Amsterdam

[Underdog]

I'm off to Amsterdam alone in two weeks...

I'll be a solo female traveler, staying in a women's hostel... But it is my first time traveling alone...

Any tips, or restaurant reccomendations would be appreciated (I don't smoke pot)...

I'm considering the body museum and the resistance museum... Hoping the city is safe and friendly!

 

[Second Summer]

I've only briefly been to Amsterdam while waiting for a connecting flight at Schiphol. (We took the train in to the city.) I seem to remember seeing a Maoz falafel place, and was annoyed at people smoking everywhere in the streets.

 

[Inka]

Cool, Amsterdam, I haven't been there for a while but I used to live there.
As for places to eat, the Maoz falafel places are pretty good for fastfood, and there are a couple of them in the city (the come from Amsterdam originally).
The 'Bazaar' at the Albert Cuypstraat is a fun restaurant with veggie options and not too expensive.

Fun things to do, there are loads of museums, you could rent a bike and cycle around town, walk along the channels. The photography museum is supposed to be good but I've never been there.

The city is typically pretty safe for a capital city, best not to go into parks or quiet areas after dark though.

 

[Andy_T]

... and was annoyed at people smoking everywhere in the streets.

Haha, maybe it was not so bad and they were simply enjoying their joints

 

[Second Summer]

I'm visiting Amsterdam for a few days in September, will be staying in a hotel somewhere in city centre yet to be determined.

you could rent a bike

Ah, that sounds like a great idea! Then I could more easily get around to all the restaurants I want to visit

On that note, any restaurant recommendations? Looking for vegan food, obviously, and not very picky beyond that, though I have come to appreciate the importance of a good atmosphere and helpful staff in a restaurant.

 

[Inka]

Heyhey, it's been ages since I checked this site, but since your post seems to be fairly recent I'll respond anyway

Unfortunately I don't have much more recommendations for restaurants than in the previous post, I'm not living in Amsterdam anymore.

Oh one thing that's cool (if it still exists) is the Ethiopian restaurant Lalibela, it's in the lonely planet. You have to eat with your hands, and they serve the food on one enormous plate, with some type of pancake underneath. Pretty good too, and they have good vegetarian options. Not sure about vegan, the stuff didn't seem heavy on milk or egg products but you never know, you'd have to ask.
But I'm sure that there must be lots of vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurants, as it's quite fashionable, and Amsterdam is always trying to be hip

Generally speaking I'm not that impressed with the friendliness of the waiters in Amsterdam, that's just something that you'll have live with. Or maybe you'll be lucky.

 

[Second Summer]

Good to see you again, Inka

Ethiopian sounds interesting, I might go if the menu looks promising and I can sort out the logistics.

 

[Inka]

Thanks

In case you, or any other visitors to the Netherlands are looking for restaurants, probably the best website for that is this one:
Vegetarian restaurants in Amsterdam | iens.nl - the site for independent reviews of restaurants - Where are we eating?

The site is translated to English, and they list the vegetarian restaurants.

 

[Second Summer]

Thank you, Inka! That is super helpful.

 

[Second Summer]

BTW, do you know which area or areas on that site (click "more areas") that corresponds to "Centrum" which is the area where I'll be staying? It doesn't seem to have Centrum ...

 

[Inka]

Ehm, where are you staying, do you know yet?
Yea they seem to have split up 'Centrum' into the different neighbourhoods, it also depends what you consider to be the city center of course. The areas that are certainly 'Centrum' are Dam, Leidscheplein, Rembrandplein and Nieuwmarkt, those are the ones that are in the oldest part of the city.

 

[Second Summer]

Ehm, where are you staying, do you know yet?

The street is Prins Hendrikkade.

 

[Inka]

Ah that's probably right next to the trainstation, can't get more central than that. This is also the most touristy area of the city, which isn't always great for restaurants. But it is very pretty. It's closest to the Nieuwmarkt area and the Dam. The Dam is so touristy I wouldn't recommend it really, unless you would go to a very expensive place that I was never able to afford, those are probably alright. The Nieuwmarkt is maybe more promissing, it is kind of the China Town of Amsterdam, there are lots of Thai and Chinese restaurants there.
I used to live really close to there

 

[Second Summer]

I thought I should report back after my visit.

The conference was incredibly interesting, so I spent most of my time there and in my hotel room preparing for the next days. I did have a little bit of time to walk around and hunt for food: I ate at three different places in addition to the conference, which also had something half-decent vegan on two of the days.

Lite/Dark (Zeedijk): A vegetarian cafe with several nice vegan options. I had a hummus wrap and a brownie. The wrap had a lot of nice, fresh vegetables. The brownie was small, but good. The staff, a total of one person, seemed a bit overwhelmed or overworked, and with a slight sniffle, but she was polite and helpful. The other clientèle while I was there consisted partly of two young (and a bit weird) German girls who took forever to place their order. Anyway, I will recommend this place if you're in the area around lunch time and looking for something vegan.

Maoz Falafel (Damrak): Crap service, crap food, crap everything. It is a fast-food place, but still. Not recommended.

TerraZen Centre: A bit on the alternative side, but well worth a visit. I had a vegan Jamaican fusion food dish and some spring rolls. Very nice food, and relatively generous serving size. The staff was a little weird, but nice enough. The other clientèle was also a bit weird. (I myself am completely normal, of course )

The city in general:
The geography of the city was incredibly confusing, with streets and side-streets going in all directions, and with difficult names on top of that. It didn't help that once I finally found my hotel, they had had a leak in my room, so I was sent to another hotel which I also had trouble locating at first. I was dead tired when I got there the first night. BTW, I was surprised to hear several other Norwegians talking in the streets.