Bar entertainment in The Netherlands
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Café Het Schuim
Schuim means ‘foam’ (on beer) and this grungy, arty bar is extraordinarily popular with beer-swilling locals – it gets packed any time of day or night. While the people-watching can be distracting, it’s wise to keep one eye on your belongings.
reviewed
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Café Zilt
This classy little dive is where the corpus delicti shudders to a halt after a night of glorious excess. There’s a great selection of seasonal beers (why go easy at this stage?) and bar snacks such as gehaktbal (spicy hamburger balls) to buoy the blood sugar.
reviewed
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C
Kurzaal Bar
Even if you're not staying at the plush, 19th-century Kurhaus Hotel, it's worth popping in for a drink at its bar (but wear your best shoes). The Kurzaal's on the edge of a stunning dancehall/restaurant with period trimmings, painted ceiling, frescoes, chandeliers, huge potted plants, portholes, artworks, and photos of Jacques Brel, Bing Crosby… The Rolling Stones played their shortest-ever concert here - just three minutes, before rioting teenage girls took over.
reviewed
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Minibar
If Homer Simpson went glam, this would be his palace. Present an ID at the counter; choose a fully stocked beer, champagne or mixed fridge; and grab your key to your own self-service minibar (more maxi than mini, actually). Select your tipple and sip in the mod-lounge setting, zoning out on the computerised light show; on our visit, plump white raindrops cascaded down a solid black wall. DJs spin a few nights a week too.
reviewed
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Amstel Bar & Brasserie
So you need to entertain a client. She’s very high powered and you can’t leave things to chance. The bar at the Amstel Intercontinental Hotel is dignified and appropriately clubby, and its river-view location is the power spot in town. We expect you’ll get that contract you wanted and you may even rub elbows with famous financiers for your next deal.
reviewed
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Kamer 401
One of several happening bars along Marnixstraat, attracting gorgeous-looking, cocktail-drinking young locals who pack the place till late. With DJs providing a funky soundtrack, it’s perfect for preclubbing drinks. If you can’t breathe or move, see if you can snag a corner at Lux next door – it’s a similar scene, though equally popular.
reviewed
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Bar Barbou
Like the hotel surrounding it, the Dylan’s lobby bar is superposh – sleek black and white with Indonesian influences, and a great place to pose…if you can get in. Restaurant patrons get seating priority. You might swear that all the beautiful people surrounding you stepped off the pages of the fashion magazines on the coffee tables.
reviewed
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In Den Ouden Vogelstruys
Overlooking the cathedral across the square, this antique bar is a little bit naughty and a little bit nice. The entrance has big, old, heavy, red curtains, while inside the bar there are photos of big, old, heavy men on the wall, big, old, heavy light fittings, and big, old, heavy Trappist beer. (But the local cheese is light and creamy…)
reviewed
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Café Soundgarden
Grungy and rockin’, this take-no-shit dive bar contains a handful of pool tables, pinball machines, unkempt DJs, a creepy smoking lounge (better to puff outside on the canalside terrace) and surly bartenders. Bands occasionally make an appearance and, interestingly, all walks of life swig here. It’s just that cool.
reviewed
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Café the Minds
Don’t let the word cafe in the name fool ya – this is a hard-core (but very friendly) punk bar where the beer’s cheap, the music’s loud and the party’s rockin’, man. It’s smack in the middle of a little strip of the Spui that’s home to a few squats and plenty of graffiti.
reviewed
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Kingfisher
Kingfisher’s casual brand of cool and laid-back bar staff ensure it’s always busy. It’s a lot of locals’ ‘local’, and as it’s on one of the main streets through De Pijp, it offers great people-watching both inside and out (creative bicyclists are just the start).
reviewed
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G-Spot
Next door to De Pieper, this contemporary minimalist bar-restaurant, with its bright light-filled interior, couldn’t be more different from its brown-cafe neighbour, but it’s equally as appealing. While the interior is stylish, the canalside terrace with pretty views will keep you outside.
reviewed
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Finch
This funkalicious bar with its retro decor (deliberately mismatched yet somehow harmonious) is just the spot to hang out and knock back a few beers after a visit to the market. It’s known for an arty-designy clientele and is always packed on the weekends. The owners also operate Wolvenstraat 23.
reviewed
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De Buurvrouw
This grungy late-night bar is where you inevitably end up when there’s nowhere else to go. Take it easy because someone’s watching: above the entrance is a painting of de Buurvrouw (the woman next door). And yes, everyone is probably as drunk as you.
reviewed
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De Zotte
If you can’t make up your mind in this Belgian beer bar, start with the weekly special. Those Trappist monks can brew some deadly ones so you might want to line your stomach with a hearty cheese plate or steak - the kitchen’s open between 6.30pm and 9pm.
reviewed
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Vrankrijk
Squatters keep it real at this grungy, graffiti-covered and very cheap bar, which functions as a social-support centre for Amsterdam’s various subcultures. Monday is always Queer Night, Thursday is for punks and Saturday usually sees some sweaty dancing.
reviewed
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Q
Suzy Wong
This sure-to-impress bar bustles with Dutch trendies and actors. The look? Victorian-drawing-room-on-speed, with red velveteen wallpaper and a bamboo garden; a photo of Andy Warhol observes. A worthy place to fortify yourself before heading across to Jimmy Woo.
reviewed
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Wolvenstraat 23
This funky bar with no name – we dare you to find a sign anywhere – is especially popular with locals, who come for the good wines by the glass, great music and tasty Asian snacks. If this is your kind of place, check out their other bar, Finch.
reviewed
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18 Twintig
This bar facing Marie Heinekenplein is all pastels, mints and tiny Buddhas to make anyone look glam, not that the good-looking 20- and 30-somethings need enhancement. There's a contemporary, diverse food menu (mains around €17.50 to €21.50).
reviewed
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De Pintelier
Step back to the 1920s at this cosy bar where the selection of beer and jenever (Dutch gin) reads like an encyclopaedia. Its long wooden bar and thicket of candle-lit tables are timeless. Take in the breeze in the shot-glass-sized courtyard.
reviewed
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Café Lef
This alternative to a blackout at Café Zilt has a robust wooden bar for slumped conversation and a bottomless pit of Belgian and Dutch brews. The bartenders know a great cure for the hiccups, and it’s completely legal.
reviewed
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Brix Food ’N’ Drinx
The mod jazz lounge setting makes this a great place to chill over a cocktail and enjoy nibbles from the starters-only menu, like raw oysters, gravlax and mini Peking duck. There’s live jazz on Sunday and Monday nights from about 9pm.
reviewed
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Bar Bep
With its olive-green vinyl couches and ruby-red walls, Bep resembles a kitsch, 1950s Eastern European cabaret lounge. It gets groovy with filmmakers, photographers and artists. The heat is off since its heyday, and we prefer it.
reviewed
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De Huyschkaemer
A one-time restaurant, De Huyschkaemer has made the transition to full-time designer bar, with a mixed crowd – gay and straight, expat and local, old and young. The setting is minimalist, with spare walls and booths.
reviewed
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El Guapo
Sorta Latin, sorta caveman, this shop is populated by friendly people and is known for some of the best hash in town. You can bring your own music and ask them to play it - just remember to get it back when you leave.
reviewed