Last updated on June 23rd, 2019 at 04:55 pm

My 3 Favorite Amsterdam Cafes

The first thing you should know about this post is that I’m talking about Amsterdam cafes, not coffee shops. They are two very distinct entities. A coffee shop is where you can go to buy and smoke cannabis. A cafe is where you can go to drink coffee or tea and have a sweet treat.

You can choose your drug of choice, but for me, I was on the hunt for a good cup of tea and something to satisfy my sweet tooth. Oh and some good WiFi.

I tried a few different spots, but these three were the ones that I’d go back to if I lived in Amsterdam. They had good, welcoming service, tasty drinks, and weren’t stingy with the WiFi.

Bocca Coffee

Bocca coffee is situated on a quiet street, near the touristic areas. It has an unassuming storefront, so much so, that I completely walked past it before noticing. Upon entering, I was surprised at how big the interior is compared to the unassuming entrance. High ceilings, lots of natural light, and plenty of seating.

I was greeted with a friendly smile from the barista and ordered a green tea. The barista offered a date pastry that would compliment the tea well. After completing my order, I asked if it would be ok to use the WiFi and my laptop to do a bit of work.

Around the corner from the coffee bar is a long wooden table that already had a few people working away on their laptops. I snagged a seat close to an outlet and got to work. They delivered a big pot of tea and my pastry almost immediately. The barista was correct! The date pastry went quite nicely with the green tea I ordered.

While I was there, they were training a few new baristas in the art of coffee making. They also had a lovely area to buy beans and other coffee making accessories. Bocca was a great place for a midday pick me up, and catch up on some work. It didn’t seem that they would mind if I sat there all day using their incredibly strong WiFi.

Toki

Toki was located just down the street from my Couchsurfing host’s home near Haarlemmerplein. Since I had to leave my host’s home at 7:30 am when he left for work, I was hoping they’d be open! I was in luck when I arrived, they were open and ready to serve. The barista behind the counter was very nice and they had matcha on the menu, as well as nondairy/soy milk options. This early morning was off to a great start! I also ordered an avocado toast and asked for the WiFi.

There is plenty of seating in this cozy cafe, but I noticed most of the patrons were either reading or conversing with each other. I also noticed that the plugs were covered up with tape (a sign that laptop parking was not welcome here). So instead of pulling out my laptop, I read a few pages in my Kindle book and begin to plan my day in Amsterdam, while I sipped on my delightful matcha latte.

The avocado toast was a welcome site! It was overflowing with avocado and dried watermelon. It gave me the perfect amount of food to start my day, and it wasn’t overly priced. As I was finishing up, I noticed a few customers had pulled out their laptops, so it may just be laptop friendly if you can find a plug! Either way, the WiFi was still strong, and the food and drink were excellent. Toki is a place I would love to start any morning!

Coffee and Coconuts

Wow, Coffee and Coconuts. Talk about a huge cafe. I had a few hours in between when I finished at the Moco Museum’s Banksy exhibit and my time slot for the Van Gogh museum. So I was wandering around the De Pijp neighborhood when I found Coffee and Coconuts.

This cafe is three floors high and filled with cute and cozy seating areas. It was packed with people on every level when I arrived and it was a bit difficult to find a seat. Since I was a bit time crunched to get back to the Van Gogh museum, I opted for a seat at the bar, which is where I normally enjoy sitting when I’m solo. It gives me something to watch and I can see the inner workings of the cafe.

As I sat there, I noticed that you can order takeaway at the counter, or simply seat yourself and someone will arrive shortly to serve you. They have a large cocktail list, food menu, and coffee/tea options. As well as fresh juices. This place truly has everything you need.

I opted for Golden Milk, which may sound slightly strange to order, but I love a good Golden Milk and not many places offer it. The Golden Milk at Coffee and Coconuts was perfect – not overpowering on any of the spices and it was a good immunity boost for me. The food options were a bit on the expensive side, so I decided to hold off and wait to eat until after Van Gogh.

The staff was friendly but incredibly busy. I also noticed they were training a new server and it seemed a bit stressful. So while I wanted to ask for the WiFi password, I didn’t. Although I saw some people working on laptops while I was there, so I’m sure the WiFi is as good as their Golden Milk.

Amsterdam Cafes

So, if you’re interested in a good Amsterdam cafe, the kind that serves quality food and drinks, has strong WiFi, and welcoming staff, give these three cafes a try! You’ll only be disappointed if you go in thinking it’s a coffee shop!