Amsterdam: Clean Wholesome Fun

If you somehow didn’t know, the Dutch are the kings of fried food. Therefore, no visit to Amsterdam would be complete without some “patat friet”. We stopped at Vleminckx, a popular french fry shop in the heart of the tourist area of the city. We asked for their most popular sauce, and we definitely weren’t disappointed.

When we were in Belgium, we also got their famous fries, but they weren’t anything crazy. These ones, however, were some of the best fries we’ve ever had; and we’re American so we know a thing or two. Yes, it’s, tourist-y but what are we if not tourists? We recommend you try out some delicious fries and walk around this beautiful area. 

Next up, perhaps the most famous Dutch foods of all, stroopwafels. These delicious circles are thin wafer-like waffles with a light spread of syrup in the center. We went to Van Wonderen, one of the most popular shops for tourists. The line was surprisingly long, as we waited for the bakers to slowly, and with much effort, make our simple dessert. But in the end, it was just as delicious as expected, so we weren’t complaining. To be honest, it’s overpriced, but that’s what we were there for, and it did a fine job filling our stomachs.

To be honest, neither of us likes beer that much, we only enjoy it with friends a few times a year. So when we learned one of the biggest attractions in the city was the Heineken Experience, we were very hesitant. Thankfully, we did not regret our decision. As you will soon see, despite it’s overt tourist appeal, it ended up being one of our favorite things on our trip to Europe.

Heineken is one of the most popular beers in the world, but we had never tried it. The experience lasts a few hours, and walks you through the early history of the company and beer brewing in the Netherlands. They also have several elaborately decorated rooms showing the process of brewing. There are many opportunities for interaction, from talking with employees, minigames, a custom bottle designing station, and a decently impressive simulation with multiple rooms.

There are many important museums in the Netherlands, from the Van Gogh Museum and the National Museum. However, we had been in Europe for several weeks and visited many large museums. We were getting very worn out on traditional art and wanted a change of pace, so we checked out Moco Museum, which is a modern art collective. This museum features many interactive artworks and provocative installations. It’s quite small, but if you’re interested in conceptual modern art, this is likely to have some pieces that intrigue you.

Overall, our impression was mixed. There were a few really interesting artworks and lots of interactive areas. But there were also a lot of less impressive pieces, such as an NFT section with very… interesting 3d NFT artwork. Even back in 2023 when we visited, we weren’t impressed, and several years later it’s held up even worse. Also, while we really enjoyed the interactive elements, we had some quite rude interactions with the staff members, that had our ending experience feeling sour. It was a unique experience, but not one we would revisit.

One of the other popular treats from the Netherlands is poffertjes. These are small little pancake-like treats, usually dusted with powdered sugar and served with syrup or fruit. In an effort to try as much Dutch food as possible, we decided to order some. They were pretty tasty, but exactly what you’d expect sweet bread with butter and syrup to taste like. We also ordered nachos, which isn’t Dutch food, however as in the rest of Europe we found the food here very simple, and wanted a bit more spice.