PRE-2009 CAVEAT UPDATE: It's now 2012, and the below now-terribly-out-of-date post has kind of been superseded/supplanted by this one.
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2009 CAVEAT: This post is now 3 years old, and some things have changed, as they do. Toko Ikan Mas is not as reliable as it used to be, I don't think Abyssinia is the best Ethiopian in town anymore (it's still as good as it used to be, but I think Fenan Klein Afrika is better, and totally worth an evening of your time), etc.
Some things haven't changed: my favorite pom in town is still De Tokoman. I still really like the sopropo at Surima Tropische Markt (Kinkerstraat 184) but could never remember the name of the place so it never made the list. Etc.
ALSO: I think my eGullet foodblog is good complementary reading for this list. It also has some additional pictures.
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Inspired by a recent visit to eGullet, and an especially relevant topic called "The Foodlover's Guide to Amsterdam" which you can check out here, I decided to finally unfurl a perpetually-postponed post about my absolute don't-miss eats in our fair city.
At least that was the idea, but it's turned into a more personal list than that...these are things that I would really pine for if we were somehow separated, Amsterdam and I. It's almost all "street food", primarily because since we've been here we've experienced a serious dip in our enthusiasm for restaurant meals, probably attributable to many factors which are mostly beyond the scope of this mfkn list.
There are also a couple of esoteric things here that are great memories for me, but might be like "so what" to anyone else, or might not even be experienceable by anyone else because they were really one of a kind moments. This is the kind of thing you can include on your top 20 or 30 list when not many people read your blog.
Provenance aside, I say it's still good eatin' any way you slice it. I'm going to furnish the entire list first (for those who are coming to Amsterdam imminently and need some tips for cheap eats) and den fill in the details as I has time. BTW, should you be unfamiliar with any of the terrain, Mappy is a stupendous way to get directions to these places. OK, in the order I thought of them in:
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1a) Broodje Pom at De Tokoman, Waterlooplein 327.
Above: a broodje pom, not from De Tokoman.
As you probably know if you've eaten in Amsterdam before, a broodje is a sandwich. As you may not know, pom is a glorious Surinamese sort of casserole. I think its full name might be pom tajer nanga fouroe. It's a slowly baked, kind of Thanksgiving-y seeming dish with pomtajer (malanga), chicken legs, orange juice, a sort of bacon (zoutvlees), and nutmeg, with a bit of of room for embellishment and variations. As soon as I can find an English recipe, I'll post it, and if I can't...well then I'm just going to have to fire up my Translation Engine (which is sitting on blocks in the back yard right now).
When you order a Broodje Pom at De Tokoman, one of the invariably pleasant ladies behind the counter will ask if you want "zuur and peper" on it, and you definitely do: in this case zuur is a yellow cabbage/carrot/onion relish called atjar tampoer. Peper is fiery madame jeanette (scotch bonnet relative) pepper sauce or paste.
Anyway, what we have here: the creamy comfort of the pom combined with the tart relish and the (usually) gentle smoky heat, all on a crispy baguette...you get the picture. Totally dreamy. The Hete Kip broodje (spicy chicken) is also nice and perky (but can be a tad dry if you go later in the day), as are many of their other sandwiches--I just never really got over those first two I had there. They also have some nice vegetarian choices if you're so inclined. Buy a cold coconut water or tamarind drink to cool off with. ALERT: all pom broodjes are not created equal. I've had some rather gross ones at other places in my quest for More Pom. So don't improvise on this one: go to the Tokoman. ALSO ALERT: They run out of pom at about 4pm every day, sometimes earlier. So this is probably best done as a lunchtime thang.
1b) Broodje Chili Kip at De Hapjeshoek, Metrostation Waterlooplein 6.
Another Surinamese/Indonesian sandwich place, across the street from the Tokoman. This one's down in the subway station underneath the opera house (Stopera) and Waterloomarkt. Same general setup, but I find his pom to be less appealing. Instead, order a broodje Chili Kip (also 2,50 i think, maybe 3,00). It's "just" sauteed chicken with both mild and hot peppers and onions on freshly baked bread, but done perfectly and spicy as heck. Same drill, when he asks if you want peper and zuur, say yes...he makes his own zuur, which in this case are pink-tinged homemade cucumber pickles (compared to the Tokoman bright yellow, off-the-Albert Heijn-shelf atjar...both work well). Another great sandwich here is the Kip Ketjap, a dark sweet Indonesian chicken with ketjap manis, but like the Tokoman almost everything here is pretty swell.
