Those Romantic places. Let the atmosphere, the define food, the candlelight and the gallons of wine overwhelm her (/him) while you do the smooth talking. Guaranteed to get you laid. Or fix your relationship. Or just have a nice evening together.
That was a bit rude and/or cynical wasn’t it? Well, also if you still believe in love, these are the perfect spots to bring your date:
- Restaurant Pier 10 – The top place to overwhelm your date. It’s situated right behind the central station in a monument on a jetty, with view over ‘t IJ. (See picture above). Make sure to book in advance and ask for a spot in the sun lounge at the water. If you’re too late, the rest of the restaurant is also perfectly fine. The porch is just extraordinary. They serve a – mainly French - menu for a good price. Think codfish, lamb, duck breast with grand mariner sous, etc.
- A la Plancha – One of my personal favorites. Especially when you’re not real sure about your date. Tiny Spanish tapa’s restaurant. (A tapa is just the Spanish word for small snack I guess). Take your seat at the bar and just point at the food you like. Take some cheese, to go with the gallons of red wine. And some octopus and Jamon. The cool thing about this place is that it’s so informal. You just sit at the bar, with the two of you and order what ever you like. The food and the place gives you enough conversation for the rest of the night. And when it turns out, she’s a dork, you just ask for the bill after the second tapa. No 3 course meal and wait for dessert before ditching her and trying your luck in the bar next door. Downsides: the service can be obnoxious and don’t bring a vegetarian. There is a huge bullhead hanging off the wall, which filles almost the entire place with machismo. If your lucky, the chef plays his guitar and sings at the end of the night. Closes at 01.00 on weekdays and 3.00 in the weekends. The kitchen closes about an hour earlier. It’s therefore one of the few places where you can get some decent food after 10.00 pm.
- Belhamel - Livingroom style restaurant with very good food. The won a “Bib Gourmand 2010″. A price for best price/quality place. A bit old fashioned but also just plain romantic with excellent service.
- La Hostaria – Maybe a little bit to crowded and small but very, very nice Italian food! For a not so friendly price. Despite the price and the small tables I love this place. This is one of the few places that is able to bring tears of joy with just plain food and wine. Okay, general happiness and and the sweet looking girl opposite to me might add to the tears. If you want a table on a weekend, call weeks in advance. If you’re planning a weekday, you might get luck on the same day.
- Een vis, twee vis. – Weird funny place in the old harbor region of Amsterdam. Very local. The chef is an alcoholic but a cool guy and he can cook as a motherf*cker. It’s usually a bit of a chaos and the food can take ages if you’re unlucky. But the good thing is that all that wine that you drink in the meanwhile, makes you laugh about it all. See it as a bonding experience. And the food is good, when it finally comes! I just think it’s a romantic place. Sorry.
PS. I too still believe in love.
