Sampling Snacks Around Amsterdam

I only had one day in Amsterdam, so my goal was to do some light sampling of foods, rather than to eat any real meals.  

Café Luxembourg
Address: Spui 24, 1012 XA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone:+31 20 620 6264

Café Luxembourg is supposed to have one of the best Croquette Balls in Amsterdam, so I stopped in to try the snack.  I must say I wasn’t too impressed with the service, as I sat down outside for a few minutes and was not served until I made my way inside to sit at one of the indoor tables instead.  Even after sitting down inside, it took quite a while before anyone came  to take my order. 

I ordered the veal croquette balls, which came with Dijon mustard.  I had high expectations as I had heard about the popularity of these croquette balls from a number of people.  In the end, I was a bit disappointed as it didn’t quite suite my tastes.  However, I’m glad I got to try them and perhaps next time I may ask for a different filling.

Magnum Pleasure Store
Address: Leidsestraat 79, Amsterdam, Netherlands

I walked past this little place on Leidsestraat a couple of times within a span of a few hours and they had a line up every time I passed it.  I decided that I would have to give it a try if all these people are lining up for it!

It was difficult to take pictures because of the small space and the number of people in line.  Basically, they provide you with some vanilla ice cream and then you need to choose a chocolate coating (white, milk or dark) and then three toppings to further coat it with.  The toppings were categorized into classics, specials, or experimentals.  The classics include fudge, caramel, oreo, the specials included some fruity flavours and the experimentals were things like rose petals and corn flower. 

The server was amazing and was explaining the whole process in an animated way. It definitely made you want to try it. 

I chose pistachio, strawberry and popping candy.  The quality of the ice cream was amazing and the toppings matched really well.

It turned out to be a fantastic choice as I had a really cool ice cream experience.  The only downside is that the store was small and although the line didn’t look terribly long, you still end up waiting for quite a while, because it takes a few minutes to serve each person.  All the stations were behind one counter and they had a maximum of 3 employees behind the counter at any one time, which meant they couldn’t serve more than 3 people at once.  Aside from the speed of the service, everything was great.

Manneken Pis
Address: Damrak 41, 1012 LK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone:+31 346 562 040

One of my very last stops on my way back to the train station was Manneken Pis.  I had heard that they are famous for having the best French fries in Amsterdam.  There was a long line and I must have waited at least 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, for me it was a huge disappointment.  I thought the fries were dry and under seasoned. Even the mayo dipping sauce didn’t help.  I had about 1/3 of the pack and then ended up throwing the rest away as I just didn’t enjoy the taste enough.  They did have many other flavours of dipping sauce, but they said that mayonnaise was the most popular.  I wish I could understand what the craze with this place is, as it just didn’t work for me.