Café Papeneiland

This is an old fashion «brown bar» built in circa 1600. It is called «brown bar» because the customers were allowed to smoke in this type of bar until about 8 years ago, when these bars became smoke free. Besides the old era of this bar it has the best Dutch apple pie, here is where this type of pie was invented and it was passed on for generations. We got to meet the grandpa and son that are owners of this bar. They also have excellent espresso and cappuccino here.
The Dutch apple pie is outstanding, even President Clinton was here for this pie, he purchased a whole pie and wrote a thank you letter to the establishment after his visit. The crust is crispy and a little more heavy than the typical flaky pastry of a regular pie. Apples are perfectly browned and cooked in brown sugar, absolutely mouthwatering. The slice of pie is served with HEAVY cream which brings even more richness and flavor to you taste buds.
A must if you are visiting Amsterdam it is located in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam not too far from Central station.

Das Markenzeichen dieses Cafes ist der Apfelkuchen, von dem die Holländer behaupten, es wäre die Nationalspeise und sie hätten es erfunden. Ich weiß nicht, ob das stimmt, aber in jedem Fall war der Kuchen verdammt lecker und das Café ist sehr gemütlich, dunkel und lädt zum Genuß von ein paar Bierchen oder auch Kaffees zum Kuchen ein. Das Personal ist wie meist in Amsterdam sehr freundlich. Ich war im Rahmen einer kulinarischen Tour durch Amsterdam hier, würde aber sicher nochmal vorbeischauen wenn ich in Amsterdam leben würde.

Traditionelles, sehr gemütliches Café, das schon in der x-​ten Generation geführt wird. Wie praktisch, dass einfach alle männlichen Nachfahren Till heißen. Und diese Tills servieren dir einen herrlich duftenden Apfelkuchen — ganz der Tradition nach. Ein weiteres Schmuckstück in dem kleinen Laden ist der wunderschöné Gusseiserne Ofen. Tolles Ambiente: heimelig und familiär, wünscht man sich in jeder Stadt. Wenn in Amsterdam und in Zweifel, unbedingt ins Papeneiland Kuchen essen gehen und ein bisserl ausrasten!

Im Rahmen der Eating Amsterdam Food Tour hatten wir hier unseren ersten Halt und genossen nicht nur das rustikale und einmalige Ambiente direkt den Grachten, sondern bekamen auch noch eine Spezialität der Niederländer zu essen, den eigentlich sich ein anderes Land auf die Fahne geschrieben hat.
Den Apple Pie, oder auch klassisch Apfelkuchen genannt.
Der Apple Pie kommt nämlich ursprünglich aus Holland und wurde von den Auswanderern ins neue Land mitgenommen.
Erste Rezepte stammen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert.
Der Apple Pie wird im Café Papeneiland frisch und täglich gebacken.
Uns wurde berichtet, das er fast schon ein «Nationalgericht» ist, der zu jeder Tageszeit gegessen wird.
Saftig mit einer leichten Zimtnote. Ein Traum!
Mag man Apfelkuchen, sollte man diesen in Holland unbedingt probieren.
Für alle die keine Rosinen mögen, sei gesagt, das nur sehr wenige im Kuchen sind und leicht zu entfernen.

Café Papeneiland ist eine Institution Amsterdams. Hier gibt es den besten traditionellen hausgemachten Apfelkuchen der Sadt, der Teig ist schön knusprig und die Apfelfüllung noch wohlig warm, perfekt mit Zimt abgestimmt. Eine Gabel und somit ein Bissen von diesem Kuchenwunder ist alleine né Reise nach Amsterdam wert.
Das Café exisitert bereits seit dem Jahre 1642 und sieh an. Ein Besuch hierher bringt selbst nen Dutchie zurück in die Vergangenheit. Es hängen nostalische Bilder und Küchenutensilien an der Wand, die kleinen verwinkelten Sitzecken sind urgemütlich und die Menschen hinter der Theke super authentisch. Trotz der vielen Stammgäste wird hier nur bei besonderen Festlichkeiten Musik aufgelegt, ansonsten muss man sich hier mit seinem Gegenüber unterhalten oder einfach nur schweigen und genießen. A prospos genießen. Wie wäre es mit holländischem Käse oder Leberwurst (von der berühmten Metzgerei Louman um*s Eck) Beides kann man hier genießen…Und hier gibt es für die «always on”-Gesellschaft sogar ein Passwort für’s Café-​eigene Wifi gratis.
Ich war nur wenige Minuten im Papeneiland und würde jedem Amsterdam-​Besucher ans Herz legen selbst sein Herz hier zu verlieren…

