Well, that’s a wrap on Amsterdam (and on Europe!). As usual, here’s a few random photos to close things out.
Thanks to its colonialist history, Surinamese cuisine is quite common in Amsterdam (the history of colonialism is pretty horrifying, but at the very least some good food came out of it. So… glass half full?).
Remember the Guinness Storehouse that I wrote about in Ireland? Well, they have something in Amsterdam called the Heineken Experience that’s pretty much the exact same thing, but with Heineken instead of Guinness.
Remember my post about kroket, Amsterdam’s version of the croquette? McDonald’s has their own version, and — of course — it’s called the McKroket.
Apple pie purists would probably scoff at it, but the pie at a cafe called Winkel 43 in Amsterdam is pretty damn good.
One of the more popular foods in Amsterdam is a version of a croquette called kroket. It’s deep fried, with a very crunchy exterior and a creamy interior with chunks of beef. It’s really good.
I had heard that bikes were super popular in Amsterdam, but it’s one of those things that you don’t really understand until you’re actually here.
I was already a pretty big fan of the stroopwafels you can get back home — the round, thin discs of crispy, chewy, caramel-filled waffles that usually come in a cellophane-wrapped pile of five or six. They’re delicious.
But my stroopwafel love has been kicked to the next level, because I just had a freshly-made one in Amsterdam, and it was everything. It was one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long, long time.
There’s something about the simplicity of really well-prepared fries that’s kind of irresistible. I mean, ultimately they’re just potato sticks, but that crispy/creamy contrast can’t be beat.
And the fries from Vleminckx Sausmeesters in Amsterdam are some of the best that I’ve had in a long while. They’ve got that crispy/creamy thing going on in spades. They’re lousy with it.