Café de Oude Wester

Just don’t go. The tea packets are stale and rumpled, the fresh mint tea is served tepid without sugar, and the service is aggressively nonchalant. One star for the cute cats.

Against the advice of all the reviews below, we decided on Christmas morning that we’d get a bite to eat from here. Contrary to all the reviews below, both the food and the service was great. We were promptly seated and service was quick. The food was amazing. Recommend the goulash and the omelettes. Good quality of food and coffees.

Hey, if it’s freezing outside and you miscalculated how long it’d take to finish a tour, or you’re in the area too early to check-​in for your Anne Frank House tour, this is the place to take shelter from the elements!
We walked inside, immediately got a table, and then just as immediately were seemingly forgotten by the staff there. Yes! Perfect! We actually want to loiter here as long as possible, but what-​the-​actual-​eff is this service? We finally received menus. Oh man, we ate our fill two hours ago. Maybe we could eat an appetizer? But really we all just want coffees or teas.
You don’t like that do you?
Our tea comes pretty quickly, but a request for a glass of water to take cold medicine was forgotten, and although we kept a menu and said we’d order something after our drinks, no one ever came back. We were there an hour.
We sat there so long, that we finally sent someone up to the waitress who was loitering behind the counter on the pretext of asking if they took credit card, just so we could get their attention, and then get our check.
So the completely terrible service absolutely worked in our favor, but I really wanted to try and warn the people coming in the door after us about how bad it was. I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my life!

Good for a beer and maybe some hot tea or coco. Food was a bit iffy. Servers were pleasant enough. Good for a quick stop to whet your whistle.

Wir haben dort Pfannkuchen (niederländische Pannekokken) gegessen, herzhaft mit Schinken/​Pilze und Käse überbacken und dazu lokale Biere getrunken. Das lokal ist klassisch mit Holz eingerichtet und die Karte authentisch Holländisch. Die Preise sind für Amsterdam in Ordnung Pfannekuchen mit Schinken und Käse gab es für 7,50 €, das kleine Bier (typisch 0,25l) für 3 €. Die Bedinung war freundlich, wenn auch etwas unaufmerksam. Insgesamt hat es uns hier aber sehr gut gefallen und wir empfehlen das Lokal als Ausgangspunkt oder als Pause für eine Tour durch den Stadtteil Jordaan

Ich habe hier eines meiner Lieblingsgerichte gegessen, einen «Uitsmijter» mit Schinken und Käse.
Getrunken habe ich ein «Wieckse Rosé» Weizenbier.
Der Uitsmijter war gut, aber ich habe ihn in anderen Lokalen schon mit frischerem Brot und vor allem üppigerer Salatgarnitur bekommen.
Das Bier war schön kalt und erfrischend. Beides wurde zügig und freundlich serviert.
Vorteil des Lokals ist die günstige Lage in Nähe des Anne-​Frank-​Hauses.
Ansonsten kann man hier mal was trinken oder eine Kleinigkeit essen, wirkliche Atmosphäre oder Charme haben aber weder das Lokal noch die Bedienungen.

$ 5 pints of Amstel.
I didn’t order food, looked ok though
Service was pretty slow/​poor

The food was almost as bad as the service. Not a welcoming place at all. I felt like the server thought she was doing us a favor. Food was bland and poorly prepared. Table next to us was pissed at something about their meal that was screwed up.
I suspect they are only still in business because of their location. Avoid this tourist trap and eat literally anywhere else.

Great weinerschnizel. Veggies were out of the bag frozen. Husband had the Chicken Satay that was a little overdone. Very convenient stop by the Ann Frank house and our flat.

Zuerst dachten wir, was für ein süßes, liebevoll eingerichtetes Café. Es wirkte sehr einladend. Jedoch kam schnell Ernüchterung. Obwohl das Café sehr leer war, wurden wir angewiesen, zu zweit doch auch bitte einen Tisch zu zweit zu nehmen, ein Vierer durfte es nicht sein. Somit mussten wir leider in der Ecke sitzen, wo es auch zur Toilette ging.
Dann bekamen wir die Karte. Endlich mal eine, in der auch ein paar Getränke standen (scheint in Holland nicht so üblich — oder hatten wir nur Pech — jedenfalls möchte ich schon vorher wissen was meine Getränke kosten). Zu Essen bestellten wir Sandwich und Burger. Der Burger wurde von meinem Freund sehr gelobt, es hat ihm sehr gemundet. Vom Sandwich kann ich jedoch abraten — es ist das einfachste vom einfachen. Es ist wirklich nur Toast mit Käse und Tomate gewesen. Keine Gewürze darauf und keine Sauce, dazu gab es lediglich Ketchup. Für mich die pure Enttäuschung.
Der Service war nach dem anfänglichen Patzer ok, die junge Dame bemühte sich sehr. Als es jedoch um das Bezahlen ging, war es wieder problematisch. Uns wurde zwar die Rechnung gebracht, dann verließ uns die Dame jedoch und kam nicht wieder. Wir sind dann nach ca. 10 Minuten zur Theke gegangen und haben bei der Kollegin bezahlt.
Noch ein Hinweis: Die Toilette im Untergeschoss war nicht wirklich einladend. Beim Seifenspender der Damentoilette hat der Deckel gefehlt und im Spender sammelten sich bestimmt 10 Fliegen in einer Brühe, bei der ich nicht mal sicher war, ob es mal irgendwann Seife war… :-\

A bit surprised at the poor (English) reviews, but then again we didn’t come for breakfast which seems to be the common thread in those reviews. My family of 4 came for dinner, tired and hungry after a long day of sightseeing. Hubby had the hutspot, I had beef stroganoff and my kiddos shared grilled chicken. Everything was tasty, well seasoned and good portions. Our meals were very much comfort foods and hit the spot. Service was a bit slow, but consistent with the rest of the city IMHO. I’d still recommend this place for dinner.

