Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EATING
Traditional Dutch food is basic and hearty, with lots of bread,
cheese, soup, and fish. Lunch and dinner are served at American
times (roughly 12:00-14:00 and 18:00-21:00).
Dutch treats include cheese, pancakes
(pannenkoeken),
and
“syrup waffles”
(stroopwafels).
Popular drinks are light, pilsner-type
beer and gin
(jenever).
Experiences you owe your tongue in Holland: Try a pick-
led herring at an outdoor herring stand, linger over coffee in a
“brown café,” sip an old
jenever
with a new friend, and consume an
Indonesian feast—a
rijsttafel.
Budget Tips:
To dine cheaply yet memorably alongside the
big spenders, grab a meal to go, then find a bench on a lively
neighborhood square or along a canal. Sandwiches
(broodjes)
of
delicious cheese on fresh bread are cheap at snack bars, delis, and
broodjes
restaurants. Ethnic restaurants serve cheap, splittable car-
ryout meals. Ethnic fast-food stands abound, offering a variety of
meats wrapped in pita bread. Easy to buy at grocery stores, yogurt
in the Netherlands (and throughout northern Europe) is delicious
and often drinkable right out of its plastic container.
Types of Eateries
Any place labeled “restaurant” will serve full, sit-down meals for
lunch or dinner. But there are other places to fill the tank.
An
eetcafé
is a simple restaurant serving basic soups, salads,
sandwiches, as well as traditional meat-and-potatoes meals in a
generally comfortable but no-nonsense setting.
A
salon de thé
serves tea and coffee, but also croissants, pastries,
and sandwiches for a light brunch, lunch, or afternoon snack.
Cafés
are all-purpose establishments, serving light meals at
mealtimes and coffee, drinks, and snacks the rest of the day and
