How to spend a perfect day in Amsterdam

Like all great cities, Amsterdam makes you work for its best bits. Step away from the tulips, canals and coffee shops, walk off piste for a while, and you’ll discover innovative restaurants, quirky arts spaces and cocktail bars set away from the populous main streets.

Getting to Amsterdam

A perfect day is, of course, subjective, but for me the centre of a perfect day – the thing that’s going to determine whether or not perfection is achieved – is food. Our first experience of this came on the four-hour first class Eurostar trip from Kings Cross, where we cracked open the champagne fairly early on and stretched out to watch the changing rural landscapes of four different nations go zipping by at 300 kilometres per hour.

The staff on board were incredibly friendly, giving us recommendations for when we arrived, bringing us pastries and charcuterie boards, and keeping our flutes topped up for the duration of the trip. Train travel is enjoying a bit of a renaissance at the moment, and after four hours spent in comfort, warmth and style en route to Amsterdam, with excellent food created in collaboration with Raymond Blanc, it’s not hard to see why.

How to spend the morning in Amsterdam

We arrived at around 11am, the hysterical effects of the early morning fizz mercifully beginning to wear off. A 15 minute cab journey from the wonderfully Gothic Grand Centraal Station took us to our hotel in De Pijp, which is pronounced De Pipe and is, I was reliably informed, the Shoreditch of Amsterdam. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but what I can say is that it’s a neighbourhood with a distinctly bohemian feel, where spin studios neighbour middle eastern restaurants and wood panelled bars filled with impossibly good looking Dutch people throw nightly jamborees that spill out onto the street.

Spend a bit of time exploring, take the back streets and amble roughly in the direction of Noordermarkt keeping an eye out for little hidden parks and tiny cafes that look like residents’ flats. In around 40 minutes you’ll find yourself in the vicinity of Amsterdam bakery institution Winkel 43, where waiters patiently ask for your order but with the wry smile of someone who already knows what you’re going to say. Because they do. People go to Winkel 43 for one reason: the apple pies. Like Lisbon’s Pastéis de Belém, Winkel 43 has focused its efforts on perfecting one pastry, turning the humble apple pie into a nationally renowned baked commodity for which locals and visitors will happily queue out the door. And the pies live up to the hype, as do the picturesque surrounding cobbled square by the canal and lively atmosphere.

How to spend the afternoon in Amsterdam

If you’re looking to up the step count following that towering pie, your logical next stop is Europe’s largest flea market, IJ-Hallen. From Noordermarkt, walk to Pontsteiger and hop on the free NDSM ferry over the river to Buiksloterham, where you’ll be greeted by corrugated iron warehouses, large colourful murals and industrial parks. Six minutes’s walk from the dock is the understated entrance to IJ-Hallen. Be sure to bring cash, because the only nearby cashpoint will have you queuing for half an hour at least and there won’t even be an apple pie at the end of it.

Once through the gate you’ll find yourself in an overwhelming, seemingly infinite world of stalls selling everything from bone china, musical instruments and dolls to designer fashion, furniture and antique glassware. It makes for an exhausting, fascinating glimpse of real Amsterdam, and while you could easily spend three days there and only make it half way round, we had late lunch reservations at a very exciting restaurant on the other side of town. Amsterdam is the perfect city for walking, but running late and in need of a sit down, we took the ferry back over the river and an Uber to the 17th-century historic gardens of Frankendael Park in the east of the city.

Set back from the entrance to this grand park is Restaurant De Kas, a large garden conservatory serving Mediterranean cuisine, the ingredients for which – or at least 70% of them – are picked from the surrounding grounds each morning. As a result the menu changes on a weekly basis. What remains constant, however, is the beautiful light filled main dining room, where we were seated and treated to some seriously good food paired with some excellent wines. We started with a tapioca crisp with celery aioli and a smoked leek and potato chilled soup topped with potato fries.

This was followed by a delicious radish from the garden served with a poppy seed crumble – small but unforgettable. Next, a fresh oyster with violet vinegar and Bloody Mary vinaigrette, and for the main event, cime di rapa, burrata, fennel tops, sourdough croutons and parsley sauce. These dishes made use of nasturtium leaves, kohlrabi, trout eggs and homemade horseradish, and everything had that lovely clean, gardeny taste you can only get from freshly picked ingredients. I could easily write the whole piece about this place, but in summary, if you go to Amsterdam, go to De Kas.

How to spend the evening in Amsterdam

Back in De Pijp it was time to start slowly getting ready for the evening ahead. For dinner we had reservations at Jansz., the restaurant attached to the Pulitzer Hotel and an establishment that has become famous among foodies for its simple-but-insanely-delicious fare. As a warm up, we swung by super trendy cocktail bar, Super Lyan, which is a 15 minute stroll from Jansz in the city centre.

If the name Super Lyan rings a bell, that’s because it’s one of four mega cool Lyan bars opened by cocktail guru Ryan Chetiyawardana, AKA Mr Lyan. The Super is London-based Chetiyawardana’s first international venue and it’s as stylish and effortlessly chic as befits the city. Dominated by a large circular central bar, the Super is all pink neon lights, marble topped tables and red leather sofas, with a list of cocktails that takes an innovative approach to the timeless classics.

The negroni for example uses celery infused gin to give it a lively, tangy kick. The old fashioned involves melted beeswax to keep it smooth and smoky. Complementing the punchy cocktails is a relaxed atmosphere which oscillates every so often between Studio 54 and pre-karaoke booze-up, with snappily-dressed young couples whispering to each other across from small groups of friends nailing shots. Everyone having a good time, everyone incredibly welcoming and friendly – Super Lyan has hit the sweet spot as a place anyone can enjoy for a whole evening or, as in our case, call into for a couple of pre-dinner sharpeners.

Enjoy dinner at Jansz

Merry as a pair of crickets, we made our way to Jansz for the closing act. The interiors really are outstanding at Jansz, with gorgeous wood panelled walls hung with grand portraits of stern looking characters, a bar area looking into the open kitchen with copper lamps, pots and pans, and large windows looking out onto Reestraat. The whole place glows with a golden charm that wraps you up the minute you walk in.

We kicked off with tuna tartare with a creamy avocado puree, which was a melt in the mouth buttery dream. This was followed by a to-die-for lobster risotto with pumpkin and pistachio. A real show-stopper this one, with a generous chunk of lobster served on the risotto bed in which lay lots of other smaller chunks of lobster. A sucker for anything truffle related, my girlfriend went for the orecchiette with truffle, mushroom, parmesan and pine nuts and kindly allowed me a small taste. It was sensational, and not for the first time that day I found myself longing for a bovine second stomach.

With just enough room in my single human stomach for dessert, I ordered up the crème brûlée. The perfect end to the perfect dinner, which in itself was the perfect end to the perfect day. Well, nearly the end. After a great conversation with our waiter with lots of thanks and compliments to the chefs, we made our way home via The Hoxton, where we had espresso martinis and took some bleary-eyed photos in their photo booth, which has become a bit of a tradition whenever we’re in, or in fact anywhere near, one of the Hoxtons.

We spent three more days exploring the bars, brunch spots and cultural attractions of the colourful Dutch capital, and while they were all brilliant, with this particular day I can happily and maybe even a little smugly say we achieved perfection.