amsterdam

Eat the space cookies very slowly.

There are at least two canal tours. As far as I know they the same in both sites and cost. I'm a corner stand or grocery store eater so can't help you out there.

I believe there are three canal tour operators, each at different locations: Centraal Station, Muntsplien, and the area between the Rijks Museum & Liedsplien (across the street from the Marriott and next to the Hard Rock/Casino). They all charge the same price, but take slightly different routes and cover most all the same sites. The I'amsterdam city card is accepted by two of the operators. I've been to Amsterdam 10+ times and have yet to have a spectacular meal...edible but not memorable:) It's a bit touristy but the Pancake Bakery is a fun place to have dinner: http://www.pancake.nl/indexeng.php
it's near the Anne Frank House. Another affordable tasty place is La Place at Muntsplien. It's an upscale marketplace/cafeteria setup, all food is prepared in front of you....best french fries in town. It's listed in Rick's guidebook.

I suppose you could eat the Dutch food, but since Indonesian food is available, why would you?

Michael from New Paltz Thanks for posting the link to the Pancake Bakery near the Anne Franck House. We looked in there one day but didn't stay. Its good to see what they are up to. The menu does look a little touristy, but what stood out to me are the prices, definitely a little tourist-gougey. We have our favourite pancake restaurants in Delft, near Maastricht, Alsmaar, and Enkhuizen. We are used to paying less, but you can see we tend to eat a little further off the tourist trail. I can see how a visit there would be still a good choice if overcome by hunger in the Anne Franck House area.

William, The Nam Kee on Zeedijk. If you like roasted duck, this is the place. Get a half a duck and the giant bowl of noodles! The noodle broth has these little dumpling spice bombs. Soooo good. Not very expensive and great if its cold outside, or if you are high with the munchies. One thing, they have a few cats sleeping all over the place inside. It didn't bother us too much, but kinda strange. Also, good advice about space cakes above. If you eat space cakes, be careful! We have had to take friends back to the hotel and put them to bed, because they could no longer function correctly. It is going through the digestive system and takes a lot longer to kick in. Don't eat a whole one. Eat a quarter and wait 20 minutes or so. Fun when you get the right dosage.

I was unaware of the Chinese presence in the Netherlands, but Indonesian restaurants are very common and very good. One of the reasons I like going back to Amsterdam.

Even after multiple trips to several regions in Italy the best Lasagna we ever had was in Amsterdam. The name escapes me, but it was a little Italian place near Koningsplein and the flower market.

The Cobra Cafe (very near the Rijksmuseum) is a fun, casual place to eat. Good food & friendly service. We also liked the Pancake Bakery. My husband was very skeptical prior to our visit, but he loved his savory pancake, and the dessert pancake also!

Try Boom Chicago for canal cruise. Run by an ex-pat at least when we were there. very small boat, not expensive and take your own wine, cheese etc. You can look them up on internet. It is right at a tram stop. We ate good food at several what I would call are "deli's". Great food and good prices. Found one very near Van Gogh but can't remember name. I think there is also a cafe in Van Gogh for good pastry at good prices.

My favorite places to eat in Amsterdam were the Indonesian rice tables where they give you more food than you can eat. I have looked for similiar places in the LA-OC area and unable to find such a restaurant. They have both vegeterian/non-vegeterian food.

The Cobra Cafe is an interesting place to eat. The whole area aournd there is interesting.