Cafe De Pels — Restaurant in Amsterdam

I totally recommend this Café, it was great! We rested there yesterday for a break after walking through Amsterdam for hours. The Café looked really nice from the outside, especially the vintage design catched my eye! Food and Drinks: We had a Cappuccino and a pot of tea to gain new power for walking on ;) Both was great. You don't just get a half-full cup of water with a tea bag, like in the other Cafe's where I went, but you get a small pot and a mug, and the pot is enough to refill your mug for about 3 times. And also, the tea leaves looked very nice and tasted even better. The Cappuccino also had a great size and taste. We didn't ordered food but what we saw on the other tables looked great. And it was a really big menu, from just some olives or cashews up to sandwiches and soups. Ambience: Like I wrote above, classic Bar / Café Vintage Style. Totally adorable. And the toilet - signs were kinda funny though ;) And it was clean. Service: When we were there, three men worked there, all very friendly and open to talk. Prices: Completely unexpected! Both, Cappuccino and Tea were 3€. But for the size of the drinks, that was definitely not expensive at all! Also, the food didn't seemed to be expensive either. To put in in a nutshell: Great Café for some rest, a drink and a snack if you're tired from walking around the old town of Amsterdam and don't want to disturb the old atmosphere. I can imagine in the evening it's also a great bar to drink with friends or with strangers, since they seemed so open to communication. Go...

For almost half a century, Cafe De Pels is a favourite haunt of journalists, artists, intellectuals and locals.

Open daily from 9 till 1 am and an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays, this typical brown cafe is a favourite meeting place in the 9 streets for breakfast which is offered in Belgian, Dutch, French and Italian versions, and lunch with a variety of French bread sandwiches. There's also a varied snack menu, including seasonal home-made soup.

What differentiates this place from other cafes is its superb library of 12 national and international newspapers and 8 quality magazines including: De Standaard, The New York Times, El Pais, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, de Volkskrant, Het Parool, NRC Handelsblad, NRC Next, Trouw, De Telegraaf, Financieel Dagblad, The New Yorker, L’OBS, Humo, The Economist, Der Spiegel, De Groene Amsterdammer, Vrij Nederland and Donald Duck.

Such is their collection of publications, Cafe de Pels offers a reward of 50 Euros worth of exquisite chocolates from the renowned Pompadour tea room and confectionery to anyone who knows of any other cafe, anywhere in the world, which has more quality newspapers and magazines per square meter than they do. (De Pels has one for every 2 square metres).

The walls are decorated with a great selection of artwork. At the front in a small outside terrace where the comings and goings of this busy little street can be viewed.

The cafe has a nice selection of beers and drinks and a really decent...

I lived in Amsterdam for a year and one of my biggest regrets is not finding this place sooner. I struggle to narrow my reasons for loving it; it is perfect for many things. Whether that should be catching up with friends, or the news of the world - many international newspapers are available - or if you simply want to be alone and undisturbed whilst reading a book or reflecting on life over a beverage and/or some really tasty traditional dutch food! I found Cafe de Pels to be irregular in Amsterdam in that whilst only being a short distance from the city centre it provided a space to escape the bustle that exists there. The staff are amazing! They are polite, professional, and both interesting and interested. I love a story, and Cafe de Pels is full of them; from the artwork on the wall to the history of the bar (including the dog on its logo). Feel free to ask the staff when you visit!

In Cafe de Pels you are more than a customer, you are a guest! I really recommend visiting it. It will always be a staple of any future visit I make to this beautiful city. For now however, I look to the beer mat that hangs on my wall and remember the times I...