Filed under: food, market, restaurant, top-feature
Albert Cuyp Market: Where Locals Love to Shop
Open air Albert Cuyp Market stretches for more than one kilometer and spills over into the surrounding streets. It is one of the best markets to soak up local atmosphere. Fish mongers rub shoulders with fruit and vegetable sellers. Vendors of round Edam cheese, fiery-red tulips and potato peelers bawl out their wares. Oversized-sized bras and lacy underwear spill from the clothes stands.
Wandering about Albert Cuyp Market is downright fun. Part of the appeal is that the market is very much a local affair and attracts few tourists because it is outside the Amsterdam historic center. The market, located in the Pijp district, a 19th century development built for the working-class is today home to a mix of people. Dutch, Moroccan, Suriname and Turkish shopkeepers and entrepreneurs aim at their own ethnic group. You won’t find canals, monuments or museums, but you will find an authentic slice of Amsterdam.
SHOPPING STOPS
I can never resist the foodie section so let’s go there first. The aroma of freshly baked syrup waffles rushes out to greet me. Gooey inside and crispy outside, these calorie bombs, are my weekly treat. Our next stop is the Moroccan olive stand. Shiny green and black olives, garlicky or stuffed with a pale white almond are the perfect nibble when feeling slightly hungry. Halal sausages and feta cheese vie with stuffed green peppers and ready-to-serve yogurt-cucumber salad in the Turkish stand. Exotic kaki fruit and reddish-yellow mangoes sparkle in the sun and provide keen competition for the orange apricots.
Ethnic and local produce stalls stand side by side. Dutch fishmongers praise their herring, an established treat and a healthy snack rich in omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce the risk of heart disease. Herring is eaten raw, but this is only partly true. The fish is gutted, put on layers of salt and deep frozen. Gutting, storing and freezing is done at sea. At the fish stalls, the fish is thawed and the glands are removed. Join the buyers in front of the fishmonger stand and try this delicacy. Dangle the fish by its tails, tilt your head back and lower the herring into your mouth. Enjoy the subtle flavor and soft silkiness in a few small bites
Amble past cunning hawkers trying to sell the latest onion slicer, window cleaning liquids and magic brushes, on your way to the clothes stalls. Mannequins show the latest fashion in Muslim dress and veils. Trendy clothes are going for a song, but don’t expect to find designer labels. If you need a belly dancing outfit, the Albert Cuyp Market is your place.
Rummage through racks with Bollywood film DVDs, ethnic music and violin concerto CDs. On the material stalls, lengths of brightly patterned cloth are unwound from great bolts. Boxes of odds and ends yield treasures, including hand-embroidered table cloths and silk scarves in rainbow colours. Buy an extra suitcase at the luggage stand to take home your new treasures.
Essentials:
WHAT: Outdoor Albert Cuyp Market
WHERE: Albert Cuypstraat (map)
WHEN: Monday – Saturday 09:00 – 17:00, closed on Sunday
HOW TO GET THERE: tram 16, 20, 24, 25, Albert Cuyp stop
Albert Cuyp Market is located between the Ferdinand Bolstraat and Van Woustraat. Free admission. Prices are among the cheapest in Amsterdam. The market gets very crowded especially on Saturdays and sunny days.
Arrive before 4 o’clock for a full market experience as after that stall holders may start packing away, especially on slow days and in bad weather. Unless of course you are looking for bargains especially soft fruit like strawberries and cherries when the best time is between 4 and 5 pm because the fruit sellers want to sell their ripe fruit.
EATING STOPS
Check out hundreds of retail shops and ethnic restaurants hidden behind the market stalls. Wandering along these stalls, you may not have realized that the market booths line a shopping street. Many of the stores spill out onto the pavement and some have their own market stall in front of their permanent shop. The street is packed with Chinese, Indonesian, Suriname, Moroccan and Turkish restaurants. I always find it difficult to decide what to eat – Kurdish, Chinese, Indonesian or simply a cone of French fries with a dollop of mayonnaise.
If you like cumin, mint, oregano, hot peppers and lamb, Kurdish Restaurant Zagros serves dishes with these healthy ingredients. Try deep fried pastry rolls filled with feta cheese as a starter. Chunks of lamb doused in tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic and onions are a tasty second. Finish your meal with honey-soaked, nut- filled baklava, if you have still room left. If sweets aren’t appealing, sip fragrant Turkish coffee.
WHAT: Zagros, Kurdish Resaturant
WHERE: Albert Cuypstraat 50 (map)
OPEN: Monday – Saturday 14:00 – 23:00, closed on Sunday
PRICES: starters €3.50, main course €10 – €15, dessert €4
Albert Cuyp 67 is the ideal pit stop to rejuvenate yourself after shopping in Albert Cuyp Market. Try Suriname Chicken Roti washed down by cold Heineken. Roti looks like a tortilla, but the taste is nothing like it. Spicy chicken, chunks of potatoes, egg, beans and other vegetables wrapped in roti bread is the ideal snack and will renew your energy for more browsing and shopping.
Super Sunny Retro LivingWHAT: Albert Cuyp 67
WHERE: Albert Cuypstraat 67 (map)
OPEN: 11:00 – 23:00, Sunday 14:00 – 23:00
PRICES: main course €10 – €15
Have you ever dined in a church that looks like a mosque? Restaurant Bazar occupies a former church building. Middle Eastern style décor and the tantalizing North African cuisine draw a crowd. My favorite seat is the upper balcony that looks down on to the bar in the central section. Mint tea with honeyed baklava is comfort food after serious shopping. I can never resist the couscous with tutti frutti, roasted vegetables, grilled tomatoes and saffron sauce.
WHAT: Bazar Amsterdam
WHERE: Albert Cuypstraat 182 (map)
OPEN: Monday – Thursday 11:00 – 24:00, Friday 11:00 – 01:00, Saturday 09:00 – 01:00, Sunday 09:00 – 24:00
PRICES: starters €4, main course €9 – €15, dessert €4 – €6
photo credits: personal collection Marianne Crone
4 Comments
This sounds like a fantastic place to spend the afternoon! Thanks for the tip.
LOVE THE MARKET ,WE WENT AT LEAST TWICE A WEEK IT’S MY OLD NEIGHBORHOOD AND
NOW LIVING IN THE STATES I MISS THE MARKET VERY MUCH,OH MEMORIES…..YOU CAN
FIND ANYTHING ON THAT MARKET;FRUITS,VEGGIES,FISH,POULTRY,CHEESE AND LOTS OF
GADGETS,CLOTHING,SHOES,POT AND PANS AND THE STORES BEHIND THE STALLS ARE VERY
EXCLUSIVE ALSO,BAKERY,CAFE AND EATERIES,YOU WILL ENJOY YOURSELF ALONE OR WITH
A FRIEND,AMSTERDAM IS THE GREATEST CITY IN EUROPE,I LIVED THERE FOR 21 YRS.
OMG! Bazar has the best food ever. For some reason it’s always really far too warm in there, but well worth it for the dining experience. Be sure to try their different flavours of tapanade – to die for!
Brought back memories of when we lived in A’dam. Albert Cuyp was always interesting, although one drawback was walking home with shopping bags heavy with too much stuff we’d bought!