If you're in Amsterdam for a special occasion or you're just feeling fancy De Kas Restaurant is an absolute must. It's an incredible restaurant set in an old municipal green house that the owner and chef saved from being demolished to create an amazing culinary experience. What makes it quite unusual and very special is that they grow a lot of their own produce in the greenhouse on site and in small farms outside of the main city. They also source the best local seasonal produce and create an ever changing menu according to what's in season and what's good that day. I didn't take photos of the food, I don't often take photos of the food.. partly because I'm still behind on the whole smart phone thing and my current phone sucks but partly because I've nommed all the food before even thinking about taking a photo of it! Hopefully I'll get a snazzmatazz phone soon and will be a whizz. All I'll say about the food at De Kas is that it was unbelievably good! Everyone eats the same menu unless you have specific allergies or dislike something they're serving so the nice thing was that as we were eating early, we didn't see what other people were having! Starters were beautiful followed by venison to die for, a trio of perfect desserts and a delicious cheese plate. What's more is that we had the wine pairing (a wine to match each dish) which just enhanced the whole experience. The staff and service were impeccable, with explanations of each dish and the wine as well. What was even better was that it was T's idea to go here as a complete surprise to me and it really was the highlight of the trip.
The next day, a little hungover we wondered over to the main shopping streets in search of much needed caffeine. Coffee@Last came to our rescue. Serving beautiful coffee and brownies, sandwiches or pastries, it doesn't look all that special from the outside. A warm welcome awaits as does some great coffee, they clearly know what they're doing. Though a little part of me feels that it might be let down by its location, right next to a few tacky touristy spots which can be off putting but it's worth a look for a decent caffeine fix, it's right near the station too so we took a stop there right before getting our train out of the city.
Looking for budget places to eat when staying near the city centre can be a bit of a challenge but we spotted this pizza place, Da Portare Via on a stroll of an evening and so decided to give it a whirl. The place is tiny but on later research I discovered that there are a number of other larger branches in the city. They make everything fresh in front of you and they have a beautiful wood fire oven to cook the pizza in, moving them around on one of those giant paddle things. So nice to watch! The pizzas are simple and classic, with lovely ingredients. I had one with Parma ham and rocket that was delicious.
This particular branch is mainly takeaway but is next to a very cool pub and people were coming over from the pub, grabbing piles of pizza to take back to their friends enjoying the beer next door. We were lucky enough to grab the two stools at the front of the pizza place to chow down our pizza but this did mean we couldn't have a beer, they sell only take away alcohol. The people in the pub had a good thing going on! I guess if you go to a larger branch you could probably have booze on site. We stopped by the pub after we'd scoffed all our pizza.
What are the dutch known for if not chips and mayo!? We went down to the market, Albert Cuypmarkt of an afternoon in search of lunchtime snacky and the first stand you come to had your classic fries and mayo and they were the bomb. The market was pretty good too, with a variety of food, sweets and chocolate private parts.. interesting if you're into it.
Amsterdam is a great place with a fantastic vibe to it. T was mesmerised by all the bikes and I was inspired by how stylish the cyclists are and how many there are of all different ages, shapes and sizes, it's brilliant. T sought out some of the specialist bike shops to get some inspiration for ugrading his single speed bike to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats this summer (madness). I also bought some amazing panniers not from a bike shop but from a shop that only sold red stuff! They're going to look great on my red bike! I'll try to post a picture once they're in situ.
Where we stayed: We stayed in a tiny B&B (only two guest rooms) called B&B Margot. It was a lovely room, with a view of the canal and an amazing breakfast each day. There was also a really cute cat (the main reason we chose to stay there, obvs) Here's a picture of her looking desolate at the prospect of our leaving, I think she kinda liked having us around.
How we got there: Eurostar. It's an easy journey with a quick change in Brussels, taking about 5 hours in total (not including the wait time). Book in advance and you might get lucky with a £99 return deal, it's worth it I tell you!
