Amsterdam Curated: City and Food

When it comes to Asian food, Amsterdam doesn't offer as much variety as its neighboring cities like London or Paris. For example, Korean options are very limited, and Japanese cuisine is more skewed towards ramen and sushi. For Chinese food, we are now seeing Northeastern restaurants and hot pot places starting to pop up, but there is still a lack of diversity. In terms of Southeast Asian cuisine, while Delft has some Lao and Cambodian options, Amsterdam mainly has Indian, Indonesian, and Thai restaurants, with a very limited number of Vietnamese and Malaysian establishments. One good thing about Amsterdam is that, due to the city's exponential growth, new establishments keep opening. I sometimes google terms like "Sri Lankan Amsterdam" or "Lao Amsterdam" to see if there are any new restaurants. One day, I randomly typed "Burmese Amsterdam," and to my surprise, a Burmese restaurant had just opened its doors for the first time in Amsterdam. I had be...

I have been to Bussia Panificio a few times, but I haven't explored the Joordan area in a long time, so I almost forgot about it. However, last Sunday, the weather was amazing, and as we were walking down the street towards the Pulitzer, the unmistakable orange interior of Bussia caught our attention, right before the Pulitzer Hotel. For more details, please find my YouTube below.   The striking orange interior still shone beautifully in the morning sunlight. We initially considered sitting outside, but since the sun hadn't yet warmed the ground and it was still chilly, we opted to stay indoors after checking the temperature. Additionally, I've noticed that whenever I sit outdoors in the Joordan area, the sidewalk feels too narrow as well. Bussia's distinctive interior remained unchanged. Managed by the Burro group, the establishment is divided into two sections: the Panificio area, meaning bakery in Italian, and the traditional restaurant area. ...

One day at the office, we were discussing the best Indian restaurants. I received several recommendations about a particular place. I searched for it on Google and found numerous ads on Google Maps, making it easy to locate. However, booking a table proved to be impossible. They were fully booked for the entire weekend. After multiple attempts, I managed to get through via phone, but only after calling six times. Eventually, they informed me that they could arrange a bar area for my group. Consequently, we secured a spot at the bar for Friday evening. For further details, please refer to the YouTube video below. The place is situated near the De Pijp area and offers a few outdoor seating options. During my phone conversation with them, they mentioned that they could arrange outdoor seating if the weather was pleasant. However, we opted for indoor seating since the weather was still quite chilly. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that outdoor seating is available. When eve...

  One day, my Dutch friend told me about a new and interesting Italian Gelato place that had just opened up right next to Da Michele pizzeria in De Pijp. De Pijp has been the area that Massimo Gelato has dominated for years, but interestingly, they opened up a gelato place just a few blocks away. For more details, please find my YouTube video below. Casa Infante was initially opened in 1940 in Naples by Leopoldo Infante, the namesake of the establishment. Expanding from Naples to Milan, they subsequently opened a branch in Amsterdam. From the exterior, it resembles more of a high-end pastry shop than a traditional gelateria. Situated adjacent to Da Michele Pizzeria and across from the actual pastry shop, My Little Patisserie, it gives off more of a patisserie vibe than its neighboring counterpart when viewed solely through the showcase window. When looking at the pastries, they filled the shelves with popular items from all over the world. Of course, there were macarons, maritozzi,...

  Almost simultaneously, several people recommended a place to me: Fuku Ramen. They mentioned that despite not being run by a Japanese person, the quality of the ramen exceeded expectations, surpassing that of any other ramen joint in Amsterdam. Intrigued by these reviews, I decided to visit. However, I hadn't anticipated that the rain would begin to fall just as I joined the queue. I hadn't expected the rain, and to add to it, the line moved at a snail's pace. Now, while the information has been corrected, it wasn't entirely clear whether they accepted reservations for the weekend or not. Several of us in line assumed it was walk-in only for the weekend, but it turned out they did accept reservations. It was a bit confusing at the time. Nonetheless, after waiting about an hour in the rain, I finally secured a seat at the bar. Despite knowing the price beforehand, I was still a bit taken aback when I confirmed it: a bowl of ramen priced at over 20 Euros. There were two ...

This is a funny story, but I hadn't used a key for several decades. One of the big culture shocks after arriving in Amsterdam was encountering keys for doors and gates. In Asia, we typically use a number pad or fingerprint recognition to enter houses. When my family visited, everybody was confused, and on the last day, a big event occurred. The door was locked with the key inside. I called a locksmith, but he was fully booked, so I had to stay at my friend's place and went to breakfast with him. We first attempted to go to a Moroccan breakfast place, which I had randomly received a recommendation for from a Moroccan Uber driver. However, it was closed for the day. So, we swiftly opted for another place with very favorable Google reviews.  As you can discern from the menu, the prices for the all-day breakfast were not typical of Amsterdam, although the pictures on the Google reviews appeared quite enticing. Sweet French Toast 10.5€ We ordered Sweet French Toast and t...