Amsterdam Fast Food
Amsterdam has loads of fast food joints ranging from McDonalds and Burger King to the ubiqtuious stands selling Vlaams Frites (French Fries) which are served in a paper cone with mayonnaise or a large selection of other sauces.

Other typical Dutch snacks include raw salted herring or smoked eel - delicious. If you're anywhere in Belgium or the Netherlands around the Christmas or New Year period you will notice stalls selling Appelfloppen and Ollibollen - these deep-fried pastries make a good cheap filling snack

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Amsterdam Pubs & Cafes
Don't overlook the many eetcafes, pubs that also serve meals: most of them could just as well be listed here as places to eat. They're affordable, often lively and full of character. The grand cafes in particular are good places for a long lunch or Sunday brunch.

Amsterdammers like to eat out and they eat early: dinner, the main meal of the day, is served between 6pm and 10pm and popular places fill up by 7pm, so book ahead, arrive early or be prepared to wait at the bar. Alternatively you could try arriving late: films and concerts usually start at 8.30pm or 9.30pm and tables may become available then for a 'second sitting', but keep in mind that many kitchens close by 10pm (though the restaurants stay open longer).

Vegetarian restaurants tend to close even earlier. In the top tourist months of July and (especially) August, however, many locals go on holidays and restaurants tend to be quieter. Lunch is a modest affair, with sandwich and salad menus, though you may find places that serve full meals. Many restaurants are open daily, but some are closed Sunday or Monday; ring to check.

Amsterdam Drinks
Amsterdam tap water is fine but it does have a slight chemical taste, so mineral and soda waters are popular. Dairy drinks include chocolate milk, Fristi (a yogurt drink), karnemelk (buttermilk) and of course milk itself, which is good and relatively cheap. A wide selection of fruit juices and soft drinks are available too.

For a city with such a rich tradition in the tea and coffee trade, tea is a bit of a disappointment. It's usually served as a cup of hot water with a tea bag, though many places do offer a wide choice of bags. If you want milk, ask 'met melk, graag' (with milk, please); many locals add a slice of lemon instead.

Lager beer is the staple, served cool and topped by a two-finger-thick head of froth - supposedly to trap the flavour. Requests of 'no head please' will meet with a steely response. Een bier, een pils or een vaas will get you a normal glass; een kleintje pils is a small glass and een fluitje is a small, thin, Cologne-style glass.

Many places also serve half-litre mugs (een grote pils) to please tourists, but somehow draught lager doesn't taste the same in a mug and soon goes flat if you don't hurry up!