Après une longue marche dans le quartier Jordaan, nous nous arrêtons dans un café du style des cafés bruns avec de nombreuses boiseries (cafés classiques et plutôt anciens en opposition aux nouveaux cafés très design).
On s’assoie donc à une table et nous commandons.
Niveau Ambiance:
Peu aimables, les serveuses vous laissent du temps pour commander et pour apporter la commande. Elles ramassent les verres ou assiettes qui paraissent vides ou finies même si ce n’est pas le cas. Cela s’explique peut-​être parce que le café a toujours été plein durant l’heure qu’on y a passé, malgré le départ de groupes importants.
Niveau Nourriture:
La carte est assez importante. Nous y allions pour un encas à 16/​17h. Amsterdam est connue pour ses pancakes. Va pour des pancakes alors! Salé ou sucré, il y a le choix. A l’arrivée de l’assiette, c’est un pancake de la taille d’une grande crêpe !! Pour ma part, c’était pancake aux pommes et miel. Quelle surprise de découvrir des morceaux pommes au milieu de la pâte ! Le bémol: trop de miel à en être écoeuré. Dommage, il était très bon sinon. Au niveau des prix, le prix d’un pancake vaut le prix d’un plat mais on en a pour son argent!
Dernier point qui né permet pas de donner une bonne note: le bruit. En plus d’un fond musical dans le bar, il y a tellement de monde qu’on a du mal à s’entendre.

Breakfast in Amsterdam, take ONE.
–
So, let’s see.
Went out Saturday. Too long. Lots of beer. Danced on a boat. Rained on heavily. Lost my engagement ring. Found my engagement ring. Got off the boat. Found my way back to apartment. Only thing to eat are dry biscuits. Eat dry biscuits in bed. Fall asleep at 8pm, wake up at 10am Sunday.
WHY AM I SO HUNGRY?!
(because all you’ve eaten is beer and biscuits in the last 24 hours). Dutch groan. Dummy, amateur. Fine, fine. Besides the point.
So, I leave my temporary apartment hoping to find the greasiest diner fare (or as close to it as I can find). It’s 1030am. I look around. Why are none of these food places OPEN?! Where is all the coffee?! I need pancaaaaaaaakes?! Where are the early old people diners?!
Breakfast isn’t a huge thing for the Dutch, duly noted. Especially on a Sunday. Apparently all those restaurant keepers are sleeping in, too. I don’t blame them… luckily I came across Café de Oude Wester just in the nick of time…2 cappuccinos, 2 bottles of water and a PANCAKE (savory) as big (bigger!) as my head later, I had ALMOST (almost) restored my dignity, internal organs and faith in the Dutch to feed me.
The savory pancake was literally the size of a medium pizza: covered in greasy cheese, mushrooms and barely cooked bacon. At this point, I could’ve eaten the glitter off the ground and discarded balloons out of the canal, so I won’t be picky. It went down easy and made me feel about a million times better. It wasn’t amazing fare, but it was surely satisfactory and arrived to me quickly. Maybe it was how I looked. Like all the colors of the rainbow ran together and then drained away leaving a gray palor of a starving, almost-​divorced-​before-​married woman.
I left in more of a peachy/​pale freckle tone. Progress!
Breakfast bill: roughly 16,50 euros. I basically ate enough for two people, so I think the price is fair.
*plenty of outside seating, partially overlooking canal.
*old, kind of haggard looking interior
*friendly waitress.
*biga*s pancakes.

We stumbled in here Sunday afternoon having long missed breakfast at the hotel after another messy night. We had kind of planned for an alcoholic brunch at a rather lovely bar we has searched out but although our hearts were there are bodies were screaming no. Our hotel was round the corner from Rozengracht so we donned dark glasses and crawled out into the blazing sunshine knowing we had to eat and eat soon. Not normally very decisive on the afternoon after the night before but after a quick stroll up and down the street to check out the choices we plumped for Café de Oude Wester — this place was packed outside and empty inside. We needed to be inside so perfect and pancakes were on the list of «immerse ourselves in Dutch culture“activities.
Couldn’t quite face beer for breakfast so coffee it was — and that was fine. Savoury pancake — cheese, bacon and mushrooms was substantial and served its purpose in restoring my body back to the land of the living. Was it a gastronomic experience? a definite no… a bit doughy and thick to be honest but as a bulk upload of carbs just perfect. The wife went for the full English breakfast — unlike any we had seen before — sausage, bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes were all there but kind of cooked like a giant breakfast pancake — but without the pancake — odd but she ate it all and it also served its purpose. Pretty reasonably priced for what it was.

Tried the Dutch Pancakes here… and they tasted a little burnt. There is also a topping that is made with Egg Liquer. Not my favorite.