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2) Lamahcun/Turkse Pizza at Mercan Patisserie, Rozengracht 148.
Pictured above: Turkish pizza, not from Mercan.
They have great boreks and baklava here as well, probably because they're primarily an actual bakery (as opposed to a bakery storefront, where everything is made offsite) and they make everything themselves. But, they also do a fine, fine version of the ubiquitous lamahcun (called Turkse pizza on Amsterdam menus), which is an oven-blistered flatbread coated with ground lamb, pomegranate syrup, garlic, tomato, and spices. When you order, they'll ask you if you want everything on it (they might say, "Alles erop?") and you say yes. A handful of chopped onions, lettuce, and red cabbage are placed on top of the flatbread, and then you get a squirt of a garlic-yogurt sauce and a squirt of spicy red sambal sauce on top. It's then rolled tight like a burrito, and you walk out as happy as anyone else in the city for the next 5 minutes.
This is totally not the only place to get a great Turkse pizza, but this is one of the few I've had that is truly excellent and reliable in the center of town, and where I can heartily recommend the rest of their roster as well, especially the pastries. Actually everything. Another very reliable lamahcun source is Kismet (Kinkerstraat 350), but they're a bit further off to the west (the rest of their Turkish food is also nice, if the tiniest bit bland, mostly stuffed vegetables, more of a sit-down lunch place but without table service). Kismet also has an Albert Cuypmarkt location, but last time I visited they didn't have a pizza oven at that location, which meant they also had no Turkse pizzas.
And having said all that: like the "bad pizza/bad sex" joke/truism, a "bad" Turkse pizza is still really not that bad. And if you don't like it, you're usually only out 2 euro or so, just like with sex. What I'm saying is, at least have a lamahcun somewhere if you can't get to Mercan or Kismet. The Albert Cuypmarkt and surrounding streets offer an especially good chance for your hits to outnumber your misses (I'm thinking specifically of the southern corner of Van Woustraat and Albert Cuyp).
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3) Kibbeling , Gebakken Mosselen, Krabsalade at Volendammer Vishandel 't Centrum, Haarlemmerdijk 4.
Well, I've listed three of my favorites above (fried cod, fried mussels, and crab salad), but every single thing I've ever eaten here has been sterling, which explains the constant line out the door (I say out the door, but it's a small place. The line's never longer than 10 people), I guess. So, in order to not have to stand in line more than once: if I were you, I'd definitely get 1) something fried, 2) a sandwich, and 3) some herring. At least. Their smoked salmon is also pretty terrific. Let's tackle these in order.
When you hear the words "something fried", don't think of generic cheapie-style fried seafood, 3 parts breading to 1 part marine life. This is just the barest coating of thin batter, and the other 90% or so is fish. Cod, or kabeljauw, is the most common choice, but their fried mussels are perfect as well. So, to order, you want a bakje (a little plastic tray) of kibbeling or mussels, this is typically 150 grams or so (6 ounces?). Or you can order by the gram. The extremely Dutch girl behind the counter might tell you that it's only lukewarm and do you want to wait for a fresh batch. I wouldn't, it's still great lukewarm. She'll ask if you want sauce, and your choices are the Viswinkel Holy Trinity of ravigotte/tartar, knoflook/garlic, and cocktail/whisky. Cost: I think it's 2 euro per 100 grams, so 150 grams is..............3 euro.
Sandwiches? They make their own fish salads: smoked mackerel, herring and beet, paling (smoked eel), tuna, etc., and you can get all of these on a sandwich. They're all good, but I'm a sucker for the "crab salad", which is really surimi (sucka), but it's in an amazing dressing of mayo and oranges, just perfect on a hot day. So in this case you'd want a broodje krabsalade, or broodje makreel, etc. There's a menu on the counter.
And then herring. I'm not truly a convert to non-pickled herring yet. As in, I like zure haring in a jar a lot, but if it's the fresher stuff (Hollandse Nieuwe, which is only very lightly salted), I still have to be in the mood for it, like oysters. When I am though (beer is usually involved), I ask for it with uitjes (onions) and zuur (pickles). Some would say that's wrong (Amsterdammers can be criticized for adulterating the haring with accoutrements when it should really just be dangled and swallowed), but I'm just not ready for the sea lion approach yet.
Pay, and then squeeze your way out the door and walk across the street to the little bridge where there are some benches upon which you might sit and eat your catch.
4) Okonomiyaki at Japanese Pancake World, Tweede Egelantiersdwarsstraat 24A (link).
