Febo is a must for any Amsterdam visitor.

For those who are unaware of what it is, it looks like a huge, walk in vending machine.

You put your Euro coin in the slot of the food you choose and then you can open the flap and consume whatever treasure lies behind the plastic.

For the uninitiated, the Dutch view food solely as a chemical process required to replenish energy. There is no Fewnch, Italian or Spanish ceremony or panache with eating in Holland. As a result, all Dutch food looks exactly like what it is. This is meat, cheese or fish (or a combination of the foregoing), covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried. In Febo, the food item is left to sweat on a plastic shelf, under a hot lamp, until a purchaser places the Euro in the slot,

As a younger man, when on visits to Amsterdam to Trance Buddha or the Grasshopper, we would play 'Febo roulette', whereby each of us would buy a mystery croquette and consume. Some croquettes have a filling that looks like dog s***, others a half frozen fish stick. The delight of the mystery takes an interesting spin when you are ripped to the tits on the wide variety of refreshments available to you in the port city.

Enjoy Febo.

"That was fun and to round off the day, I am off to steal a charity collection box and then desecrate a place of worship.” - Smokey, The Selhurst Arms, 26/02/02

i remember 2 things...

buying skuff in the rokerij coffeeshop & spending hours & shedloads of money on vinyl in fat beats record shop.

hope that helps

‘Football isn’t instant coffee. You have to work at it. You must grow the bean, grind it.’ Ian Holloway

Banana bar...real classy place

The one of off Leidseplein was a favourite of mine....we did an afternoon tour of all 4 locations one afternoon. I think.

Old, Ungifted and White

Previous replies have recommended Indonesian restaurants...

You simply can't take your missus to Amsterdam without treating her (and yourself) to the old Dutch Colonial Feast of an Indonesian Rijsttafel - which means rice table.

You get about 15 different dishes, with just a little bit in each dish (perfect for two people) which vary from, say, a Penang Meat Curry & Chicken Satay to some salted peanuts. There's always steamed rice of course.

It's just a great thing to do and you won't go away hungry no matter how fussy you are.

Prices can vary from ultra cheap with all the dishes (maybe only 10) served on one purpose built metal tray for each diner to really sw***y with individual bowls for each dish that you share. It's all good anyway.

Sorry, I haven't been there for about 10 years so I can't recommend anywhere specifically but don't miss out on this very Dutch speciality.

Especially given that the regular Dutch food is as boring, bland and tasteless as anything. Pickled herring anyone?

Edit: Can't believe this board auto-moderated the word S W A N K Y. So funny.

Edited by The_Aviator (01 Oct 2016 4.41pm)

was that one one on the corner overlooking the square in the grey area?

‘Football isn’t instant coffee. You have to work at it. You must grow the bean, grind it.’ Ian Holloway