La Fruteria @ Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal

This tiny shop is situated near the Nieuwe Kerk. It's very small so you could easily overlook it but they sell fresh waffles and you can't really miss that delicious smell. La Fruteria is one of the healthiest pitstops you can make while shopping: you can buy fresh fruit salads, fruit- or vegetable shakes and smoothies here. For those who don't want to be so healthy La Fruteria sells waffles with whipped cream and - if you like it- fresh fruit on top. Also, they sell carrot cakes and occasionally some muffins.

My personal favorite is actually the fruit salad, you can choose which fruits you want (most of the time I go for raspberries, mango, strawberry and blueberry). I could eat this every day :-)

Bettina bakt @ Van Wou

 One of the things I admire most is when people follow their dreams and make the decision to do what they have always dreamt of. Bettina bakt at van Wou straat is a good example. Bettina always wanted to have her own little shop where she could bake pies and cookies. When she was 49, she made the decision to start here own bakery and now she sells home-made organic pies and cookies at van Woustraat. And they are goooood! Besides buying cake, cookies or pie you can also buy typical German bread here (for which you pay by weight) or just go by to have a nice cup of coffee.

Check out for more info: http://www.bettinabakt.nl
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Pompoen met Speck @ Veemarkt

One of my favourite (healthy) take away/home delivery services in Amsterdam. Pompoen met Speck cooks delicious organic meals - a lot of vegetarian meals as well! - for a very reasonable price. You can order several kinds of typical Dutch 'stamppot', but also soups salads, dishes with meat or fish and desserts. My personal favourites are their beetroot salad (3,95; three different kinds of beetroot, feta and mint) and their spinach/turnip tops soup (2,95).

Also pretty nice: they have a EK menu which is totally orange: carrot soup, a salad with carrots, pistache nuts and raisins and carrot 'stamppot'. Carrots seem to be very good for you eyes so you won't miss a single pass when you eat this ;)

Check out their website for more info on  the menu, delivering hours & prices: http://www.pompoenmetspeck.com/

Cup à la Cake @ Westermarkt

Two words: Cupcake heaven! This little shop at Westermarkt sells all kinds of cupcakes you can think of. Besides, Cup à la Cake sells cake pops (see pictures above) which do not only taste great ut are also beautiful. Even if you do not like cupcakes you should just go and have a look in this store because all the colours will make you instantly happy :-) My personal favourites are by the way not the cupcakes but the macarons, they sell them in 9 different flavours.

Cup a la cake shares its shop with De Osdorper, which sells delicious sandwiches. So if you brought your boyfriend (who probably doesn't want to be found dead with a cupcake) you can safely let him order a sandwhich while you go crazy on the cupcakes. Enjoy!

For more info on opening hours, click here

For an overview of De Osdorpers'sandwhiches click here

                                  

La Vallade @ Ringdijk

   

This place is one of the cutest restaurants I've ever been to. Well hidden at Ringdijk, at the border of Oost and Watergraafsmeer, you will find this little French restaurant. There's no à la carte menu, you can just choose between the five course menu (34,50) or for their 'plat du jour (17,50). The food is delicious and they have a small sunny terrace in the summer. On mondays, La Vallade serves a vegetarian menu. When you sit here you just forget for a moment that you are in Amsterdam, since it really has the atmosphere of a petit restaurant of a French village.

For more info on opening hours, check out their website

Pllek @ NDSM-werf

Another new hotspot in Amsterdam Noord! Today, Pllek only has a outside bar and a big terrace alongside the IJ, but there are big plans for this lovely place at NDSM-werf.

Pllek is going the be a very versatile spot where litterally everyone can do what he likes to do. In August, Pllek opens a biological restaurant and a theater (very promising: IDFA and Melkweg take care of the programming!). Besides that, Pllek will also provide working spaces for freelancers, chill out areas, art exhibitions, movies, music and parties. Sounds just amazing :-)

The building is made out of old sea containers and also the interior will be filled with second hand furniture. The food in the restaurant is going to be biological and for a great deal also vegetarian/raw food. So you don't ever have to feel guilty for enjoying yourself here, everything is green, healthy, fair & sustainable here!

Planning is to open its doors seven days a week so you can come by as early as breakfast starts and stay until 00.00 (or till 03.00 during the weekend!) if you like. For now we will have to be a bit more patient, but I am really looking forward to hang out here. I already love Amsterdam Noord and especially NDSM-Werf, but I am sure Pllek will make it even better. Looking forward to August!

EYE Amsterdam @ IJpromenade

                         Photo: Henk Meijer via his blog Places of the World
Eye has only opened its door for a few weeks now but this spot is already really really popular. Eye is the new film museum, replacing the old one at Vondelpark. Besides being a museum, Eye also has a 4 hall cinema, one of the best terraces of Amsterdam and a lovely restaurant with the same beautiful IJview as the terrace.

I visited Eye last Friday to see the movie 'Moonrise Kingdom'. I was already planning to go here for a few weeks and I really have to say that I am impressed. At first when Eye was being built, I didn't like it's modern white building with it's diamond shape at all. But I have to admit that it has turned out to be wonderful! The moment you walk into the restaurant you are actually stunned by the beautiful 180 degree view over the water and by the modern design. The restaurant has been built up in layers and for each layer tables stand a bit higher than the one below. Also, there are wooden stairs in the middle where you can sit down on and have a drink. It's really nice, in this way everybody has a great view on the water. I went to the movies with my sister somewhere around 8 p.m and when we came out of the cinema we could just see the sun set. And even though Amsterdam North in general is still not very popular, when we left at 00.30 there were still a lot of people drinking, chatting & laughing as if it were a normal cafe.

Eye has a huge sunny outside terrace along the water as well, which I want to go check out soon.
I think Amsterdam North has a new hot spot! :-) Check out the menu or movie program here