There IS more to Amsterdam than pot and hookers. ;) while looking for a different place, we stumbled upon this quaint little pub. Adorable!!! A cozy little nook of a place, it’s lit up with tons of twinkle lights and the upstairs loft is fantastic.
Beers were cheap, which is rare in overpriced Amsterdam.
The stairs up to the loft are steep, which is the ONLY way the Dutch do stairs. ;) while here, we have made this a home base as its filled with locals, nit Americans. ;)

As a tourist, I had to visit Café Papeneiland for their famous *apple pie, although their main business is a bar. (Sorry, I don’t drink beer!)
*In Dutch cooking, apple pie is more like American apple cake. There’s no pie dough involved.
I heard that even Bill Clinton came, under-​covered to have this pie. You can see the actual letter from Clinton on the wall.
Unfortunately, the pie was not as good as what I expected but it was decent. Maybe this place is better to go as a bar.
Pros:
— They open early from 10 AM for this kind of bar/​café.
— Really old antique interior (They have this business since 1642.) You can see antique Delft tiles on the wall around the wood fire place. Great atmosphere.
— They bake apple pie every day. Family recipe from the previous owner’s wife.
— convenient location
Cons:
— Really tight and steep stairs (It’s very normal in Amsterdam.) to go to restroom downstairs but clean.
— At first, the stuff members look little bit scary. Perfect bar guys, I guess.

Update: I don’t think I will be going in here anymore. Although there is a smoking room upstairs and people generally smoke outside I always exit just reeking of smoke. It’s just not really my thing to be surrounded by smoke. The place is always packed too and for such a small place that can be tough.
Decent place to get a coffee or a drink. Although there was nothing special about either of the drinks, the interior is designed nice, complete with wood burning stove. There was a smoking room upstairs which was packed. The view out to the street is fun to watch the people walk by. My only complaint is the service seemed a little hostile. We didn’t get many smiles. Close to the Saturday market though, which I like.

Stopped here with a friend, trying to get out the rain. Wow, what an Apple pie! I have had great apple pie in the past but this was another level. Went back again, just for the apple pie and coffee. Very small so be prepared for a crowd.

In de Jordaan is dit de enige kroeg die niet wordt overspoeld door toeristen en Pijp-​publiek.
Bovenin rookkamer. Deugt en bovendien goed ossenworst.

So after an absurdly small amount of jet-​lagged sleep, I set off today into Amsterdam to take a meeting, then grab drinks with a local friend from Uni.
Now, I have fallen in love with more than one bar/​café in the Dam, and almost all of them claim some sort of «first» for their category — oldest pub, oldest filter tap, oldest original décor, etc. Papeneiland is one of those places, perpetually in the vague «old» category.
Having said this, I love Papeneiland. The style points score as high as can be for me, with the antique wood-​panelled walls accented by blue and white tiles, and a huge turn-​of-​the-​century wood-​burning stove. The staff was absolutely friendly, and one of the waitresses actually sat down with us and chatted about life in New York City (she’s never been!)
Despite the on-​and-​off cloudiness that has plagued my first full day of this trip, the massive ceiling-​high windows that cover two of the walls in Papeneiland allow an almost perfect amount of natural light in, apparently no matter what the weather. It allows the place to be cozy, without being too seedy/​hole in the wall. People who don’t understand Amsterdam seem to think it is just hookers everywhere and canals flowing with day-​glo bong water, but really it looks more like a scene out of a Bruegel painting, and no more so than from a table inside of this place.
My meal schedule is all messed up, so I have been just eating small toasties and various fruits trying to get to some level or normalcy. Anywho, all I had here was a plate of frites, and a couple of beers — a Wieckse Witte, a De Koninck, and an IJ Columbus. All were delicious products of Benelux. I think that’s what I love most about here. More than Germany, Austria, or anywhere else, they kill the beer scene in Holland.

This is yet another brown café that lives up to the press. It’s decorated with beautiful tiles, floor to ceiling windows, lovely lights and a center piece of a stove. (If I win the lottery, some metal worker is making me a replica of that stove!) I think I could do an entire trip through Amsterdam in which I only drank and ate my way through brown cafés!
In this particular instance, I was wary of the two hour drive through snow (back to Friesland) awaiting me afterward. I therefore ordered koffie met appelgebak. It was lekker! This apple pie type dish is house prepared and is served along side delicious fresh whipped cream (slagroom). People always say this about Europe, but the whipped cream does taste better there. (I have a feeling that European dairy is better as a result of their better laws for animal husbandry. But I’m no expert!)
Go, and the memory of this stop will stay with you always.

Un des plus beaux
Cette maison date de 1642. A l’intérieur rien n’a changé. C’est le coeur d’Amsterdam. Il donne sur des petits canaux. On peut y manger des petits pains.