and bitter Columbus (the one with the egg – you get it…).

Brouwerij ‘t IJ only serves the simplest of snacks – cheese (single kind), salami, egg, and peanuts. So be warned. The excellent beer, quirky vibe, friendly crowd and sunshine on a bright day can get to your head!

Brouwerij “Het Ij”
Funenkade 7
1018 AL Amsterdam

Restaurant Marius Covered in NY Times

Restaurant Marius Amsterdam is one of the four restaurants on Dutchgrub’s top Amsterdam restaurants list. So I was happy to hear from an avid reader of dutchgrub that the NY Times had just published a nice write up of Marius.

The article goes into Marius’ history. Chef and owner Kees Elfring used to cook at Berkeley institution Chez Panisse, which provided both training and inspiration for the name of the restaurant. Marius is the title of a movie that’s part of a trilogy in which the main character is called Panisse. The article also goes into details of the daily market menu that the author thoroughly enjoyed! With pictures.

It’s nice to see that Marius is getting well-deserved praise. And since it’s such a small and genuine place, I am not worried that too much coverage would ruin the magic.

Best Amsterdam Pizza

This is an older version of dutchgrub’s Best Amsterdam Pizza list that I wrote back in May 2009. Please see here for the current version that now includes four pizzerias as well as up to date addresses and a location map.

In January I published my list of the best restaurants in Amsterdam. Many people have posted comments or asked for additional information. So I decided to write additional best of Amsterdam restaurant posts such as best snacks and lunch, best beer and wine or best Asian restaurants in Amsterdam. Today I will tell you where to find the best pizza in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam does not have the best Italian cuisine in the world. If you are a foodie who travels frequently, I would suggest you look into other food options. There are, however, those days when you want nothing else than good pizza. And luckily Amsterdam does have three great pizzerias: Forno Communale, Renato’s and Yam Yam! All three are somewhat off the beaten path. All three require reservations at least a few days in advance. And all three serve great pizza – thin crust, from a wood fired oven, with fresh ingredients and generous toppings. Newcomer Restaurant Forno Communale in West behind Overtoom draws a younger crowd with a simple and fairly priced menu. Renato’s Trattoria in de Pijp is small and traditional and stacks its pizza with fresh greens and herbs. And Yam Yam Trattoria, west of the Jordaan, is very busy with tables close to each other, an artsy feel to it and an incredible truffle pizza.

Restaurant Forno Communale

Forno Communale opened in 2007 as a neighborhood pizzeria in West, behind Overtoom. It draws a young crowd with its stylish, modern interior and fairly priced menu. Forno uses trendy ingredients such as Gorgonzola, apples, raisins, Italian speck and wild salmon. There are some standard pizzas with a twist and some highly unusual ones like the pizza Forno with Gorgonzola, ham, apple, raisins and rucola. The crust is thin and the pizza baked briefly in the hot wood fired oven. The service is quick and many guests swiftly move on to one of the local bars. The wine – organized by categories cheap, decent, good and special – goes down well. And all pizzas are also available to-go – just order directly from the kitchen and wait for your pizza on one of the bar stools.

Renato’s Trattoria

Renato’s Trattoria is a small, authentic and family-run Italian in de Pijp. There are many bars and restaurants in the area and Renato has built up a great reputation with consistently good food and friendly, quick service. The interior is traditional Trattoria style with a large bar by the entrance, wooden tables and chairs, some food posters and a dominating Italian flag. The pizza selection is mostly classics. Renato uses fresh ingredients – some of them home-grown – on his quest for the perfect pizza. The dough is Italian style, made from the best flour. Toppings are generous, often garnished with heaps of greens and herbs, added after the pizza has been baked. One of my favorites is the pizza with Parma ham and rucola. Renato’s attracts mostly locals from de Pijp, especially in the summer when they bring out tables and chairs to the sidewalk.