Considering the voluminousness of my original post about the Osaka-style food love called okonomiyaki, I think I could probably just refer you to that post, but that's mostly about the food. I should mention that this "pizza joint" may have been the best restaurant experience I've had in Amsterdam.
It was a dark and stormy spring day just like any other in our fair city, except that three days before, on Queen's Day, I'd had the luck to amble past JPW while cruising for cheap vinyl. The JPW crew had a stand outside where they were nonchalantly griddling these incredible-looking discs of unidentifiable origin, kind of like ring-molded hash browns, and then suddenly executing a startling series of ninja-like (ed. note: racist) moves to squirt and spackle and baste it with all manner of viscous substance. Finally, the cook reaches into a tupperware bin and with a flourish coats the top of the cake with live butterflies.
I wasn't even high. I'd just never seen katsuobushi in action before. The shavings are so thin that when they come in contact with anything hot, they flutter and move, making your dish look very eerily alive. I swear I was not on any drugs. Look, I'm not alone. Does this man sound like he's on drugs?
Anyway, aside from the amazingly complex taste of such a simple dish, and the fact that JPW is a charmingly cool little space to eat in, another reason to go is that the chef (Frank, I think) could not be more inviting. I came in totally rain-drenched on the Tuesday after Queen's Day, and flopped down at a table near the front door. He came over and asked if I wanted to come upstairs to the teppan bar and watch him cook my food. Turns out I did, with him explaining everything he was doing and passing me the odd tidbit to taste. Very educational. BTW, I ordered plain Osaka style and plain Hiroshima style and preferred the Osaka by a nose.
5) Roti Canai at Nyonya Malaysia Express, Kloveniersburgwal 38.
The interior of NME is quite possibly the mathematical opposite of JPW above. Just imagine a well-architected, gezellig, candlelit two-level dining room with subtle modern touches, quiet bossa nova on the stereo and a good shade of red on the walls....then reverse everything about it and you've got NME. I've never eaten there, I don't even wait for my takeout food there, I pretend to have an errand to run so I can order, leave, and come back. And come back I do, bitches...for the Roti Canai, y'all (sound of muffled, somehow severely injured beatboxing fades in...).
(...and out, just like on NPR) If you've never had Malaysian roti, it's quite different from the Indian version after which it's named. The ghee-rich bread seems flatter, thinner, and more stratified than the Indian ones I've had, which is great because the more layers there are, the longer it lasts. And instead of dipping your bread into dal or chickpea curry, you dip it into head-lollingly rich and spicy coconut chicken curry broth. It's the kind of thing you hate to stop eating because it's doing everything right. But I'm sure it's a gazillion calories as well, so maybe it's best that they only have an appetizer portion on the menu. I think it's 2,50 euro for a 1-person serving. Get two, you won't want to share.
Everything else we've had there has ranged from good to excellent...I had the Malaysian equivalent of an ikan boemboe bali (Indonesian fish curry with candlenuts) and it totally rocked. Girlfriend is addicted to the Nyonya Fried Rice, which seems expensive for 10 euro until you realize that it's really just chock full of chicken and whole shrimp, more like a biriyani than Chinese fried rice.
They're very sweet there. But geez guys...can we dim the lights a little? Or turn down one of the TVs? And exactly how many simultaneously screaming kids is too many? No matter. Take your grub 50 feet away to a bench on the Kloveniersburgwal canal and prepare to receive inner beauty.
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Yet to be elaborated upon (where are 6-10? about to be posted):
11) Falafel at Maoz, Leidsestraat 85 (also Muntplein 1, others). (link)
12) Frites/Patatje Oorlog at Vleminckx, Voetboogstraat 31.
13) Beer at The Movies, Haarlemmerdijk 161. (link)
14) Smoked Anything from Frank's Smoke House, Wittenburgergracht 303. (link)
15) Tofu-Kerrie Broodje at Bakkerij Paul Annee, Runstraat 25.
16) Uitsmijter at Kat in de Wijngaert (Lindengracht 160) or Daalder Cafe, Lindengracht 90. (link)
17) Fresh Oysters at De Engelbewaarder, Kloveniersburgwal 59. (Fridays only, and not every Friday either. And not all night either. It's a bit of a secret. I'll explain.)
18) Thyme or Lemongrass Chocolates at Puccini Bomboni, Staalstraat 17. (link)
19) Appeltaart at Latei, Zeedijk 143. (link)
20) Silsi at Abyssinia, Jan Pieter Heijestraat 190hs.
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