Note to start: This story was written up based on my experiences from a trip I made here in a pre COVID world. It is best to visit their website for up to date information. I think we all need a bit of arm chair travelling at the moment so I thought I’d still share these to inspire current hot chocolates at home and future trips. Enjoy!
It takes about 30 minutes to walk from Amsterdam Central Station to the trendy De Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam, or 15 minutes if you walk as fast as you can, as I did. Many tourists end up in this neighbourhood when they visit the very popular Heineken Experience which, I’ll admit, is pretty fun even if you don’t like Heineken (unless it has changed in the ten years since I went, there is a point where you get the chance to pretend to be a bubble escaping from a beer bottle. Whoever thought of that should be given a crown.) But few of these tourists venture around the neighbourhood, and maybe that is a good thing. The area is overflowing with cute shops, cafes, parks and very good food.
I had scheduled a food tour for the morning (with Hungry Birds, highly recommended). I always sign up for food tours because it is an excellent way of learning more about the culture of a city and country and you get some actual food in your system between hot chocolates which is, frankly, increasingly important the more hot chocolates I drink on a trip. I had just enough time to grab a hot chocolate before the tour started and chose nearby Scandinavian Café. Fine, not the most Dutch sounding place, but it makes most lists of best hot chocolate in the city.
I’ll say upfront that I took very few pictures (these are all from the food tour). I was just trying to blend in and look local and taking pictures of a café doesn’t exactly scream subtle. I was also in a rush, so you will just have to imagine it. It is a tiny little shop but inside it was warm and cozy. It is bright, with brick walls painted white and very minimal details (it is Scandinavian after all). There are some bar stools along the front window with a view of a park and chairs and tables all the way to the back where there is a tiny outdoor terrace. The cash and kitchen are situated along the left hand side of this narrow space, in full view and there are generous displays of Scandinavian pastries that stare at you longingly until you cave and buy one.
I was seated on a bar stool right in front of an impossibly clean stove top (it is a very tiny place) and watched eggs Benedict whip up magically in front of me, presented beautifully on wooden boards. Several trendy locals rocked up and settled in with their papers, as if this was their own living room. The place was full but there always seemed to be room for just one more person, just move a few chairs around and make yourself comfortable. Many of the obviously regular patrons today looked the way I think authors look; very cool and just oozing with je ne sais quoi. Funny thing about that is that I am an author and I don’t think I look like that (or maybe I do!!). Maybe it depends what you write about. The way someone who writes about the philosophy of trees might look like, or someone who writes books about hot chocolate. I digress.
Since everything is happening in that same, compact space you see and hear everything too, including when the staff have their friendly faces on and when they don’t which was part of my entertainment for the 15 minutes I was there. One of the staff looked a lot like a good friend of mine who lives in Canada so it took me off guard when he spoke to me as if I was a regular (you see, that not taking pictures thing worked).
The cafe has a focus on small, niche suppliers and seasonal produce, presenting their food very simply on a plate to highlight this. This includes their hot chocolate which is made of single origin chocolate mixed with full milk. They told me that they regularly have blind testing of chocolates for different projects and every time they end up selecting this variety of chocolate. It is a dark chocolate (75%) from a small company based in the UK called Chocolate Tree made with cocoa sourced in Northern Peru, in the village of Chililique. The company uses organic agroforestry cacao traded directly with cooperatives at origin to make these chocolate flakes. It has deep floral flavours and intense acidity and was very pleasant. Because this is also a very good coffee spot, you also get the beautiful latte art thrown in as a bonus. I have never drunk a hot chocolate as quickly as I had this one. It isn’t a place you come to if you are in a rush and, unfortunately, I really was. It took a while to arrive, but I enjoyed every sip of it.
After this, if you aren’t taking a the food tour (you should though), head straight to Albert Cuypmarkt, the largest and most popular outdoor market in Amsterdam which usually has over 260 stalls and has been running 6 days a week since 1905. Also pass by Toko Ramee, where our food tour started, and try some really good Indonesian take out food and groceries.
Verdict: It feels like you have entered someone’s kitchen for breakfast, a friend who is a designer and who married a chef and you think to yourself “ I need more friends like this, this is great” or you leave, as I did, thinking, “ I need to find friends that are designers/chef with cute little kitchens that will serve me beautiful hot chocolate like this and then I’ll just lounge around looking like a cool author friend of theirs”. Scandinavian Embassy, Sarphatipark 34, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
