Amsterdam-Noord is currently making an advance on the culinary map. Where I was previously enthusiastic about the delicious food at Café Modern (Meidoornweg 2) and the amazing kimcheese sandwiches from Bakkerij Ex (Waddenweg 8), I recently went on a food safari in this slightly underrated part of Amsterdam.
The tour starts at Chocola La Land (Spreeuwenpark 4) where the passionate Malou Dronkers roasts cocoa beans every day and uses a time-consuming process to turn them into bizarrely good chocolate. The chocolate is converted into bonbons, bars and a very special hot (chocolate) drink that is tastier and above all healthier than espresso.
2nd stop on the tour is at kombucha bar deLighthouse (Klaprozenweg 46) where we taste 3 amazing kombuchas (while I’m talking about Earl Grey’s kombucha, the woman jumps up hopefully) and a bizarre good brioche that actually doesn’t fit into my diet at all…
The safari continues and we enter Taqueria Coba (Schaafstraat 4). It is Friday evening so very full, but a small spot has been arranged for us at the passe so that we have a full view of the 2 men in the kitchen. There will be 3 different tacos with brisket, pork neck and veal tongue and I immediately adjust all my prejudices about dirty and greasy Mexican food. So good, as well as the tostada with ceviche of sea bass and mandarin, wow…
We continue, to Apollonia on the old Marine site, but that is in the Centrum, so we will discuss it another time… So back to Noord, and we close off at Euro Pizza (damped Hamerkanaal 79). Previously in Zaandam under the name Europa, the men came to Noord a few years ago and started making pizzas under the pressure of Covid lockdown. Very good pizzas…
The lockdown troubles are behind us, and Euro Pizza has become a mature restaurant with fantastic food. Here we successively taste a tartelette with daikon kosho, fried sesame toast with lobster, cucumber with apple and goat yogurt, and halibut tartare with a mushroom emulsion. Weirdly delicious all! We finish with stacked leaves of radicchio with beetroot, grapefruit and a horseradish emulsion, call it the cherry on the cake… (by the way, they still make some great pizzas, which you can also take with you, frozen).
There is another cherry that I almost forget and that is restaurant Metro (Asterweg 22), where I was a week earlier. Super cool restaurant, with many tables and a long concrete bar. The start is great and varied, with 6 different snacks, followed by a choice of 2 starters and 2 main courses. I like it, not too much choice, as long as it’s tasty and that’s alright here!
Amsterdam Noord, with a capital letter. Take the plunge and go discover it. It is worth it.
