Coffee & tea

The beautiful & delicious cakes invite you to be obeyed.

Pompadour has a great location on the corner with the famous Spiegelstraat. It is modern and clean and quite large: a good spot for lunch with delicious lunch dishes.

They became famous thanks to their chocolates & cake. They have great éclairs and lovely apple & apricot tarts. But the famous raspberry a la neige with white chocolate is also tasteworthy.

Pompadour also has a branch in the 9 streets (Huidenstraat 12), with a romantic and Marie Antoinette style.

In between the train tracks just outside Sloterdijk station stands a beautifully renovated trolly car. This car was about to be turned into scrap metal when a persistent entrepreneur came along and, with a lot of hard work, turned the wreck into a unique lunch spot. After searching for a permanent location the trolly found its pitch at the spot mentioned above, where it is expanded with a nice terrace. This already makes it worth a visit.

But, and probable more importantly, the friendly and talkative entrepreneur serves tasty sandwiches, small salads and good coffees. If you want something refreshing, you can choose one of the smoothies (100% fruit). And there are different (tapas style) hot snacks and toasted sandwiches on the menu. Everything is prepared fresh from the pretty compact kitchen inside the tram. A lot of employees from the companies in the area know this place, but also more and more commuters swing by for a bite to eat.

The place is open for group lunches, company drinks and other events as well. Inside there’s place for twenty people, outside on the terrace for another fifty. It also hosts a couple of events itself, one of them “Trammeland“, a monthly house party (next edition: 12th of June). And on the 10th of June there’s a salsa party.

Enough reasons to check it out, I would say. Especially now the weather is getting better.

Have you ever been to a Berlin living room cafe? Vintage furniture, a bit run-down, Cafe Brecht is all about “Gemütlichkeit” – coziness, the translation is an approach at best. One of the ancestors of your German grandmother could have lived here, nothing would have changed, only time would have eroded the walls since then, and a bar and more lazy chairs would have been added.

Tea is being served in a teapot that looks like being taken right out of your grandmothers cupboard, there is freshly made cake, also a thing that you might be familiar with if you know a typical Berlin living room cafe. A selection of several German beers complete the menu.

It is very relaxed inside, time doesn’t seem to play a role, you can tell by the knitting gear that decorates the tables and invites you to just continue knitting, just like you grandmother would have done. Since its opening three years ago, Brecht became a rather popular spot – the closer the weekend the more crowded the evenings – this is the reason they gave up on the poetry readings and live performances they used to have: lack of space.

Actually what I like most about Brecht is that they sell my favorite brand of German beer – which is the original black forest beer “Tannenzäpfle”, and it’s the only place where you can get it in Amsterdam (correct me if I am wrong).

Friday Next is a lifestyle store, exposition room and café all in one, a concept which is not that common (yet) in Amsterdam. But this concept store has a great inspirational collection of design furniture, jewelry, great leather bags and more wannahaves.

The bright store feels like a very nice decorated apartment, where you will find the café in the midst of the store. Here you can enjoy a coffee or a lunch, prepared with the fresh products of Marqt next door (see the Marqt article). Given the amount of laptops I saw during the week, this spot lends itself perfectly to get some work done.

Every two to three months a designer or famous international brand is asked to expose their work here. Furthermore this store is an inspiration for everyone who likes to pimp their home with an unique item! Definitely worth a visit when you’re near the Overtoom.

Since this place is a little tucked away in a neighborhood in Oost, you could easily miss it. But you should not miss it, since this is a really cute and good brunch and lunch spot! Their motto is: stop eating shit, eat good food!

The products they use are mostly organic or honest, which you can taste. They have an extensive menu, with sandwiches served on slices of bread, fresh smoothies, soups, homemade carrot cake and my favorite chai tea’s.

Beter en Leuk means Better and Pleasant, and the atmosphere in this place is very relaxed with little benches in- and outside with comfortable pillows. Next to being a lunch spot it is also a small boutique, where you could find organic beauty essentials, clothes and gadgets. The high tea I can also recommend! And for the ladies; once in a while they offer workshops or special shopping evenings. So if you want to try something new, and you are in Oost give it a try!