Entertainment in The Netherlands
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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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In ‘t Aepjen
Candles burn even during the day at this bar based in a 15th-century canal house, which is one of two remaining wooden buildings in the city. The name allegedly comes from the bar’s role in the 16th and 17th centuries as a crash pad for sailors from the Far East, who often carried aapjes (monkeys) with them.
reviewed
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Dulac
This former bank building is outrageously decked out in a kooky, but kind of spooky, mixture of styles (think Turkish, art nouveau and Amsterdam School, with a few Gothic accents). It has a pool table and an amiable mix of students, older folks and Americans. Definitely come for the decor and the drinks, but avoid the food.
reviewed
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Jazz Eetcafé Desafinado
It does exactly what it says on the tin: serves up steaming portions of hot jazz in wood-bound surroundings, with authentic jazz and blues on the stereo, old-time vinyl adorning the walls, and live jazz on Wednesday nights. The food's not too bad, although watch out for those little snail thingies they serve up as nibbles.
reviewed
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Amstel Haven
Bike or boat up to where the Amstel meets the Singelgracht, snag a canalside table under an umbrella, and have yourself a swell view of the water and skyscrapers. The dining room becomes a dance floor with DJs on Fridays (’80s and ’90s) and Saturdays (house and club classics), and Sundays feature live music.
reviewed
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Brasil Music Bar
Get jiggy at the popular little club called Brasil. There's live Brazilian and Caribbean music on show three nights a week, and R&B and Brazilian DJs to fill out your calendar. The club, just like the dancing, is the epitome of the phrase 'hot and steamy'. Just try to keep your feet (and hips) still when you're there.
reviewed
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Frascati
This experimental theatre is a draw for young Dutch directors, choreographers and producers. Expect multicultural dance and music performances, as well as hip hop, rap and breakdancing. It hosts a theatre, dance, art and music festival, Breakin’Walls, in both November (main festival) and April (minifestival).
reviewed
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Studio K
Sporting two cinemas, space for bands and theatre, an eclectic Greek-Spanish restaurant (open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Sunday) and a huge terrace, the student-run Studio K is your one-stop shop for hip culture in the Oost. Stop in for a coffee, and you might wind up staying for a dance party…
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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Kadinsky
On the surface this could be an actual coffee shop - there’s no trace of hippy grunge, just sleek minimalist furniture, cool electronica in the background, and good java and hot chocolate. Three levels offer various cosy nooks. Two much smaller branches are at Langebrugsteeg 7a and Zoutsteeg 14.
reviewed
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Proeflokaal de Ooievaar
Not much bigger than a vat of jenever, this magnificent little tasting house has been going since 1782. On offer are spirits of the De Ooievaar distillery, still located in the Jordaan. The house was built leaning over and has not subsided, as many people wrongly assume even before a shot of Old Dutch.
reviewed
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Pilsener Club
Also known as Engelse Reet (English Arse), this brown cafe from 1893 is typical of the holes-in-the-wall around the Spui. Beer is served straight from the kegs via the ‘shortest pipes in Amsterdam’ (most places have vats in a cellar or side room with long hoses to the bar) – see if you can taste the difference.
reviewed
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Dutch Flowers
Were it not for this shop’s main wares, you’d be hard pressed to distinguish it from a brown cafe, with the game on TV and a lovely view of the Singel. It all means that you needn’t slum it with the college kids or feel as if you’ve gone to Jamaica or India in order to enjoy a toke.
reviewed
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Tweede Kamer
The original location of the Dampkring chain of coffeeshops feels more like a brown cafe than a coffeeshop, but don’t let that fool you. Space may be tight, but the selection is vast (this chain is known for its detailed, informative menus). The Sativa is highly recommended for a special happy high.
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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Greenhouse
Nope, the pot hasn’t gone to your head (yet) – that stretch of the floor is glass and there really are koi swimming underfoot in this modern lounge-cum-coffeeshop. Once you tire of the fish action, peer into the microscope to see THC crystals or contemplate one of the pies spinning in the display case.
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De Blauwe Parade
The building, now the Hotel Die Poort van Cleve, was the site of the original Heineken brewery, so it seems an appropriate place for tastings (of jenevers though, not beers). While there, feast your eyes on the Delft-blue tile mural (1870s) of a parade of children bearing gifts to an emperor.
reviewed
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De Kroon
A popular venue for media events and movie-premiere parties, with high ceilings, velvet chairs, and the chance to wave at the Little People below on Rembrandtplein. There is a lift to get up the two storeys, but climb the two flights instead and you’ll be rewarded with an art deco tiled staircase.
reviewed
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Café ’t Leeuwtje
‘The Little Lion’ stands out from the rest of the venues on this street – snazzy it ain’t, the music doesn’t thump loudly and the interior feels a bit like a brown cafe. A fairly extensive beer selection makes it a prime place to chat or chill with a newspaper.
reviewed
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Fiddler
This large, split-level, wood-panelled English microbrewery always has a decent crowd snacking on the OK pub food and the Fiddler's own beers: an ale, a pale ale and a stout. In the end, it's probably a bit too cavernous - intimacy's hard to come by. Good location: in the eye of the Grote Kerk.
reviewed
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Conservatorium Van Amsterdam
Catch a delightful classical recital by students at the Netherlands’ largest conservatory of music in a snazzy new building with state-of-the-art acoustics. The entire structure is built in the Japanese ‘Engawa model’ (think endless glass walls and light-flooded interiors).
reviewed
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De Trut
Just west of the Jordaan, this Sunday-night club is a lesbian institution held in the basement of a former squat. Its name means ‘the tart’ and it comes with an attitude; arrive well before 11pm (the space only fits 220 people), and know that heteros are definitely not welcome.
reviewed
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Café Nol
The epitome of the old-style Jordaan cafe, this kitschy red-vinyl place is where the original Jordaanese (ie before students, artists and professionals moved in) would sing oompah ballads with drunken abandon. They still do, but nowadays everyone from athletic types to drag queens joins in.
reviewed