five minutes north.

Above: random civilian marijuana on the Haarlemmerstraat. Below, today's traipse through the Spaarndammerbuurt: idling at Bickerswerf, lunching at Cafe Walvis, gawking at REM Eiland, and Scrabbling While Fake Frowning at Pont 13. Plus an adventurously skewed yet perfectly-cooked hangar steak with fondant potatoes, celeriac with bacon, green beans, and an onion/porcini compote.

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Extra notes: we ended up at Walvis b/c I had a sudden post-workout blood sugar emergency and I knew Amsterdam Foodie had just said something mildly positive about it but I couldn't remember what. After sitting down, their beer selection looked pretty standard but OK, and I ordered an IJ-Zatte. She said that it was "op" (they'd run out). Boo, but OK, that was kind of a serious beer for 2pm anyway.

On the very basic and pretty standard lunch menu, there's one non-standard item toward which my shakily hungry VDuck eye immediately gravitated: the broodje mortadella, which is scrambled eggs, truffle mayo, tomato, and mortadella.

Shit yeah: I ordered it and the (friendly) waitress said OK! and I said yay (silently), and she went inside to place my order, returning 30 seconds later to say that it was also "op". Slumping in my chair, I ordered the broodje oude kaas (pictured below): aged Gouda, arugula, tomato, mustardmayo, and pine nuts. I HAVE LOW BLOOD SUGAR: DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME FURTHER.

In the end, it was less boring than expected, actually a nice version of this very common sandwich, but I couldn't help wondering how much happier I would've been with the two items I originally ordered.

Anyway, yes. Pleasant place, I like that the corner they're on somehow doesn't seem much like Amsterdam, maybe because of the comparatively wide sidewalks. Not sure I'd go out of my way for a visit, but as a Spaarndammerbuurt Blood Sugar Emergency Option it's just fine, and I guess that's kind of what AF was saying.

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Pont 13 should be our new local, even though I'm sure that today's idyllic experience will become less idyllic pretty darn quick after October or so. Still, a warm and breezy bike ride five minutes north to a cute old ferry that features very friendly service, a rustically stylish interior, way-above-average-music (old country and unusually tolerable vintage reggae during our visit) and ambitious but reasonable local cuisine...we'll be back for more Scrabble, sun, and steak soon.