Bars

The last corner of the Meent and the marktplaats now finally has some potential. Van Zanten has opened her doors last summer and I like it. It’s a nice little cafe/lunch place during the day and turns into a restaurant/bar at night.

Their food is good and not as predictable as in most places (so not just your standard steak and fries). Van Zanten has lots of salads to choose from and asparagus (white) when they’re in season. They also have a lot of sandwiches to choose from, which makes it a great place for lunch.

Van Zanten is getting quite the attention now. It attracts a different crowd than Café Pol (check out the article) or the other two pubs on the corners. A lot more down to earth people.

This bar is turning into a great success!

One of my favorite bars in Rotterdam is definitely ‘Stalles’.

The location and its terrace is ideal for some good people watching. The different type of visitors to this place is also the reason I like it so much, a nice mixture of all kind of people. One thing they all have in common is that they’re relaxed.

Next to Stalles is ‘Parket’, which is the same kind of place. In fact only one wall separates the two places from being one. They share owner, staff and bathrooms. ‘Stalles’ and ‘Parket’ are known as pubs, but the menu here is quite good and gets regular up-dates. Monday and Tuesdays are pizza night. From 15:00 pizza’s cost between € 4.50 and € 6.50.

If you stay long enough during the weekend you can walk straight into Club Vibes (check the Club Vibes article), yaay!

Exciting, if you have a RotterdamPas, you get 20% discount on the bittergarnituur!!!

In this small pub you can find all kinds of people, a reason for me to go there. The vibe is just really nice, even though it can be very crowded inside. This pub is open till late, so you might see the sun come up when you were just going to have one drink!

Since smoking isn’t allowed inside anymore, De Witte Aap has built a permanent terrace with heaters on the pavement right in front of the pub. A very smart thing to do I think. Smokers happy, the pub is extended and it always looks as if there are lots of people there.

Every month the pub offers an artist to show his or her art here. So you could come home a bit drunk and an art collector.

The Lonely Planet has voted ‘De Witte Aap’ the best pub in the world in 2010. Lets see what they do the coming years…

Level is situated in the trendy area around the Meent and this describes the place a bit as well. It’s decked out very hip and lots of people come here to be seen. All the others come for the cocktails, especially the “Porn star”. I’m not the biggest cocktail drinker, but even I like some of the ones they make here.

I like Level because it’s a nice and a bit different hang out near my house. I don’t have to go far to have a night out.

Before 21:00 when the place turns into a crowded cocktail bar, Level is a restaurant. They have nice food and the way serve that food is very pretty, but that’s also what you pay for! Their chocolate dessert for chocolate lovers is to die for though!

The first rays of sunlight came out, sping has begun and so it’s off to the terrace!

Right next to the lake in ‘Het Kralingsche bos’ (check the Kralingsche bos article) is ‘De Tuin’, as people in Rotterdam call this restaurant/lunch-place/bar. This is the place I go to after a walk around the lake with my friend to have a cup of tea and eat back the calories we might have burned while walking by ordering a bittergarnituur (small deep fried snacks). My friends and I have done some thorough research and ‘De Tuin’ has definitely got best combination of ‘bittergarnituur’. So going to this place just for that is worth it.

But if you’re looking for a place to enjoy the green that Rotterdam has to offer, look no further. From the terrace there’s a great view of the skyline of the city. Plus this is a good place to enjoy the sun, although you will find that a lot of people like this place for just that reason.

Not to long ago they renovated ‘De Tuin’, which made it look trendier, but also drove the prices a bit up. Still it’s worth going to.