Cheap Amsterdam Eats

[jayseeca]

My friend and I are taking our university spring break and going to Amsterdam in February.
I did Ctrl-F on the board, and found the usual recs, Tempo Doloe and De Kas. De Kas is definitly out of the budget.
Does anyone have any good/great recs for places for breakfast, lunch, and dinner which won't break the bank? We're staying in the city center, but will be exploring.

Thanks!

[zuriga]

For breakfast, there's a chain called Gary's Bagels. They're all over the city and maybe a Google try will come up with the one closest to your hotel. I think as you wander around this tight-knit city, you'll discover lots of places that look interesting and won't break the bank. The market food stalls are great. Enjoy your trip!

[zach]

this is areat city to eat cheaply. the best bets are the automats called febo - they have something called krokets wich are fried pockets of various stews, very tasty and cheap. also chip stores with great fries, and try places that are "suranamese eethaus" this is great food, latin american and chinese influences, cheap flilling and delicous.

[srr]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Febo. I, too, am headed to Amsterdam in March and one of the things I am most excited about is that place.

[zach]

yeah, I eat almost all of my meals when I am in amsterdam in febo, a vlameese frittes place or in a surinamese place

[Bradbury]

You guys are starting to worry me ... most locals here will only go to a Febo if its 3am and they've been drinking all night and have 2 euros left in their pocket ... and sometimes not even then.

For anyone who hasn't been to one, imagine the various bits from a TV dinner rolled in breadcrumbs, deep fried and put under mini-heatlamps. Yep, that's Febo for ya...

[zach]

yummm!!

[srr]

EXACTLY!! I live in San Francisco and there aren't any places that fill this niche. Such fun!! Who cares if it isn't haute cuisine, sometimes you just need a little fried goodness...especially in Amsterdam.

[Bradbury]

Hey, I'm not so posh that I can't enjoy little bits of greasy goodness! But when you want that, why not go to a brown cafe instead of a Febo, so you can get booze and ambience to go with it? :)

(And if you go to the ones right off the Johnny Jordaanplein, you can get spontaneous singing too ... learn a few lines from "Bij Ons In De Jordaan" and you're guaranteed to make some friends for life...)

[jayseeca]

Hi, just wondering what Febo actually is. Is this a certain restaurant/snack place, with many around Amsterdam?

Thanks!

[Curtis]

Febo is an "automat". You walk up, put your change in a the slot next to the food you want, open the door, and start consuming said food!

I've been here a couple weeks for work and love them for something really quick when I'm starving and am in a hurry to get someplace else.

The link is a photo I took of one during one of the first nights I was in town.

-- Curtis

Link: http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/phot...

[Taralli]

Absolutely go to the Albert Cuyp outdoor market for herring sandwichs, paper cups of hot fries, & a great array of fresh, fried fish at fish markets along the street that you can pick out & have cooked to order. It's just around the corner from the Heineken's Brewery. Several shops, elsewhere, have charcuterie cases where I picked up roast cornish hens, etc. for picnics.

[Bradbury]

A few suggestions for those visiting this fair city on a tight budget (with a slight geographic bias toward my neighborhood, around the Museumplein and Vondelpark):

Tootsie - for the best club sandwich I've had anywhere in Europe

Riaz - for Surinamese rotis

Beyrouth - great, cheap, filling Lebanese

Tujuh Maret - next door to Tempo Doeloe, much cheaper and more informal, just walk in and sit down for yummy, reasonably-priced Indonesian

De Zotte - for 80+ Belgian ales and whatever their menu special is (they have a surprisingly good cook)

Cafe De Koe - for your cholesterol fix

't Smalle - no gourmet experience, but one of the best brown cafes, in the prettiest setting

Narbonne - weird but good mix of North African (great lamb specials), Mexican and Catalonian. Tasty and modestly priced, with two features rare in Amsterdam: huge portions and friendly waitresses

Kanis en Meiland - a pun on its location (KNSM Island), wonderful funky cafe with great soups and sandwiches, locals love it because of a) great waterfront scene b) tourists can't find it c) near some primo haute-design shopping

[Bradbury]

Also, forgot to add: be sure to drop by the Saturday morning farmer's market at Noorderkerk (old church in north end of the Jordaan). Even if you don't have a kitchen of your own in Amsterdam, there's still some great cheese, pancakes, fruit, breads, sausages, juices, and yet more cheese to be found.

[Dev]

If you find yourself in the Nieuwmarkt area on a weekend around about noon, try the lunch menu at Captein & Co on Oude Waal. The egg broodjes are fabulous & the corner table is a great place to nurse a coffee, your broodje and a hangover.

Dinner at same is totally so-so. If you're in that area for dinner, locals head to Cafe Bern for fondue and wine. Reservations highly recommended, but you can often get space at the bar...