Café Papeneiland is one of Amsterdam’s famous ‘Brown Cafés, a historic pub dating back to 1642 and the Golden Age of Holland.

Whenever I’m in someplace historic like this, I always try to imagine what it would have been like back in 1642, the time of Rembrandt. My fellow imbibers could have been dressed like these characters in his painting ‘Nightwatch’, which was painted the same year as the pub opened.
I’m not sure if these ceramic beer taps are original, but I haven’t seen anything like them anywhere else.
A typical ‘Dutch’ wall, with dark brown wood, Delft blue ceramics and old prints of Amsterdam. I love the little row of ceramic Dutch houses on the railing behind the stove.
A classic Dutch chandelier. The beer selection was quite good. I had a Leffe, one of my favourite Belgian beers, while Al tried a Brouwerij ‘t Ij Blond, a beer brewed locally at a Windmill Brewpub that several people told us was a must-see. (Al had a cold but noted that, although he couldn’t smell the bouquet, it tasted ‘nice’ – high praise indeed when one considers the Al-who-doesn’t-like-anything as the source.)
My meatball sandwich was surprisingly delicious. On the other hand, Al’s tosti (pronounced ‘toasty’) was toasted white bread with plastic cheese and he had to keep stealing my pickles to make it palatable.
Address: Prinsengracht 2 (at the top of the map)
More on our 2015 trip to Holland.