Amsterdam past the Centrum: where Amsterdammers eat and drink
The Centrum is one square kilometre of Amsterdam and it’s where 90% of the visitors stay. The other 218 square kilometres are where the city actually lives.
Amsterdam’s Centrum is a beautiful museum that a lot of people live and work in but very few of them call ‘going out’. The good Amsterdam — the one your Dutch friend would actually suggest — is in De Pijp, Oost, Noord across the IJ, and Westerpark up the canal.
Coffee — De Pijp, Oost, Noord
Lot Sixty One (De Pijp) is the roaster the city talks about. Coffee & Coconuts in the same neighbourhood is the breakfast you’ll plan a morning around. Headfirst Coffee Roasters in Oost and the small cafés in Noord (across the free ferry behind Centraal) are where the city actually drinks its filter.
Lunch and dinner — De Pijp, Oost, Noord
Café de Klos for ribs, De Foodhallen (Oud-West) for an easy night out, Restaurant Breda (Centre) when you want a tasting menu without the pomp. In Noord: Hotel de Goudfazant’s warehouse-canteen, FC Hyena’s pizza and cinema, the Tolhuistuin gardens for a slow afternoon.
Vintage, records, bookshops
Episode (Spuistraat) and Bij Ons (De Pijp) for vintage. Concerto on Utrechtsestraat for records — biggest selection in the country. The American Book Center is the obvious English-language bookshop; less obvious is Athenaeum Boekhandel on Spui.
Take the ferry behind Centraal to Noord on a Saturday morning. It’s free, it’s five minutes, and it’s a different city.
Take it with you
The full Pin Reef Amsterdam volume covers every independent café, restaurant, gallery and record shop already pinned by neighbourhood. Drop the file into Google My Maps and the Centrum becomes one option among many.