Yam Yam Trattoria

Yam Yam is a pizzeria and trattoria with a simple decor and a friendly, alternative flair. It’s located west of the Jordaan, has two dining rooms and an open kitchen and wood fired oven. The tables are very close to each other and Yam Yam has a busy and sometimes noisy atmosphere. The same friendly and cosmopolitan staff has been running the restaurant for a long time. The trattoria menu is written on a black board and the pizza selection is divided into classic and special. I go to Yam Yam for the unusual flavors of the special pizzas, using eclectic ingredients such as mascarpone, goat cheese or fennel salami. My absolute favorite is their pizza Yam Yam with truffle sauce, Parmesan, rucola and ham. The crust of the pizzas is very thin, forming large crusty bubbles in the oven. The crowd is mixed, consists of locals and visitors and anybody from couples on dates and to small groups and families.

dutchgrub is a Qype Insider

dutchgrub recently was promoted to Insider on Qype! My Qype profile is now highlighted by a blue star and they sent me a t-shirt and a pack of Haribo Colo-Rado.

Qype is the largest user-generated local review site in Europe with a strong focus on restaurants and night-life. It’s like Yelp for Europe. The company was founded in Hamburg, Germany, and not surprisingly is strongest there with more than 110.000 restaurants reviewed. Qype is now expanding in other European countries and has built up a good following in the UK with 40.000 restaurants currently in their database.

amsterdam-restaurants-on-qype — Amsterdam restaurants reviewd on Qype

Qype is still small in the Netherlands but is becoming an interesting alternative to current leaders iens and dinnersite. iens has been around for many years, starting out as a printed restaurant guide with content contributed by anyone willing to fill out a test form. iens is, however, steadily declining. The reviews tend to be short and generic and the search and browse functionality makes it difficult to filter out the right restaurants. Sponsored content is taking a more and more prominent place. dinnersite organizes the restaurantweek and generally aligns more closely with restaurants rather than guests. It never managed to gain sufficient scale, and while being useful for finding general information, lacks in the reviews.

I have always loved Yelp and Chowhound, mostly for the great content by foodies for foodies and in Yelp’s case also for the nice user interface. You might need to take some time reading through the reviews, but I think it’s great how many valuable reviews foodies post there. Reading through them gives me a great impression of restaurants when researching a trip abroad. I hope that Qype – or Yelp, which is now expanding in Europe – can do the same for Amsterdam!

Spring Discount at Marqt

Trendy but sometimes expensive concept supermarket Marqt is luring customers with discounts on selected items.

The discounts run until the end of May, with a specific items discounted on the different days of the week. Monday is fish-day with a 30% discount on fish, Tuesday meat-day, followed by cheese-day, veggie-day, ready-meal-day and finally bread-day on Saturday when bread is off 30%.

Marqt is fun to go to with its market-style set-up and focus on fresh, local produce. But it also suffers from limited selection on several product categories and high prices on others.

I like the fish and the bread. So if you want to take advantage of the discounts, check in on Monday or Saturday.

30% discount on fish every Monday at Marqt Amsterdam

30% discount on bread every Satruday at Marqt Amsterdam — 30% discount on bread every Saturday at Marqt Amsterdam

Los Pilones – Genuine Mexican Food in Amsterdam

When it comes to Mexican food, I am looking for the proven formula: No inventive cuisine but quality enchiladas, tacos and fajitas. In my opinion what distinguishes a good Mexican from an average one is the tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole. Same goes for the decor – when I decide on Mexican, I am looking for a simple, bar-style atmosphere with small tables, beach and palm tree motives, Inca style symbolics and Corona and Tecate commercials.

Los Pilones Amsterdam fits that bill nicely and has been serving authentic Mexican food since 2001.

Los Pilones is located on Kerkstraat 63, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat. It recently opened a second restaurant in the Jordaan, on 1e Anjeliersdwaarsstraat 6, which I have not been to yet.

As soon as you sit down at Los Pilones you are served thin tortilla chips and fresh salsa. You can wash them down with one of the many Mexican beers, including Tecate, Pacifico, Negra Modelo, or XX. Or you can opt for a Margarita, Daiquiri, or one of the other Mexican cocktail classics.

van gogh on wall art at los pilones amsterdam

The menu is well executed classics, too. The choice is between Tacos and Enchiladas, for both of which you get to pick the filling (beef, chicken, cheese, etc) and the sauce. There also is a Taco and Enchilada special of the month.

Later on you can enjoy a Tequila shot from the rich selection of Tequilas including some rare aged ones while pondering whether you just saw van Gogh on one of the traditional Mexican paintings.

Make sure you make a reservation – Los Pilones can get very busy even on a school night.