Café Oosterling is the best bar in Amsterdam, and it's number two in the Dutch Hotel Restaurant and Bar Industry's "Horeca Top 100", so - on a national level - it comes second only to Café De Beyerd in the southern city of Breda.
As long ago as 1735, tea and coffee were being served at Café Oosterling, which didn't actually become a bar selling alcohol until 1820. Many well-known Amsterdammers, including the author who perhaps best described Amsterdam's bars, Simon Carmiggelt, have drunk a glass or two of their favourite beverage here. The bar's interior was even copied for use in a highly popular Dutch animated TV series of the 1970s, de Fabeltjeskrant (known in English as The Daily Fable).
Apparently, the secret of this particular bar lies in the fact that its owners and managers have not fallen prey to modern trends and fads. Indeed, for decades, the place has remained almost totally unaltered. There is no - piped - music or muzak, and wooden barrels serve as tables. The atmosphere is perhaps best described as what many Dutch would regard as a typical, friendly Amsterdam bar of yesteryear: warm and inviting, but just a little bit cocky too.
Photo courtesy of Ron Pattinson at the European Beer Guide
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