De Beiaard

August 27, 2008
@ Spui: Almost always crowded with tourists, but it’s a nice place to stop by for one of their decent housebrews or another beer from their fine selection of draught beers. Food is OK but a bit pricy. Small terrace at the patio, always packed in summertime. Inside lots of wood, quite bright. Can get really hot inside, staff is a bit grumpy at times. @ Marie-Heinekenplein: Very big terrace, nice seats, always in the sun, but place enough to hide in the shade. Same food and beer selection as @ Spui. Inside is spacious, but always quiet the times I was there (daytime). Less crowded, almost no tourists. Nice if you like to enjoy a Rochefort 8 with a good book in the sunshine.

June 4, 2008
Large building, a bit touristy, not exactly a small and warm brown bar atmosphere. There’s an enclosed patio out near the street for people watching. Meals are okay but forgettable, the dishes lack any sort of local character but that’s sort of the norm in Amsterdam. Beer wise you’ve got a Suster or two and some Steenbrugge as well. Not a place I would put high on my list.

March 6, 2008
Slightly characterless, but good for people-watching. Not impressed by the sneer from the barman when I asked if there was a non-smoking section. There wasn’t, obviously, which was a pain. Decent house beers, and enough other beers to have something that will take your fancy. Food was uninspiring - worse than any of the so-called junk food I’ve had recently. No inclination to re-visit.

January 26, 2008
Didn’t try the food, but great location to sit and watch the trams and bikes passing in front of the large windows of the wintergarden. Larger and noisier than some of the smaller specialist pubs, but friendly service and a fairly decent beer selection. Maybe not in the first league, but definitely worth a visit.

January 22, 2008
Similar to Bekeerde Suster, but without copper kettles. OK selection, Ros-beers on draft, and some good food to go with the beers. Mostly packed with students, very easy to find on one of the corners of Spuisquare, but not the best Amsterdam has to offer.

January 10, 2008
Nice place, with good service from the staff. Many own beers on with atleast one seasonal bock. Not that big or inspiring food portions. Prices felt a bit high. Got very smoky after a few people smoked (though they were in the other end of the room).

December 6, 2007
Hit this one up when Gollem was way too crowded on a Saturday night, and then managed to go for lunch as well the next day. Nice selection, though not on par with the better bars in town. The difference is the food and restaurant seating. Pretty good fare available, and you have plenty of room to kick back, verses the smaller bars.

October 31, 2007 [ Updated August 28, 2008 ]
Quite nice brick place, big wooden bar with 10 beers on tap, proper glassware. Located on crossroad between Spui and Kalverstraat also on few other locations in Amsterdam (one is just behind Heineken brewery). Few belgian beer banners on the walls. Found only two new beers.

October 20, 2007
Somewhat grungy place with a reasonable selection of Belgian beers, and some own-brewed beers. Service is acceptable, and the food likewise. Seems mostly a tourist place, really. The selection is decent, but I can’t really think of any other reason to come here, and Amsterdam has better places to offer.

September 4, 2007
I did not exactly search this place deeply, but happened to walk by, the name sounded familiar and checking my notes, I saw this was one of the ratebeer entry, so I popped in for a quickie. It was surprisingly busy for early afternoon, but it was a rather sunny summer day and it’s close to many museums. Vast terrace, average beers of their own, but quite a lot of guests, just not quite on par with the superior alternatives in town.