Noord Rotterdam – All our local tips

In a traffic busy street in the Old North and near the historic Zwaanshalsstreet, you can find 3xS. The 3 S’s used to stand for the 3 owners but now it’s only Sebastian who runs the place.

He still offers a combined shopping formula in his store: not only shop for clothes, you can visit the art gallery and get your make up done in one go if you wish!

His aim is to distinguish himself from other stores by offering a selection of new brands, vintage clothing, shoes and accessories. (Yet) unknown and new brands by upcoming designers and their own designs are also on sale. Fashionable urban/Street style is the look and choice of clothing you can find here.

Like to customize your chosen piece of garment on the spot? A sewing machine is standby for any small alterations necessary done by the capable hands of Sebastian.

Both art and clothes collections change from time to time.

I like the combination of the whole shop with an array of furniture and lamps giving the interior a cosy look. New finds of furniture are done in a secret place and resold for reasonable prices.

Find Sebastian this Saturday March 6 at the Westelijk Handels Terrein (check the Westelijk Handels Terrein article) where he and his partners will be participating during the Museumnacht (check the Museumnacht article) in Rotterdam. In the space of “Make a Move” Sebastian and Fee Arnold will present old coats in a new design from 20:00 till 01:00.

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3XS/Fashion, Beauty and Art | Art & culture, Shopping | From € 5.00
Zaagmolenstraat 22 | Noord | +31104656275
Tue – Thu 11:00 – 18:00, Fri 12:00 – 21:00, Sat 11:00 – 17:00

One of the benefits besides getting to know the city by wandering around the Oude Noorden area, is accidentally bumping into interesting shops like Chez Maria. The location Pijnackerplein(square) serves as a nice backdrop with old houses and a ‘music tent’ adding extra flair to the area. It’s no wonder to find Chez Maria here blending so well with the surrounding. Versatile person Maria (Ria) la Rivière started this shop as a way for relaxation. Bearing the (multicutural)locals in mind, she keeps her items affordable for any budget.

With a passion for styling and clothes and hating to throw away good articles, Maria adds new fabrics to customize the selected second hand clothing into new and unique pieces. Her manner of restyling clothes this way, got her a big network of customers who knows where to find Maria and asking her to redo their clothes as well. Locals and people from far and wide visit Maria for her advise and clothing or interior styling tips. Maria’s motto “Second Chance” counts for both clothing and furniture.

Apart from clothes, there’s art from local artists, (mosaic) furniture, fashion magazines from the eighties, shoes, romantic crockery, books and more.
By adding all these items into the shop with a keen sense for interior styling, it has a really nice welcoming vibe and it’s a cosy place to visit and linger around.
The cute little studio in the back of the garden is reserved for those interested in taking sewing classes.

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Chez Maria | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Shopping | from € 7.50
Pijnackerplein 6-B | Noord
Wed – Sat 12:00 – 17:30

Since November on Friday, Saturday and Sunday creative mother Eleanora and daughter Anastasia open the doors to Lof der Zoetheid.

An AMAZING un-Rotterdam place for breakfast, lunch and sweet things.

They are located at Noordplein 1, next to Kookpunt ~ the shop where you can buy everything for the kitchen.

Some may know Lof der Zoetheid by their original delicious catering, others maybe by their amazing presentation at Kunsthal Kookt. But for those who don’t know them yet, go and experience it! Great hospitality, everything is either home made or purchased at the best places in town.

Eleanora bakes the cakes, pies, sweets and bread. Anastasia the rest. If you doubt what to choose from the menu and you are with two, they offer you a tasting with the soup of the day, different home baked bread, cheeses, cold cuts and side kicks like pumpkin marmelade, onion-cherry – and tomato chili jam and more for only €9,50 a person. Pie with salad, Soup of the day with bread, Beef stew with Leffe and bread. For those who love sweets, try their home made chocolate or their famous cheese cake. Every detail is special at Lof der Zoetheid, the record player, the crockery with Anastasia’s designs, the high tea in a box ~ a great present, the old school furniture, the open kitchen, the special teas.

Be warned!

If you go once and let them spoil you with DELICIOUS food and GREAT coffee, tea, freshly made hot chocolate or home made lemonade and ice tea, you’ll end up finding excuses to go there every weekend.

All I hope for is they open more days in the week;)

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Lof der Zoetheid | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Sweet)
Noordplein 1 | Noord | +31102650070
Fri – Sat 10:00 – 17:30, Sun 10:00 – 17:00

Through one of my projects (for housing corporation PWS) I was involved designing a bike route in the old north part of town and I am allowed to publish it here what makes Spotted by Locals got the primeur.

Old North is known as a lively dynamic neighbourhood, with old characteristic houses, cosy squares, small cultural initiatives and a wide range of shops, bars and restaurants.

If you are interested in architecture and city development or like to see the city from a different angle then rent a bike at Use-IT (Schaatsbaan 41-45) and go for it.

Take a map and draw the route or feel free to contact me. If I have time I can give you a tour or can sent you some background information on what you will meet on this route.

Start at Central Station > Weena > Teilingerstraat > Vijverhofstraat (Hofbogen and Vrouwe Groehnevelt’s Liefdesgesticht) > Eudokiaplein (Station Bergweg) > Noordsingel – South > cross bridge (Teilingestraat) to Noordsingel – North > continue on your right hand you’ll find the jail > Burgemeester Roosstraat > Zwart Jansstraat (shops) > Bergweg > Gerard Scholtenstraat (look for coloured houses) > Bloklandstraat (Schoonoord garden) > Benthuizerstraat.

Coffee break at Nika, corner Zaagmolenstraat.

Pijnackerplein > 1e Pijnackerstraat (120B Branco restaurant and opposite shop), Gerard Scholtenstraat (37B Mevrouw Meijer restaurant, one of my favourites), (look for Renia’s name at Brancoplein;) > Woelwijkstraat (typical ‘70/’80 renovated houses) > Zwaanshals (go North direction) > Wolstraat > Loofdakstraat > Zwaanshalskade (good view on Crooswijk) > Zaagmolenkade (check out Rotabs!) > Woelwijkstraat > Zwaanshals (go South direction towards Kookpunt shop).

Lunchbreak or coffee at Lof der Zoetheid (check the Lof der Zoetheid article) at Noordplein 1.

Heer Bokelweg > Hofdijk (nickname Small Volendam) > Katshoek (Hofbogen) > Teilingerstraat/Zomerhofkwartier > direction Central Station.

Let me know if it was interesting.

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Old North bike tour | Art & culture, Relaxing
Do it yourself anytime | Noord
24 hours daily

Squeezed between three waters; the Noordsingel from 1862, the river Rotte and the Noorderkanaal, there are two small areas in the northern part close to the centre. Locals tend to gather them both under Het Oude Noorden (the Old North).
Despite a certain reputation and called a ‘hotspot’ (not a good thing here), I have lived many happy years in this buzzing multicultural area which is definately worth a visit.

A little historical introduction:
The Old North used to belong to a ‘manor’ till the 19th century. The ‘manor’ has a special Dutch name which is ‘ambachtsheerlijkheid’. This means that either some nobility or a city has ownership of a certain territory. This doesn’t mean though that they ‘own’ the land, they have only certain rights. It’s a leftover of the feudal system and a way to govern a piece of land.

Historic streets like Zwaanshals already got mentioned in the 16th century and was known as both a small area and the name of a house (Swaenshals). Two typical houses are turned into a museum where you can have a glimpse of the past.

The Liskwartier (quarter) name comes from Lischwater. What’s left is a small pond nearby. This area has grand houses, lanes and broad streets with the monumental Bergsingel church. Stately Rodenrijselaan, Bergselaan and Bergsingel are just a few streets to wander around for the architecture and the atmosphere. There was a substantial Jewish community here, most of which didn’t survive the concentration camps during WWII. Find the shelter/bunker on the Schiebroekselaan.

Walk around and get surprised

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Oude Noorden/Liskwartierquarters | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Jacob Catsstr.23 | Noord | +31104669383
Museum Wed 12:30 – 17:00 and by appointment

Tucked away between a block of houses located in between the Zwaanshals and the river Rotte, you can see this interestingly shaped building.
It was empty for some time after having served as a building for the municipal sanitation service Roteb. Hence the name Rotabs.

Luckily this place was included in the renovation plans to spruce up the entire block which is still in progress. The building is now turned into a creative warehouse where entrepreneurs of diverse disciplines have put up small businesses.

The interior inside is divided into several units which have tenants like a photographer, a publisher, a goldsmith, a cafe, a gallery and others. There are some units left waiting for other daring adventurers.

Initiator Paul Posse is active in the neighbourhood and hopes to create an area like a Camden Town in the Oude Noorden. As Rotabs can be pretty hard to find for even the locals, a special bus service is in the making to transport anyone interested to visit this part of the town where much is waiting to be discovered.
This circle bus will drive between city centre and the Old North to hop off and on if you’re done strolling about.

Want to find it yourself? Just walk into the Zwaanshals where there’s an entrance through a building leading you to Rotabs. Or do the upcoming Route du Nord weekend (24 -27 Sep) as an introduction to this area and it’s creative spots, artists and variety of shops.

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ROTABS Stylecenter | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Festivals & events, Music, Shopping
Zaagmolenkade 46 | Noord | +31653623230
Wed – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 10:00 -17:00

Unbeknownst from each other both artists Sandra Breuer and Marcel Niehoff have a peculiar taste and broad flavour for furniture and stuff made in the ’50s to the ’80s of last century. They found a lot of things over the years and their collection grew big time.

One day they bumped into each other in the Old North and found out they both collected the same things. As well as sharing the habit of ringing people’s doorbells when they see something interesting hanging from the ceiling or on the wall while passing by.

Sandra and Marcel decided to find a studio together and partially decorated it with some furniture for extra atmosphere. Visitors were interested to buy what they saw there. This encouraged them to start a real store with enough room to display their enormous and varied collection of furniture, lamps, ceramics and anything that catches their eye.

Their first shop was located in the Zwaanshals but they had to move out due to renovation work on the building. Moving out across the street not only gave them more space for their extensive collection, they hope to keep this space when it’s time to move back to the original location.

The shop is inviting to snoop around and perhaps you’ll find that missing piece of chair, couch or lamp you’ve been looking for. Have a chat while there’s music coming from a turntable and either one of them is maybe busy repairing an item.

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SPAM | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Shopping | from € 10.00
Zaagmolendrift 53 | Noord | +31642437036
Wed – Sat 11:00 – 17:00